Looks like the state House Dems have gotten a crumb from the R's. One of the Dem House committee chairs told us that there was concern that the former Dem chairs would not be allowed to sit on their committees now that the R's have taken over. But in the committee assignments released by the House leadership the former chairs were not banished. . .

Farmington area GOP Senate Bill Sharer, a regular sponsor of anti-abortion bills, is taking a break this year, saying he will be a "support guy" but will not carry a bill to ban late term abortions. How the state GOP handles abortion--an issue of importance to its base voters--is proving to be interesting. The Guv and her political advisers don't want happening here what happened this week to the House Republicans in DC, but it isn't easy to avoid when you have so much emotion behind an issue.

Well-known ABQ Pastor Dewey Moede fires the first shots at Gov. Martinez over abortion:

 Governor Susana Martinez MIA: It’s a very sad day in New Mexico, when a Republican Governor who says she is pro-life does not show for the once a year pro-life rally at the State Capital, but will show up for every photo opportunity to open any kind of business or new highway project, what is Governor Martinez afraid of? I am tired of reading comments that Martinez is a “great Governor”, what makes her great? Skipping a rally that is held to encourage support to stop the killing of babies? I say again, what is the Governor afraid of?

Feeling the heat, the Guv's office says:

Gov. Susana Martinez would support a bill to place restrictions on late-term abortions, her spokesman said Thursday. The state's three Roman Catholic bishops say the anti-abortion measure is their top priority for the legislative session, and they hope a lawmaker or lawmakers will step forward to sponsor it. "As the governor has said many times, she is pro-life, which would of course include opposition to late-term abortions," Martinez's spokesman said in a statement.

Interesting stuff and we are on it for you.

EMAILGATE

It's not over yet:

A dozen high-powered attorneys are beginning to wage a pitched legal battle in federal court involving Gov. Susana Martinez and her most outspoken critics. To the casual observer, the lawsuit might appear unrelated to the state’s highest elected official. Its plaintiffs are two former state workers and two others and its defendants are behind-the-scenes politicos. But the civil filing is the next chapter in an email scandal that rocked the Martinez administration and sent her first campaign manager to federal prison.

THE BEAR

It's one of the richest counties in the USA thanks to the federal funds flowing into Los Alamos Labs, but that doesn't mean the Great Bear is passing it by:

Chief Financial Officer Steven Lynne presented the Los Alamos County Council with grim news. Gross receipts tax revenue is projected to be $3.6 million lower than expected in FY 2015 and $2.1 million lower in FY 2016.  The change is largely due to lower than anticipated spending and tax rates for Los Alamos National Laboratory. According to Lynne, LANL spending bottomed out at a figure lower than anticipated and the spending recovery after the government shutdown has been slower than projected.The lab has also refined its tax management policies so it is paying less tax. 

APD AND SANTA FE

Karl Mofffat of White Rock, NM writes of the APD crisis:

Regarding police shootings and the fight between APD and the District Attorney, where do our state lawmakers stand? For instance shouldn't we be talking about a possible state law governing the policy and procedures by which these kind of cases are handled? Should there be a special prosecutor automatically assigned to oversee them? Should the public defender's office be involved, the law enforcement academy or state attorney general? Should these cases automatically be going before a judge for an open hearing so the public can see and hear evidence in these cases? Because many people right now don't seem to trust the current legal system. And whether that's because of a lack of transparency, accountability or immunity from the kind of political chicanery we're seeing in Albuquerque, it obviously needs to be addressed and our state lawmakers should be weighing in on it.

There has been a bill introduced in Santa Fe that would turn over the investigations of police shootings to the state attorney general. Bernalillo County DA Kari Brandenburg says she supports the measure,

THE BOTTOM LINES

Terrie Q. Sayre

KKOB-AM radio talk show host Terrie Q. Sayre has died. Friends say she had been suffering from the flu for a month.

Sayre held forth behind the microphone on weekend mornings from 7 to 10 at the conservative talk outlet and had been doing so for some 8 years.

