Author: House Republican Whip Rod Montoya (Farmington)
Lack of Courage Harms Restaurant Industry: Rep Rod Montoya
Most people who observe the legislative process rarely come away from the experience wowed by what took place. More often they become disengaged as hyper-partisanship wins the day. This recent legislative session, meant to address our budget shortfall, is a perfect example of why everyday people are losing faith in a once great institution.
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic came to New Mexico, myself and many of my colleagues have been questioning the Governor's use of her executive powers, most notably her continued forced closure of businesses that have resulted in over 100,000 unemployed New Mexicans and thousands of businesses struggling to stay open. We were not simply saying "open up for business," but we were asking for a seat at the table to be a part of the decision making process, our constituents affected by her orders demanded such. This legislative session gave us the opportunity to make that case.
House Bill 3 was introduced and had it passed would have given the Governor additional powers during a public health order shutdown. Among other things, it would have allowed her solely to make the decision to allow the delivery of alcohol with food purchases, a proposal she recently vetoed. This was something nearly every lawmaker supported as it was good for the restaurant industry that is still trying to find innovate ways to survive in the current environment. I know I supported this measure. What happened next is exactly why our politics continues to devolve to its current state.
When House Bill 3 came to the floor, House Republicans offered an amendment that would have required the legislature to approve extensions of a public health order. Remember, the Governor has arbitrarily closed businesses for three months straight and has done so without the legislative branch's input. The amendment would have required the legislature to approve, if the Governor felt the need to extend her orders past 30 days. This was a reasonable request that our constituents deserved, and it was early enough in the session the Senate could consider this proposal.
A simple vote on the amendment and then vote on the bill itself, case closed. The only problem, House Democrats did not want to vote on the amendment. Simply put, they were afraid to vote to take power away from the Governor, afraid to speak truth to power. And had they voted against the amendment they would be signaling to their constituents that they were okay with what the Governor has been doing for the last three months.
The result, rather than vote on the amendment, they pulled the original bill all together. That's right, rather than take a "bad" vote on an amendment that was good for their constituents, they decided to walk away from a bill that would have helped restaurants across our state survive the current public health orders, or God forbid, future closures.
The people of this state do not send us here to play these games. Protecting our own election chances at the expense of our constituents, and at the expense of our economic future is exactly why people are so disillusioned with politics in general. New Mexico is struggling. Our economy may take years to recover. People do not know what to do for schooling in the fall. The future looks bleak. Until those that are sent to Santa Fe stand up to the powerful, New Mexico will continue to struggle. If only courage were as contagious as this awful virus we are dealing with, New Mexico might just be in a position to finally succeed.