The Senate convened around noon yesterday and the long awaited issue of adverse committee reports was dealt with.  The bills that were ruled Germane in Committees’ Committee on Sunday were reported out and each move for adoption was unanimously approved.  These included SB4, SB13, SB14, SB15, SB16, SB17, SB18 and Senate Concurrent Resolution 1.

It was a different story on the bills that were ruled Not Germane by Committees’ Committee (the tax bills).  Each move for adoption of the adverse committee reports was met with an objection and a debate ensued along the lines of the earlier debates regarding the Governors’ ability to restrict the legislature in how it solves the current budget crisis. SB1, SB2 and SB7 (see earlier blog for detailed descriptions) each received significant debate.  The adverse committee reports were ultimately upheld keeping the issues from being brought forward on a 22 to 16 floor vote.  The 16 Senators who wanted to overturn the adverse committee report and who were advocating for using tax increases to solve the budget shortfall included Senators Rod Adair, Carlos Cisneros, Tim Eichenberg, Dede Feldman, Stephen Fischmann, Mary Jane Garcia, Eric Griego, Tim Keller, Linda Lopez, Richard Martinez, Cisco McSorley, Cynthia Nava, Gerry Ortiz y Pino, Nancy Rodriguez, Bernadette Sanchez and Peter Wirth.  Senator Rod Adair stated that his vote was due to his belief that the constitution didn’t allow the Governor to be so prescriptive in his limitations on the legislature and that he didn’t support any of the proposed tax increases.

The Senate did, however, make progress in addressing the budget shortfalls in FY2009 and FY2010, as did the House.  Bills were introduced to transfer funds from the reserves, as well as to cut appropriations and curb spending.

The House Education Committee met and debated a few bills, though no action was taken. The House Appropriations and Finance Committee met and passed several bills, three of which were passed on the floor and move to the Senate.  These represent the first bills to have action in this special session.

HB3: Program and Cash Balance Money Transfers and Appropriations Voided sponsored by Speaker B. Lujan is an effort to balance the FY 2010 budget by providing for the cumulative transfer of $108,059,337 from various funds and agencies into the General Fund and voids the authorization for unspent appropriations. The bill passed on a 45 – 21 vote and now moves to the Senate where it will be heard by the Senate Committee of the Whole.

HB11: Educational Retirement and Retiree Health Care Contributions introduced by Rep. R. Miera provides for the delay of General Fund increases to education retirement and retiree health care funds. The bill passed on a 42 – 23 vote and now moves to the Senate where it will be heard by the Senate Committee of the Whole.

HB16: Legislative Branch Appropriations Reduction introduced by Rep. K. Martinez would further reduce General Fund appropriations made to the Legislative Branch of government for fiscal year 2010 by 5.3 percent. The bill passed on a 66- 0 vote and now moves to the Senate where it will be heard by the Senate Committee of the Whole.

Rep. L. Larranaga has introduced HB25: $214 million Reserve Fund Transfer to General Fund which proposes to do as the name implies and transfer $214 million from the Operating Reserve to the Appropriation Account of the General Fund to meet fiscal year 2009 obligations.  The bill has been referred to the House Rules Committee to determine if it is germane.

The House Rules Committee has not scheduled another meeting.  It should be noted that if House Rules does meet again, there is a possibility that bills previously tabled could be reconsidered.

Five bills were accepted as germane and will now be heard by the Senate as a Committee of the Whole.  Unlike the House, the Senate has chosen not to meet as individual committees, but instead to have the entire body meet and debate as a committee.

SB14: Fund Transfers to Cover FY 2009 Budget Shortfall introduced by Sen. C. Nava provides authority to the Governor, with State Board of Finance approval, to transfer up to $115 million from the Tax Stabilization Reserve and the Operating Reserve to the General Fund to balance the FY 2009 Budget.

SB15: Senate Leader’s Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Reductions introduced by Sen. J. Smith, though similar to HB17, contains deeper budget cuts to state agencies.

