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Friday, February 15, 2019

City Power Seen In Gun Vote, Republican Pot Heads In The Senate, And: PERA's Propst Has Big Problems 

Blogging New Mexico 
There's that citification of New Mexican politics again. A group of mostly rural county sheriffs sat in the state Senate gallery Thursday in solidarity against a gun control bill being debated that called for more background checks when buying and selling firearms but the bill still managed to pass the often conservative Senate, 22-20. Do you think that would have happened even five years ago?

It didn't hurt that only hours before the vote a student at a Rio Rancho high school fired a gunshot inside the school, setting off panic. Fortunately, that's all there was to it. But the bottom line at the capitol when it comes to social legislation like gun control is the aforementioned growing power of the liberal cities (ABQ, Santa Fe and Las Cruces) and a new Democratic Governor who was elected with overwhelming margins in those cities.

Two Dems who often take the conservative line and that the 16 Senate Republicans count on to join them to defeat liberal legislation refused this time. Both are from metro areas--Sen. Mary Kay Papen of Las Cruces and John Sapien of Bernalillo. Meanwhile, newly appointed Dem state Senator Gabriel Ramos confirmed the worst fears of his progressive foes and voted with the R's against the background checks.

The House has passed a similar bill so MLG will soon get out her signing pen. She was in the fore of tough gun legislation when she served as a congresswoman and she's picking up in Santa Fe where she left off in DC.

With the political compass in the Senate moving from the center right and more toward the center, it will be interesting to see in the final month of the session how many more cracks form in the conservative dam.

REPUBLICAN POT HEADS

Our Alligators were spot on when they said to keep an eye on a small group of GOP state Senators when it comes to legalizing recreational marijuana. Those senators--ABQ's Mark Moores, Roswell's Cliff Pirtle and Rio Rancho's Craig Brandt joined three Dem Senators this week and came with this bill:

Senators introduced a bill to allow the legalization of cannabis for adult use, and they're putting a special emphasis on the protection of children. While there is a growing bipartisan agreement that prohibition has not been effective in limiting and controlling the negative impact of cannabis in our state. The Senators involved want a responsible regulatory process that minimizes its negative impact and better protects children.

That doesn't mean the outlook for legalizing pot this year isn't still cloudy. A number of Dem Senators are still against it but this will be closely watched.

PERA, PROPST AND PROBLEMS

Propst
State employees and the many who are retired are going to be interested in this development from Tuesday's board meeting of the Public Employee Retirement Authority (PERA).

The executive director of PERA, Wayne Propst, has landed in the sights of Attorney General Hector Balderas who, at the request of the Board, is investigating Propst over big staff pay raises he has been dishing out. One of our Alligators at the meeting reports:

--The PERA Board voted to suspend Executive Director Wayne Propst's authority over PERA staff regarding pay raises and promotions until an investigation into the raises by the Attorney General is complete.

--The Board voted to ask the Attorney General to investigate Propst regarding pay raises and promotions for his staff over the last five years.

--State Treasurer Tim Eichenberg stated that he has already sent a letter to the Attorney General requesting an investigation of Propst for potential illegalities regarding PERA pay raises and promotions.

--Chief Investment Officer Dominic Garcia reported that the PERA fund lost 2.5% in 2018. In comparison The Education Retirement Board fund (ERB) for educators had a 0.6% increase during 2018. The PERA fund fell to $14.6 billion from $15 billion.

Propst handed out $630,000 in pay raises last year to 30 of the agency's employees, including himself. The raises ranged from 6 to 59 percent and done without board approval, according to ABQ Report.

Making matters worse, while handing out the staff pay hikes Propst has been lobbying to have retired state employees give up their 2 percent annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) in order to help the PERA fund achieve long-term solvency. But with the AG breathing down his neck and the Guv and many legislators wary of suspending the COLA, it appears it will be Propst who will getting his wings clipped. A recording of the meeting is here.

E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com)

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019
 
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