She served as program director, news director and news anchor for radio stations in Nevada before coming to ABQ. She was also a well-known animal rights activist.

Rio Rancho GOP State Senator Craig Brandt was among those posting condolences on her Facebook page.

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Sens. Smith & Sanchez

To blast or not to blast? The 2015 legislative session is much focused on that question. And as far as we can tell--and to invoke Shakespeare again--Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez is not wavering ala Hamlet. No blasts, says he, and that's big.

Supporters of the controversial right to work law (RTW) have the Republican House in the bag but need RTW to bypass the Senate committees where it will most likely be killed in the crib. They want it before the entire Senate for a vote. That's where the "blast" comes in.

The 17 R's would vote to blast RTW from a committee and directly onto the floor. If 4 Democrats would join them they would have what they need--a 21 to 21 tie that would be broken in favor of RTW by GOP LT. Governor John Sanchez. Susana would then cheerfully get out her pen and sign on the line.

But the odds appear to be growing longer for the blast, and if it doesn't happen RTW will have a much tougher path.  RTW bills could be stuck in Senate committees where they will RIP.

Our sourcing tells us that at the recent caucus of Senate Democrats all agreed not to take part in blasting legislation because it would pretty much make the committee system a sham. We're told just about every Dem Senator was at that meeting.

Insiders further report that Leader Sanchez has been diligently working Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith and Senate President Pro Tem May Kay Papen--two Dems who often lean conservative--not to be blasters, or from a Democratic perspective--bastards.

Still, that does not mean RTW advocates are out of the game. There are other parliamentary maneuvers that could still be employed to get the bill through. And there's the wheeling and dealing and horse trading with the Governor and that has yet to unfold that could create a path for passage.

Former ABQ Dem State Senator Richard Romero--who served as president pro tem over a decade ago--told public broadcasting's Gene Grant that he believes Sanchez will prevail. He said blasting of bills occurred when he was there and resulted in chaos and the decimation of the cherished committee system that gives a number of Senators significant power. They lose that power when blasters bring out the dynamite. . .

Speaking of committees, GOP House Speaker Don Tripp has announced the chairs of all the standing committees in the House. Some of the committee names are going to be changed and some committees will be abolished including the House Voters and Elections panel. Said one Democratic wall-leaner embittered about that: "You don't need a voters committee when you don't want people to vote."

LIFE FOR PRO-LIVERS?

In her state-of-the-state speech, Governor Martinez made no mention of hot button social issues that excite GOP base voters. Neither has the GOP House leadership yet. But a big pro-life rally sponsored by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe Wednesday had to get the attention of those Republicans who do not want to mess with abortion or other high voltage issues. The GOP embraces pro-life positions but they are at odds with a majority of voters.

This report on the rally expresses optimism that a number of anti-abortion bills will sail through the newly controlled GOP House. We're not so sure:

. . .Bills that would require minors to get parental notification before obtaining abortions, call on doctors to distribute information on medical risks and alternatives to the procedure to women seeking abortion and banning all late-term abortions. Each measure has been introduced as a bill in recent years, yet none of them have ever cleared House committees. The bills haven't been formally introduced this session yet, but with a new Republican-controlled House, they're expected to at least clear the House. They'll likely face a tougher time in a state Senate still controlled by Democrats, who usually lean in favor of abortion rights.

Parental notification is the easiest of the bunch and has the best odds of making it through the House, but a ban on late-term abortions? That could put the Governor on the spot and give Dems a major social issue against the R's in the '16 election, especially in the swing ABQ seats. At the ABQ special election in November of '13, over 55 percent of the voters rejected a late term ban.

It's a slippery slope for the Governor--who has shown little zeal for the pro-life cause--and the House. They've dodged the bullet in the weeks leading up to the session. They'll have to keep bobbing and weaving as the GOP base comes to collect on promises made.