SB16: Senate Leader’s Version of Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Reductions introduced by Sen. J. Smith provides a reduced level of funding to state agencies for fiscal year 2010 by reducing general-fund appropriations by 16.3 percent across the board for all state agencies with the following exceptions:

• 3% reduction for Higher Education components but 0% reduction for Instruction and General Purposes categories
• 0% reduction for Developmental Disabilities Support Program (DOH)
• 0% reduction for Medical Assistance Program (HSD)
• 0% reduction for Public School Support

Also proposes a new section that would appropriate the $91 million remaining from ARRA 2009 education funds to school districts to be distributed through the State Equalization Guarantee Distribution for FY 2010.

SB17: Legislative Branch Appropriations Reduction introduced by Sen. T. Jennings (Pro-Tem) is identical to HB16 introduced by Rep. K. Martinez which passed the House.  This bill would further reduce General Fund appropriations made to the Legislative Branch of government for fiscal year 2010 by 5.3 percent.

SB18: Educational Retirement and Retiree Health Care Contributions introduced by Sen. T. Jennings is identical to HB11 sponsored by Rep. R. Miera that passed the House.  This bill provides for the delay of General Fund increases to education retirement and retiree health care funds.

Six new bills were introduced that were referred to the Committee on Committees to determine if they are germane and can be acted upon during this special session.

SB19: Fund Transfer for FY 2009 Budget Shortfall introduced by Sen. J. Smith transfers $110 million from the operating reserve to the state General Fund to meet fiscal year 2009 obligations. In addition, the Governor is empowered, with State Board of Finance approval, to transfer up to an additional $115 million to meet fiscal year 2009 obligations.

SB20: Program and Cash Balance Transfers and Appropriations Voided introduced by Sen. J. Smith is almost identical to Speaker Lujan’s HB3, except that in addition to transferring  $108,059,337 from various funds and agencies into the General Fund and voids the authorization for unspent appropriations, the bill calls for $76 million to be transferred from the College Affordability Endowment Fund versus the $60 million proposed in HB3.

SB21: Reducing Exempts and Prohibiting Transfers introduced by Sen. Fischmann is identical to Rep. N. Cote’s HB24 and calls for the State Personnel Act to be amended to prohibit exempt employees in the Executive Branch from transferring into classified positions during the last two years of an elected official’s term.

SB22: Budget Reform Commission Created introduced by Sen. R. Adair would create a 23-member New Mexico Budget Reform Commission comprised of 5 members from the House, 5 from the Senate, 2 public members appointed by the Speaker and the President Pro Tem, and 11 public members appointed by the Governor. The commission is to develop recommendations to comprehensively evaluate and reprioritize the state’s General Fund budget and submit a final report to the Legislature and Governor by January 15, 2010. The bill also appropriates $100,000 from Legislative Cash Balances to Legislative Council Service to cover staff and member expenses.

SB23: Limits Exempt Staff in Governor’s Office and State Agencies introduced by Sen. J. Ryan is another version of the proposal to reduce the number of exempt employees under the control of the Governor. Amends the Personnel Act to cap the number of exempt employees no more than 200 appointed agency heads, heads of agencies appointed by boards or commissions, directors of department divisions, exempt assistants to cabinet secretaries, those of a professional or scientific nature which are temporary in nature, and those positions that the personnel board has authority to deem to be policymaking; and no more than 20 exempt employees iin the governor’s office.

SB24: School Equalization Reduction and Public School Insurance Premiums introduced by Sen. V. Asbill would reduce the General Fund appropriation for the State Equalization Guarantee Distribution by $6.4 million for FY 2010. It would also appropriate $29 million from the Public School Capital Outlay Fund to the Public School Insurance Authority for FY 2010 to pay property insurance premiums on behalf of school districts and charter schools. Of that $29 million, $7 million is earmarked for the Albuquerque Public School District.