A look at local lawmaker priorities

State lawmakers have convened in Santa Fe this month for a 30-day session.

New Mexico state legislators whose districts include parts of Curry or Roosevelt counties have sponsored legislation dealing with subjects ranging from agriculture to education.

In alphabetical order by legislator, here are the bills each has sponsored:

Phelps Anderson, party not declared-Roswell

• House Bill (HB) 50 would allow persons who have retired from some public service jobs to return to work after a year of retirement but would suspend pension payments during the time they are employed. Pensions would resume at the end of their re-employment.

• HB 51 would change the composition of the Public Employees Retirement board and certain election requirements.

• HB 73 would allow some retired education employees who return to employment to continue to receive retirement benefits along with pay.

• HB76 that would provide an income tax exemption for up to $30,000 of military retirement pay.

• HB101 (Same as Senate Bill (SB) 11 sponsored by Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview) would enact a New Mexico Reforestation Center Act that would combine forestry, agriculture, biology specialties in state agencies and colleges to address the impacts of a changing climate on the state’s forests and address the state’s reforestation needs; creating a reforestation board, and appropriating $4.6 million to the effort.

• HB105 setting conditions under which a public employee who retired after Dec. 31, 2021, to return to public agency work after 90 days, while still receiving a pension.

• HB106, setting conditions under which law enforcement retirees could return to work for law enforcement, getting both pension and pay.

• HB110, which would appropriate $10 million to ensuring solvency of retirement funds for district court and magistrate judges and changing the composition of the Public Employees Retirement Board.

• HB 117, would appropriate $350,000 to enhance the New Mexico Historic Women Marker effort with other efforts to note the contributions of women to New Mexico history.

• House Memorial 16 recognizing the achievements of the New Mexico Military Institute’s football team, which won the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I football championship in December.

Rep. Jack Chatfield, R-Mosquero

• HB 66 would set aside more than $1.7 million to the New Mexico Livestock Board to start and maintain a system of inspection of meat for human consumption.

Rep. Randall Crowder, R-Clovis

• HB 86 would provide law enforcement officers with retention bonuses of 5% after five years, and 5% for every five years of service up to 25 years.

• HM 9 would request creation of a Construction Industries Division of the Regulation and Licensing Department and creation of a Housing and Economic Development Efficiency Task Force to address problems of housing availability and affordability.

Rep. Martin Zamora, R-Portales

• HB 108 would establish a network of weather stations statewide through New Mexico State University and appropriate nearly $2.6 million to establish the system.

• House Joint Memorial 1 would urge New Mexico’s U.S. Congressional delegation to take drought into consideration when setting federal agricultural policies.

Sen. Stuart Ingle, R-Portales

• Senate Bill (SB) 17 would authorize the New Mexico Finance Authority to make loans or grants from the water project fund to qualifying entities for water projects that include the Eastern New Mexico water Utility Authority’s pipeline project in Curry and Roosevelt counties.

• SB 136 would exclude oil and gas production services from gross receipts tax liability based on the location to which products are delivered.

Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview

• SB 11 (Same as HB101 introduced by Rep. Phelps Anderson) would create a New Mexico Reforestation Center to address the impact of climate change on state forests.

• SB 53 would appropriate $10 million to New Mexico State University for the operation and maintenance of the university’s 12 agricultural experiment stations statewide.