NM Legislative Recap Feb. 13: Committee rift opens after anti-trans athlete bill tabled

A committee on Thursday afternoon tabled legislation from New Mexico Republicans that sought to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports teams and echoed an executive order signed by President Donald Trump earlier this month.

The state House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee voted 4-2 on party lines to table House Bill 185, following an incendiary argument over the committee’s rules.

The bill also echoes legislation the U.S. House of Representatives passed last month; 25 states have limited or banned transgender women’s participation in women’s sports.

Three of HB 185’s sponsors, Republican Reps. Rod Montoya from Farmington, Andrea Reeb of Clovis and Rebecca Dow of Truth or Consequences, argued it protects scholarships and opportunities for women who are “displaced by male athletes.”

LGBTQ+ groups, former athletes, youth coaches and transgender people objected to the bill in public comment, while other athletes, former coaches and lobbyists advocated their support.

Zoë Unruh, a nurse and former collegiate basketball player for Washington University in St. Louis, said the legislation’s assumptions about trans athletes are not based on data.

“This bill takes away the opportunity for trans youth to compete in sports and that’s really not OK,” Unruh said. “A ban on trans women athletes does not protect anyone; instead it endangers all women and girls in the category, especially those who are already marginalized.”

Tensions erupted after Rep. Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) condemned the bill.

“Together, we can create a world, a state where everyone regardless of their gender identity has the opportunity to play, compete, and belong in New Mexico,” Romero said in the conclusion of her statement. “Trans people belong in New Mexico.”

Montoya asked Romero if she had a question about the bill. Romero responded that she only had a statement.

This prompted objections from State Rep. Stefanie Lord (R-Sandia Park) who said Chair Rep. Joanne Ferrary (D-Las Cruces) had unfairly limited her from making statements and had requested Lord only ask questions.

In the 33-minute portion of the hearing for committee questions and vote, Lord and Rep. John Block (R-Alamogordo) asked questions and received answers for 23 minutes.

“Excuse me,” Ferrary said. “You had plenty of time to make plenty of statements.”

Lord and Ferrary then proceeded to have a back-and-forth on the topic.

Subsequently, following the 4-2 roll call vote to table the bill, Lord and Block requested time to explain their votes, and Ferrary set one-minute limits on their comments.

Lord said she was “being shut down every time just because I am a Republican; I have no equality, no equity as a woman and my voice is being silenced.”

Read more about this bill from our friends at KUNM.

Disability Rights Awareness Day

Earlier on Thursday, many organizations that tabled in the Rotunda on Thursday for Disability Rights Awareness Day, hosted by The Disability Coalition.

Emily Darnell is a member of the New Mexico Guardianship Conservatorship Coalition, whose mission is to protect the rights of adults with disabilities and elderly people with aging issues.

Darnell said her organization is remaining neutral on Rep. Ferrary’s House Bill 124, which would clarify what courts can do in guardianship and conservatorship cases when either the guardian, the conservator or the protected person dies.

“Oftentimes, a corporate guardian or corporate conservator has a lot of cases,” she said. “If they die, what happens? We need to be looking at that.”

Fancy floorwork

With bills hitting the floor this week, we’ll soon start to see legislation crossing from one chamber into the other.

On Wednesday, the Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 85, which would require more detailed campaign finance reporting (with one amendment to more clearly define “electronic communications”).

On Thursday, the Senate passed an additional three bills, which now head to the House and would require advancing through committees and a floor vote.

The Senate passed a handful of bills on the floor Thursday, including Senate Bill 161, requiring background checks for Department of Military Affairs employees; Senate Bill 47, adding the Santa Cruz de la Cañada Land Grant to a list of state-recognized land grants-mercedes; and Senate Bill 75, which makes changes to the Education Retirement Act. All three bills passed unanimously.

Bill watch

The House Labor, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee voted to pass House Bill 246, which would raise the statewide minimum wage to $17 per hour, including tipped and agricultural workers, and tie future raises to the Consumer Price Index.

The committee passed House Bill 264, which would raise the starting minimum wage and paid time off for state workers, and allow state workers to work remotely.

We’ll continue keeping an eye on committees tomorrow, including the House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee, where members will hear House Bill 252, establishing a kinship caregiver support pilot program, and House Bill 172, proposing August as “New Mexico Red & Green Chile Month.”

The House Health and Human Services Committee is scheduled to hear House Bill 95, which proposes establishing insurance coverage for fertility preservation services; House Bill 243, a proposal to create an interstate medical licensure compact; and House Bill 263, the Hospital Price Transparency Act.

Friday is African American Day at the Legislature and lawmakers will join a joint session midday to hear speakers.