Credit Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup LAS CRUCES - Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup, has been named chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, replacing longtime leader John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, who was defeated in the Democratic primary last year.
Munoz survived his own primary challenge last year, and went on to win re-election to his fourth term. He had been serving as the committee’s vice chairman.
The Finance Committee takes the lead in drafting the annual budget, and typically has the final say on any spending bills before they get to the Senate floor. New senators Crystal Diamond, R-Truth or Consequences, and Siah Correa Hemphill, D-Silver City, were both named as committee members, as were southern New Mexico senators Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces and William Burt, R-Alamogordo.
Republican leaders in the New Mexico House are seizing on a new report by Los Alamos National Laboratory that says the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak during the 2021 legislative session would be low with a few precautionary measures and a much shorter time frame.
One leading House Democrat countered that the report notes there would be a âhigh risk of COVID 19 spreadâ at the Capitol if the 60-day session were conducted normally, with some 600 people milling around in the building at one time.
The Dec. 4 report, requested by the Legislative Council Service, has fueled arguments by House Minority Leader Jim Townsend and other GOP lawmakers who believe the Legislature should convene briefly in January to accomplish its major goals and then adjourn until spring, when risks posed by pandemic are expected to decline.