Here are pertinent bills coming up on the floors of the House and Senate today, which promises to be another long one.  Short version: most of the action will be in the House, where the budget awaits concurrence, STBs await approval, PERA pension in on the floor, ERB solvency is heading for HAFC, and lottery solvency will be discussed in House Education.

ERB Solvency Bill
SB 115, which is the ERB solvency plan with COLA reductions, came before House Labor last night.  Those COLA reductions are the major point of contention.  Executive Director Jan Goodwin told the committee that even with the proposed reductions of  10 percent (1.8 percent of the average COLA), retirees will still be getting approximately 97 percent of their total benefits.  Those with a COLA reduction of  20 percent (1.6 percent), retirees will still be getting approximately 94 percent of their benefits.  That didn't sway a number of people who spoke against the COLA reductions, many of them UNM retirees.

Bill sponsor Stuart Ingle (R-Portales) said they are trying to fix the fund as fast as they can.  It was also stated that the bill as amended is something the Governor would be willing to support. And that fact didn't sit well with some members of the committee who feel the amendments are forced and people will be hurt.  And they weren't happy with language in HB 2 that ties a solvency plan being enacted with employer funding.  And they weren't happy with the apparent greater separation of PERA and ERB benefits.

Speaker W. Ken Martinez (D-Grants), trying not to hold the bill up, suggested amendments could be added in HAFC that  reduce the pain.  He promises to work with the sponsor on those amendments.  House Labor gave the bill a do pass so it can get to House Appropriations.

State Budget Bill
Yesterday the Senate passed the state budget. Look for details in my previous report. Also thanks to those eagle-eyed Law school professors, the Southwest Indian Law Clinic had a plus-up of $37, 400.  The final zero got dropped in the cut and paste.

What's Planned for March 13

The House will be back on the floor at 10 a.m. with the Senate going in at 11 a.m.

HOUSE SCHEDULE OF COMMITTEE HEARINGS

HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS AND FINANCE COMMITTEE - HENRY "KIKI" SAAVEDRA, CHAIRMAN

Wednesday, March 13, 2013 – 1:30 p.m. - Room 307
TO BE ANNOUNCED

HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE - MIMI STEWART, CHAIRMAN
Wednesday, March 13, 2013 - 8 a.m. - Room 317
HB 586 LOTTERY SCHOLARSHIP REQUIREMENTS (SMITH)

HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE - GAIL CHASEY, CHAIRWOMAN
Wednesday, March 13, 2013 - 1:30 p.m. or 30 minutes after the floor session -
Room 309
SB 448 /a PROCUREMENT DEBARING & SUSPENSION (CERVANTES)
CS/ SB 156 /a FORMULARY CHANGES IN HEALTH LAWS (CANDELARIA)
SB 311 /a HIV TESTING DISCLOSURE (GRIEGO)
SB 586 ADDITIONAL HEALTH CARE SOURCE PAYMENTS (GRIEGO)

SENATE SCHEDULE OF COMMITTEE HEARINGS

FINANCE COMMITTEE - Senator John Arthur Smith, Chairman

Wednesday, March 13, 2013 - 10 a.m. - Room 322
C/HB 95 JUDICIAL RETIREMENT CHANGES (TRUJILLO, J.)
SB 98 SUPPLEMENTAL SEVERANCE TAX BONDS (CISNEROS)
SB 530 RETIREMENT IRREVOCABLE EXEMPTION TIME (CISNEROS)
SB 590 SCHOOL COUNSELOR LEVEL 3 LICENSURE (SAPIEN)

CORPORATIONS AND TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE - Senator Phil A. Griego, Chairman
Wednesday, March 13, 2013 - 2:00 p.m. or ½ hr. after session - Room 311
HB 22 AUTISM COVERAGE IN GROUP HEALTH COVERAGE (SMITH/O'NEILL)
C/C/HB 66 HEALTH CARE COVERAGE I.D. CARDS (McCAMLEY)

EDUCATION COMMITTEE - Senator John M. Sapien, Chairman
Wednesday, March 13, 2013 - 8 a.m. - Room 311
HB 562 CREATE TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH COLLABORATIVE (GARCIA RICHARD)
SM 81 STUDY 3RD GRADE/COLLEGE STUDENT MENTORING (LOPEZ)