MONITORING A MONITOR

Ginger

The selection of James Ginger as the federal monitor to oversee Department of Justice ordered reforms of the troubled ABQ APD seems to be getting a pretty warm welcome by most parties involved. But much trust has been lost. Some critics of the department say they haven't much faith that Ginger and company will be effective. Chuck McCoy, writing in the newspaper's comment section, summed it up this way:

Expecting the current APD officers to voluntarily "buy in" to policies that restrict their authority to do as they damned well please is about like expecting toddlers to "buy in" to an earlier bedtime. This fellow says his job is to identify areas in which the APD is found wanting and to leave it to them to figure out how to improve. We've already identified the areas where the APD needs improvement, and expecting them to improve themselves on their own with academics looking over their shoulders periodically saying "That's not quite good enough, and you'll have to guess how to do better" doesn't seem particularly bright. At the end of the day nothing much is going to change in the nasty attitudes of the APD officers on the street who are going to sit through all the yadda-yadda-yadda from these consultants and then go do as they please. We're paying millions for suits to nag them into better behavior, and I don't think it's going to have much effect.

We're going to have a long time to see if it has any effect. The monitor could be here four years or more.

And City Hall appears to have met its match in Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg. Here she comes:

The four-term DA said she has no plans to step aside from the prosecution of officers Dominique Perez and former detective Keith Sandy (in the killing of homeless camper James Boyd), or any other police shooting case, despite an aggressively worded letter from ABQ Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry calling on her to appoint a special prosecutor. Perry claims Brandenburg and her entire office have a conflict of interest in the case — and in all other police shooting cases. She disagrees. “At this point, we don’t see any legal reason to appoint a special prosecutor. Neither has anyone given us a reason up to this point … We think we’re following the law and, for doing that, we’re getting push back from the brass at APD and from the Mayor’s Office.”

Maybe the Justice Dept. should have made DA Brandenburg the federal monitor for APD?

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We didn't see Governor Martinez crossing her fingers for good luck as she gave her State of the State address Tuesday but that seems to be the strategy when it comes to dealing with what is shaping up as a severe budget pinch.

The crashing price of oil--the proverbial elephant in the room and the one costing the state millions in tax revenue--did not even earn a mention. Nothing could interrupt the Governor's state of euphoria. . .

(Full text and video here.)

She sported a confidence more noticeable than in such speeches of the past. And why not? She won re-election in a landslide and the state House is now under her wing with the GOP in charge. For this Governor it's a Sally Field moment: "You like me, you really like me!"

The growth in this governorship has been in cosmetics and symbolism. The speech was well-delivered--one of her better efforts--and the optics just right. She looked fit and engaged. The ubiquitous school kids were brought directly to the podium this year. But the content was like summer TV--heavy on the reruns.

For example, making their annual appearances on Susana's greatest hits list was holding back third graders who don't perform and repealing driver's licenses for undocumented workers.

Right to work might be called a new idea, but it was an original series back in the 80's when it passed the Legislature twice only to be vetoed. In a rebuttal to Martinez following her nearly 50 minute speech, Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez predicted that the Democratic Senate will kill the right to work bill. He sounded convincing.

(For you policy nerds, 2014 Dem Guv candidate Alan Webber came with an in-depth study of RTW).

Applause in the chamber for Martinez was as modest as her initiatives. Seasoned lawmakers know they have a budget crisis on their hands and are already looking past the gubernatorial rhetoric and grappling with the new reality. Against that backdrop her desire for targeted tax cuts seems out of sync.

The Governor got the emphasis she wanted from the speech--education and right-to-work. That was the easy part. The hard part has only been postponed--not eliminated.

BREAKING PROTOCOL

The enmity between Governor Martinez and her predecessor is so deep that it led her to break with protocol and actually attack Bill Richardson by name, ripping him with this:

We have recovered over $29 million in taxpayer money that was squandered in the Richardson-era pay-to-play scandals. But there’s more to do.

