New Mexico legislative leaders: Education is priority No. 1

SANTA FE - Democrats who lead the Legislature's two chambers said Sunday they will set up a "rocket docket" to streamline the introduction of bills in the upcoming 60-day session.

"When you know you have a chance to do something, that's when you push," said Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth of Santa Fe.

He and House Speaker Brian Egolf, also a Santa Fe Democrat, hosted a presentation on legislative priorities at Collected Works Bookstore. The hourlong discussion drew about 125 people.

Both lawmakers said the No. 1 priority of the session will be improving the public education system, in large part by investing more money — perhaps as much as $800 million to $1 billion a year.

They hope to increase money for early childhood education and raise salaries of teachers.

Tax reform, health care and job growth also will be on the list of priorities, the two men said.

Wirth and Egolf painted an ambitious and optimistic outlook regarding what might be achieved in Democratic Gov.-elect Michelle Lujan Grisham's first session. That's because, as Wirth put it, the stars may be in just the right alignment for a raft of Democrat-driven initiatives to succeed this session.

Following November's elections, Democrats added to their majority in the House of Representatives. It's a 46-24 majority — a reversal from the 2014 election, when state Republicans took the majority of seats in the House for the first time since 1953.

As a result, Wirth said, lawmakers won't have to engage in a "veto battle," as they have with Republican Gov. Susana Martinez. She leaves office this month after two terms.

Wirth said Lujan Grisham recently met with leaders from both political parties to lay out ideas for better cooperation and vowed to visit with those lawmakers in their offices to talk about issues and concerns, something that "hasn't happened in a long time," Wirth said.

He said even Republican lawmakers who met with Lujan Grisham are "starstruck" by her energy and ideas.

Whether this translates into two months of smooth sailing remains to be seen, as some of the state's more conservative Democrats do not agree with Lujan Grisham on some ideas, such as drawing money from the Land Grant Permanent Fund to expand early childhood education.

Wirth acknowledged there could be "some issues" with those Democrats, but, along with Egolf, he continually suggested the blue wave that washed through the state on Election Day will continue to run through the Roundhouse come January.

The "rocket docket" plan, for example, could get legislative efforts moving by the third week of the eight-week session, Wirth and Egolf said. The idea is to introduce bills that have received unanimous or near-unanimous approval in the past and move them into both legislative chambers quickly. In each of those chambers, a committee of two

Republicans and two Democrats will review those bills and, if they agree, move them to the floor of both the House and Senate for expedited votes.

The forum left little room for specifics to be hashed out, though Egolf said much of that will occur after the governor has chosen her cabinet secretaries. He and Wirth said the public should expect legislation on gun control, health care protection and renewable energy.

"But education is really going to be the focus," Wirth said.

New Mexico often ranks near or at the bottom of most national surveys on public education. Wirth said with an infusion of funds — including from projected revenues of oil and gas money in the $2.5 billion range — the state can boost its ranking to "being in the top 10 for education."

While encouraging the public to visit the Roundhouse, meet with legislators and lobby for their own concerns, Wirth and Egolf warned that it could take more time than usual for visitors to get into the Capitol on the first day of the session. Lawmakers favor a new policy not to allow anyone carrying a weapon -- unless they have a concealed carry permit — into the building that day.

Thus, weapon-detecting devices will be used and backpack searches will be conducted.

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