Back in control, state Dems plan to reorganize legislative committees
Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, shortly after the House Democratic Caucus nominated him to be the next speaker of the House of Representatives.
When Republicans took control of the state House of Representatives in 2015 for the first time in more than 60 years, the GOP set up the Safety and Civil Affairs Committee and named a former cop as chairman. The duties of the committee included reviewing some criminal justice legislation, and its creation reflected the Republicans’ long agenda on crime, including increasing penalties for habitual offenders, possession of child pornography and drunken driving.
But Republicans lost control of the House in the November election, and Democrats next month will reorganize and rename committees.
“We want to set up the committees to reflect our top priorities,” said Rep. Brian Egolf, a Democrat from Santa Fe who is in line to become House speaker. “And our laser focus is on jobs and the economy.”
Egolf said the plan is to replace the Safety and Civil Affairs Committee with a Labor and Economic Development Committee. He and other Democrats have long argued that Republicans were too focused on crime and not paying enough attention to the state’s struggling economy. Crime bills will go to the long-standing Judiciary Committee, he said Wednesday.
Egolf said he is also considering splitting the duties of the Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee between two committees: a Local Government, Elections, Land Grants and Cultural Affairs Committee and a State Government, Indian and Veterans Affairs Committee. The split would raise the number of House committees from 12 to 13, the same number as in 2009.
Unlike its neighbors, New Mexico doesn’t have a committee with the word “veterans” in its title during legislative sessions.
In anticipation of changes in federally funded social services, the Health Committee might be renamed the Health and Human Services Committee, Egolf said.
He said Democrats might also bring back old names for some committees that Republicans renamed in 2015. The Regulation and Public Affairs Committee may be changed back to the Consumer and Public Affairs Committee. The Business and Employment Committee may be changed back to the Business and Industry Committee. The Ways and Means Committee will again be known as the Taxation and Revenue Committee.
The word “wildlife” will be cut from the name of the Agriculture, Water Resources and Wildlife Committee. Bills concerning wildlife will instead go to the Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
The House will have to vote on any committee changes when it reconvenes, but Republicans seem unlikely to object too strongly.
“I don’t think that’s one of those things we need to spend a lot of time on,” Minority Leader Nate Gentry, a Republican from Albuquerque, said Wednesday.
Democrats put up a fight when Republicans reorganized and renamed committees in 2015, delaying introduction of legislation for a brief time. Labor, environmental and voting rights groups also objected.
Still unclear, however, is who Egolf will choose to chair the House committees.
Egolf said he plans to keep in place some of the scheduling changes instituted by outgoing Speaker Don Tripp, R-Socorro, who was adamant that committees run on set schedules.
But Egolf said the whole House is unlikely to meet each afternoon during the upcoming 60-day session, in addition to each morning, as it did under Tripp. Egolf said the afternoon floor sessions overlapped with committee meetings.
“It put members in the position of choosing committees or floor sessions,” he said.
The Santa Fe New Mexican is a sister-paper of The Taos News. Contact Andrew Oxford at 505-986-3093 or aoxford@sfnewmexican.com. Follow him on Twitter @andrewboxford.
