Posts by Matthew Reichbach

Join The Independent and staff from the Sunlight Foundation as we report live from the Senate Rules Committee this morning where ethics legislation is expected to be heard, news from the House and Senate floors throughout the day as well as action from committees in the afternoon.

Click the headline to join in.

A bill that would allow same-day voter registration at early voting sites cleared the Senate Rules Committee on a 4-3 party-line vote. The committee turned back an attempt to require government-issued photo ID when registering at early voting sites.

A major transparency bill that would create a “sunshine portal” passed the Senate unanimously Friday afternoon. The sunshine portal is described as an online version of the state’s checkbook, showing information about state spending, including state contracts and state employee salaries.

According to a committee schedule on the Web site of the New Mexico Democratic caucus, the domestic partnership bill might be heard during that committee’s meeting this afternoon. The committee, scheduled to meet half an hour after the Senate floor session, has four other pieces of legislation ahead of the domestic partnership legislation.

In the morning we were joined by the Sunlight Foundation during the Senate Rules Committee this morning; in the afternoon we watched some big drama unfold as the House passed tax bills and the budget. Click the headline to read a transcript of the live blog.

The New Mexico Independent was back for another day of live blogging the legislative session from the Roundhouse in Santa Fe. The Independent live blogged the action on the floor as well as the action in House and Senate committees.

Click the box below to read the live blog.

The governor, fresh off of ending his blogging hiatus, wrote a blog today about the proposed film incentive tax incentive cap. Needless to say, the governor is not in favor of the film credit cap, writing, “Caps would effectively eliminate the industry in the state.”

After getting pushed by a reporter on Twitter, Governor Bill Richardson’s blog is once again active. After blogging multiple times during the contentious special session in October, the Guv. had so far been dark in the 2010 legislative session.

The 2010 legislative session reached its halfway point and the New Mexico Independent was in the Roundhouse for another day of live blogging. You can see the committee schedule here. We were joined by the Sunlight Foundation during the morning’s Senate Rules Committee.

We were also joined by Marisa Demarco, managing and news editor of the Weekly Alibi.

Click the box below to read the transcript of the live blog.

For your convenience: downloadable agendas for both the Senate and the House can be found here or you can view the committee schedules, which are embedded below the fold.

State Sen. Benjamin Rodefer, D-Corrales, responded to Senate Public Affairs Committees’ addition of a committee hearing to a domestic partnership bill by writing on Twitter that he his “ashamed of the Senate’s actions.” He also wrote, “The founding of this Country was predicated on equality, equality for everyone, no exceptions.”

The New Mexico Supreme Court acted Tuesday to halt the White Peak land swap, at least temporarily, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. The court wants a response from State Land Commissioner Pat Lyons by February 15.

Senator Tom Udall, D-N.M., said Tuesday that he plans to propose a constitutional amendment to reform campaign finance laws following the Supreme Court decision that allows unlimited independent expenditures by corporations, unions and other groups.

Jill Norton, who described herself only as a New Mexico resident of nearly 18 years, finished her testimony against the domestic partnership bill, SB 183, with a not-so-subtle threat against legislators if they pass the domestic partnership bill that is currently in front of the Legislature. It was a threat that Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, [...]