We had her getting an "A" for rhetoric, but that took her down to a B. It revealed what Mother Jones magazine and others have called her "petty and vindictive" side.

It also conjured up what could go awry in her own second term. Remember the racino lease for the ABQ Downs? The behavioral health upheaval?  The NCIC license plate checks?

Out with the old and in with the new. Here's a shot for the books--Democratic Speaker Ken Martinez welcoming new Speaker Tripp to the House rostrum. The peaceful transfer of power is a given here, but not for much of the world. . .
NEVER TOO EARLY?

From Dem US Senator Martin Heinrich on his 2018 re-election bid (yes, 2018):

One rule I have always followed in politics is that it is never too early to get your campaign started. As I watched the election returns this past November, then saw Senator McConnell sworn in as Majority Leader last week, I knew that rule was as important today as it ever has been. That is why we set a goal of raising $7,500 online this month. Can I count on your early support?

Never too early? What's next? Susana announcing that she's taking on Heinrich in '18?

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As the 2015 session of the New Mexico Legislature opens today the state has settled into a long-term stagnation that hardly anyone expects to be turned around by whatever comes out of the 60 day confab. . .

Flat to declining federal spending combined with a crash in energy prices will ensure that this year will mimic the others since the Great Recession tagged us its favorite place to hang out. . .

Governor Martinez now owns whatever one thinks of today's circumstances. She wasn't punished for it at the November polls. She will continue to put a smiley face on matters, proposing itty bitty solutions to a macro problem. . .

Democrats will spar some with the R's but will have their hands full simply trying to put a finger in the dike as conservative economic legislation floods into the state Senate from the newly GOP controlled state House. . .

Dem Senator Carlos Cisneros is first out of the gate with a specific budget prediction. He's saying that because of the bear market in oil prices Santa Fe will be "lucky" if there's even $40 million in new money to spend for the budget year that begins July 1. . .

That's essentially no growth for the budget. If lawmakers and the Governor are going to get to the $6.3 billion number they propose, they may have to eat further into the state's cash reserves. . .

Our legislative Alligators are already reporting that a budget proposal of $6.1 billion will soon be making the rounds. . .

Most of our legislators are comfortably middle or upper class so the world of many of their constituents--especially those who don't vote--can be unfamiliar. The separation of the haves and have nots permeates politics everywhere:
MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Here's the special events calender for the 60 day session, ranging from tonight's annual legislative dinners by both the D's and R's to American Indian Day later in the session.

THE APD DRAMA

That decision by Mayor Berry's administration to exclude the Bernalillo County District Attorney from the scene of last Tuesday's fatal police shooting is drawing national attention--and outrage. The WaPo's criminal justice blogger came with this scorcher

. . . This is really reprehensible behavior. . . It’s also just the latest example of law enforcement officers and their supporters demonstrating incredible petulance in retaliation for public scrutiny or the rare attempt to hold rogue cops accountable for their actions. Keep in mind, this is all occurring in a city that has a long history of questionable police shootings, that recently entered into a consent decree with the Department of Justice after an investigation found a pattern of unconstitutional use-of-force incidents, that seems to have a problematic shoot-first culture within the police department, and that has a history of law enforcement officials retaliating against whistleblowers.

PASSINGS

Tijerina in 1969 (Bralley)

Reies Lopez Tijerina drew sharply divergent opinions but his reach across NM history is not in dispute. He died Monday at 88, ending a life that was lived large.

Veteran photographer and blogger Mark Bralley is one of the few media figures still around who covered the heyday of the land grant activist. He posted this obit on his blog. . .And retired (and legendary) ABQ Journal reporter Larry Calloway--who as a wire service reporter was taken prisoner during Tijerina's '67 raid on the Tierra Amarilla Courthouse--posted on his blog a remembrance of that historic event.

