Senate Democrats vow united front against 'right to work' bills

Senate Democrats, including some who occasionally drift into Republican Gov. Susana Martinez’s camp, presented a unified front Wednesday in vowing to stop “right-to-work” legislation, dooming one of the governor’s top legislative priorities.

Collectively, they sent an unequivocal message that legislation making it illegal to require employees to pay union fees as a condition of employment will die in the Senate, where Democrats hold a majority. The proposal, which the Republican-controlled House is expected to pass soon, will likely meet its end in its first Senate committee hearing.

The House had been expected to vote on House Bill 75, the right-to-work bill, on Wednesday. But the vote was delayed. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Dennis Roch, R-Logan, confirmed there are disagreements among some Republicans about a proposed minimum-wage increase that was attached to the bill. Roch himself said at a committee hearing last week that he wanted to keep the minimum-wage boost off his bill.

He said he expects the House GOP Caucus to discuss the bill at its meeting Thursday.

Regardless of when the bill gets to the Senate, Democrats say they will squash it. “We are united in stopping right-to-work here in New Mexico,” said Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque. He dismissed Republican claims that enacting such a law would appeal to businesses looking to relocate to New Mexico and give the state’s sluggish economy a boost. In fact, Padilla contends there’s evidence to suggest that wages and employee benefits are suppressed in right-to-work states.

Some moderate Democrats who were seen as potential allies for Republicans on the issue confirmed that they won’t join any movement to force a vote on the proposal.

“I doubt that it will make it to the [(ary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, whom political observers regard as a potential swing vote on the issue.

Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, who’s also regarded as a maverick Democrat for occasionally breaking with his party to support Republican initiatives, also vowed not to intervene.

The announcement came during a news conference at which Senate Democrats laid out their economic development priorities. Some of those priorities align with the economic agenda of the governor and House Republicans, such as supporting job-training programs and incentives for businesses to relocate to or expand in New Mexico.

But more often, the Senate Democrats’ vision for job creation strayed from Republican proposals. Among the 58 bills touted as economic drivers, the Democrats said their top priority is Smith’s plan to fund road projects by raising gas taxes to 22 cents per gallon from 17 cents, where it has remained for 26 years.

Martinez supports a plan to pay for $300 million worth of highway work over the next five years with severance tax bonds. Smith said he opposes the governor’s approach because it would put the state in debt at a time when the state already is paying more than $160 million a year for past highway projects.

Smith’s gas-tax hike faces opposition from Republicans in the House who have been reluctant to enact new taxes, and Martinez has said time and again that she won’t support new state taxes.

“It is stunning that the Senate Democrats’ job plan is to raise the gas tax, which is not only bad for economic development, but it would hit working families the hardest,” said Pat Garrett, a spokesman for House Republicans.

The suite of legislation that Senate Democrats characterized as economic development bills includes proposals to expand family leave, raise rates paid to some contractors that provide services, increase the minimum wage, assure more government contracts go to in-state companies, and education initiatives, among other things. Padilla said up to 73,000 jobs could be created by the Democrats’ plan.

A drop in state revenue projections due to falling oil prices and the chasm in political ideologies between the House and Senate are likely to pose challenges to the proposals.

— Steve Terrell contributed to this report.