On The Floor

• House Bill 308 Space Flight Informed Consent as amended passed the House with unanimous consent. HB308 limits the liability of space flight entities, while also requiring space flight entities to maintain a baseline level of liability insurance. It is the mirror of Senate Bill 240, which has been introduced in the House and is currently being heard in the House Business & Industry Committee. House Bill 308 will now go to the Senate.  Whichever bill completes the process first will be sent to Governor Susana Martinez for her signature.

In Committee

• A committee substitute for HB 66, sponsored by Rep. Bill McCamley (D-Las Cruces-33), passed the House Health, Government and Indian Affairs committee this morning. HB 66 aims to make healthcare more affordable by standardizing insurance cards and ensuring that they include an electronically readable device to cut down on data entry errors, saving doctors’ offices a lot of time and money.
• HB 144, sponsored by Rep. Paul Bandy (R-San Juan-3), was tabled in the House Health, Government and Indian Affairs committee this morning.  HB 144 would mandate that New Mexico issue a state identification card that is compliant with the federal Real ID Act.
• HB 225, sponsored by Representative James White (R-Bernalillo-20) was rolled over in House Voters and Elections Committee this morning pending a committee substitute suggested by Speaker W. Ken Martinez (D-Bernalillo, Cibola, McKinley, San Juan, Socorro, Valencia-69). The original bill implements some level of “motor voter registration” and to allow people to change their address or party affiliation online. The committee substitute seeks to delay the implementation of the law until the next election cycle to ensure that there are no issues with online securities.
• In House Voters and Elections Committee, Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard (D-Los Alamos, Sandoval, Rio Arriba, and Santa Fe-43) presented HJR 7, a constitutional amendment to mandate that class sizes be limited. The amendment was moved with no recommendation from HVEC to the House Education Committee, with an additional recommendation that it be passed from HEC to the House Appropriations and Finance Committee.