Sen. Carlos Cisneros

The state Senate voted 36-4 Saturday to strip more than $130 million from brick-and-mortar projects from around the state.

While senators overwhelmingly supported the legislation, the debate sometimes reflected the anger that lawmakers felt at watching money stripped from projects in their district. State officials say they need to claw money back from stalled projects to beef up the state’s reserves.

Hundreds of people turned a cavernous hearing room into cramped quarters Thursday to hear how more than 1,500 brick-and-mortar projects wound up on a 60-some-odd page list of projects targeted to lose state money. The bill could become the linchpin to the 30-day session. But if the large crowd of real people and dogged questioning by state lawmakers were any indicators, the legislation isn’t winning any popularity contests.

At least one state lawmaker believes the New Mexico State Legislature should strengthen a law that currently gives an operator of a boat two days to provide information to officers investigating an accident involving the craft. The law allowed Gov. Bill Richardson’s chief of staff, Brian Condit, to wait two days before he called an officer to discuss a boat accident at Elephant Butte State Park over the Labor Day weekend.

In the end, it wasn’t a bloodletting.
Democrats who had backed Sen. Carlos Cisneros‘ unsuccessful campaign to unseat state Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings retained their committee chairmanships.
Some Cisneros backers had worried Tuesday that they might be stripped of their chairmanships because of their support for the Questa Democrat in the tumultuous state Senate leadership [...]

The state Senate just recessed for an hour so that a powerful legislative committee can meet to discuss committee assignments.
There is much interest in who is selected as chairs to Senate committees after the Senate Democratic caucus was divided over a battle for the Senate president pro tem post. Some lawmakers have publicly worried that [...]

Tim Jennings may have retained his spot as Senate president pro tem Tuesday. But that doesn’t mean the factionalism vexing the Senate Democratic caucus is over. But questions remain how the fallout will play out in the Senate chamber during the 60-day legislative session.

A coalition of Democratic and Republican senators elected state Sen. Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, to another term as Senate president pro tem.
Jennings won the seat by a vote of 23 to 19, fending off a challenge from Sen. Carlos Cisneros, D-Questa.
“While there might be a little divide, that’s over. I am a Democrat and I am [...]

Sen. Tim Jennings of Roswell accused the governor Monday of orchestrating a putsch against him in his bid to keep his office as Senate President Pro Tem, despite Richardson’s pledge last month not to interfere in Roundhouse leadership fights.

The Democrats scored an impressive victory in last month’s general election. They won all four congressional seats up for grabs and padded their majorities in both chambers of the State Legislature. So is it possible that the GOP could play the role of kingmaker in an ongoing state Senate leadership battle? Sen. President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, believes so.