RULES COMMITTEE - Senator Linda M. Lopez, Chairman
Wednesday, March 13, 2013 – At the Call of the Chair – Room 321
HB 339 ANNUAL EDUCATOR ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT DATE (MIERA)
HJM 29 LESC A-F SCHOOL GRADING SYSTEM STUDY (STEWART)

Bills Acted on: March 12, 2013

HB 2 GENERAL APPROPRIATION ACT OF 2013  Henry Kiki Saavedra
HCNR <2> HAFC <28> DNP-CS/DP <30> PASSED/H (53-16) <21> SFC <40> DP/a - PASSED/S (42-0)

HB 130 MOVE BRAIN INJURY SERVICE FUND  Larry A. Larrañaga
SFC <2> HHGIC/HAFC-HHGIC <17> DP-HAFC <30> DP <31> PASSED/H (62-0) <22> SPAC/SFC-SPAC <44> DP-SFC

HB 227 MOVE BRAIN INJURY ADVISORY COUNCIL FUNCTIONS  Gail Chasey
SCal <6> HHGIC/HJC-HHGIC <26> DP-HJC <36> DP - PASSED/H (65-0) <24> SPAC <44> DP

HB 310 K-3 PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY  Mimi Stewart
WilliamSoules HEC <10> HEC <26> DP <29> PASSED/H (63-0) <21> SEC/SPAC-SEC <24> DNP-CS/DP-SPAC <38> DP <40> PASSED/S (39-0) <50> HEC

HB 481 EVIDENCE OF TEACHER COMPETENCY  Sheryl Williams Stapleton
PASS <18> HLC/HEC-HLC <31> w/o rec/a-HEC <36> DNP-CS/DP - PASSED/H (38-32) <24> SEC <40> DP - PASSED/S (24-17)

HM 101 LOTTERY TUITION FUND SOLVENCY WORK GROUP  Mimi Stewart
HEC <50> HEC

SB 27 PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT CHANGES  George K. Munoz
Luciano "Lucky"Varela HCal SPREF <1> SJC/SFC-SJC <14> DP/a-SFC <23> DNP-CS/DP/a <32> PASSED/S (38-4) <39> HLC/HAFC-HLC- DP-HAFC- DP

*SB 60 SEVERANCE TAX BOND PROJECTS  Carlos R. Cisneros
HCal SPREF <1> SFC <38> DNP-CS/DP <40> PASSED/S (42-0) <39> HTRC <50> DP

SB 69 INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR TELEMEDICINE COVERAGE  Gerald Ortiz y Pino
HCal SPREF <1> SCORC/SJC-SCORC <4> w/o rec-SJC <14> DNP-CS/DP - PASSED/S (37-0) <22> HHGIC/HJC-HHGIC <36> DP/a-HJC <39> DP/a

SB 134 QUALIFICATIONS-BASED PROCUREMENTS  Joseph Cervantes
DEAD <2> SCORC/SJC-SCORC <21> DP-SJC <24> DP <40> FAILED/S (19-19).

SB 342 NURSE-MIDWIFE ULTRASOUND PROCEDURES  Howie C. Morales
PASS <4> SPAC/SJC-SPAC <14> DP-SJC <24> DP/a - PASSED/S (35-2) <36> HHGIC/HJC-HHGIC <39> DP/a-HJC- w/drn - PASSED/H (59-0) <40> s/cncrd

SB 588 TEACHER & PRINCIPAL EVALUATION SYSTEM COUNCIL  Howie C. Morales
HEC <14> SRC/SEC-SRC <24> DP-SEC <40> DP - fl/aa- PASSED/S (21-18) <50> HEC

SJM 1 FAMILY-FRIENDLY WORKPLACE TASK FORCE  Sander Rue
HCPAC SPREF <1> SRC/SPAC-SRC <4> DP-SPAC <14> DP <40> PASSED/S (33-0) <50> HCPAC

Susan McKinsey, Office of Government and Community Relations