LAS CRUCES - Anybody dealing with Zoom meetings knows the frustration that comes when the screen freezes in mid-sentence.
A tape of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s delayed state of the state address Tuesday, Jan. 26, had just such a delay, at an inopportune time. “I’d like to ask for a moment of silence … “ at that exact moment the screen froze.
New Mexico House Speaker Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, filled the time by asking Lt. Gov. Howie Morales about the weather in Silver City (it was snowing) before the video returned … “for the thousands we have just lost.”
The governor went on to give an optimistic speech praising the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and calling for lawmakers to address a wide range of issues this session.
Lengthy debate
A bill that would place new residency requirements on medical schools was passed out of the House Health and Human Services Committee after more than an hour of debate and against the advice of the state Department of Health (NMDOH).
House Bill 23 is intended to prevent out-of-state medical schools from taking the limited number of residencies available in New Mexico. The state objected to some of the technical language in the bill, and expressed concern that it could be overly restrictive.
Sponsor Doreen Gallegos, D-Las Cruces, who is House majority whip, said none of those concerns were raised when the bill was discussed in interim meetings before the session. She said she would work with NMDOH officials to try to address their concerns before the bill has its next committee hearing, which will be in the House Judiciary Committee.
Debates have been running long in the opening days of the session as lawmakers struggle to impose parliamentary procedures on a Zoom meeting.
Strange Bedfellows
Veteran lobbyists Bill Jordan of New Mexico Voices for Children and J.D. Bullington of the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce have often testified in legislative committee meetings about the same bills, but rarely on the same side.
That changed Tuesday, when both threw their support behind a Senate bill to help both restaurants and low-wage workers.
“I’d like to thank the Senate Conservation Committee for this Kumbaya moment,” Bullington quipped.