And tragic news has come to us. The 31 year old daughter of Robert and Peggy Muller Aragon, Amberlee, died in an early Sunday morning auto accident on ABQ's westside, family members confirm on social media. Robert Aragon, an ABQ attorney, is a member of the State Board of Finance and was the 2014 GOP state auditor candidate. Peggy Muller Aragon is a candidate for ABQ School Board in the Feb. 3 election. . .

And oldtimers will remember Eric McCrossen, for many years the editorial page editor of the ABQ Journal. McCrossen, 83, died Sunday. We first met him in '74 when we covered our first NM Guv's race and when McCrossen's columns on the subject were a must read. In '76, we met up with him on the campaign trail, covering Senator Joe Montoya's unsuccessful re-election bid. (Reporters actually went out on the trail back then. Today the trail is a TV studio).

That day we shared some of the hard stuff with McCrossen, "Little Joe" and his hangers-on and then did some hard news. As retired political reporter Rodger Beimer often says: "Those were the best of times."

Before the focus switches tomorrow to the 60 day legislative session that kicks-off in Santa Fe, we pause today to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. As for La Politica. . .

Let's take a look at a fresh angle in that political brawl that broke out last week featuring ABQ Mayor RJ Berry and his Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry as they piled on Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg.

It all started Tuesday night when ABQ had its latest officer involved fatal shooting and Brandenburg's office was barred from the scene. Berry and Perry claim that because Brandenburg has charged two police officers with murder in a 2014 police shooting and because APD has investigated her on bribery allegations, she has a conflict of interest and can no longer be involved with police shooting cases. It was a shocker and drew  Alligator comments. This one wonders if the city is opening up a can of worms:

The administration appears to be laying the groundwork to have a special prosecutor appointed for officer involved shootings. Police protesters have long been saying that there is a conflict of interest to allow the DA to determine if an officer should be charged. Now they can use the administration's argument to support their call for a special prosecutor. I would not be surprised if they call on the City Council for a policy change to resolve any and all conflicts. I would also not be surprised if they call for a special prosecutor to investigate previous shootings where people died. There is no statute of limitations on a murder charge.

But who would pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars needed for these special prosecutors and their staffs? Is the city willing to write the check since it is their employees--police officers--who are at issue? There will be a bill introduced in this session of the legislature to have officer involved shootings investigated by the state attorney general's office.

EARLY GRUMBLING

In Santa Fe, they haven't even had the opening day hugs and kisses and the grumbling has already started. We get this from the camp of Dem State Rep. Eliseo Alcon:

I will no longer be caucusing with House Democrats. Not once did the House Democratic Caucus look to it's core members for advice during the election. I take special offense because it seems that I am the only one with experience winning against Gov. Martinez. Until the current leadership can prove they won't lead us off a cliff, I won't follow. I will be meeting largely with rank and file union members and nonprofit groups for advice on legislation that is difficult to take a stance on.

Alcon recently sought the post of House Minority Leader. That job went to Santa Fe Dem Rep. Brian Egolf.

BILL WATCH

This is one of the more interesting bills we've seen as the Legislature prepares to meet tomorrow:

A lawmaker wants to make it mandatory for parents or guardians to receive court-ordered family services when abuse or neglect of a child is suspected. Rep. Kelly Fajardo, R-Belen, said: "By intervening and requiring parents in abuse cases to seek help, we are adding another layer of protection for our children while at the same time keeping the family together." Under the proposed legislation, it would be mandatory for families to receive services in abuse or neglect cases that require intervention but may not rise to the level of removing the child from the home. Those services could include drug or alcohol counseling, parenting courses or anger management classes.

And don't forget to urge your fellow R's to approve funding for that intervention, Kelly.

BILLION DOLLAR MISTAKE

You think you have trouble balancing your checkbook? Bet you didn't make a billion dollar mistake:

Public Service Company of New Mexico told state regulators that its cost estimates for replacing the coal power it generates near Farmington have climbed over $1 billion in the last year as the company corrected calculation errors, and it will have to pass those costs on to its ratepayers. . . 

We thought DC was the only place a billion bucks could disappear with hardly a trace.

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