Your weekly roundup of news from Santa Fe and throughout NM

Tuesday, August 20, 2019
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THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. CALL TO ACTION! TODAY - ANTI-BUSINESS BERNALILLO COUNTY COMMISSIONERS SET TO APPROVE MANDATORY PAID-LEAVE THAT WILL KILL JOBS

Today at 4:00 PM, the Bernalillo County Commission will vote on a proposed ordinance to mandate paid-leave. If you are in Albuquerque today, please show up to the commission hearing by 3:00 PM at One Civic Plaza NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102. You can sign-up here to speak ([link removed]) at the hearing.

Simply put, this is a job-killing, anti-business ordinance that is part of a national progressive agenda and that is being rammed through without adequate public comment.

As proposed, it would require all businesses in unincorporated areas of Bernalillo County with at least two employees to offer one hour of paid time off to all employees for every 32 hours worked, up to a maximum of 56 hours a year. It would exempt companies in their first year.

Sounds nice, until you analyze its true impact.

From Carol Wight's Op-Ed in the Albuquerque Journal ([link removed]) :

This ordinance is part of a national political agenda and was written by the same out-of-state lawyers and special interest groups trying to trick voters into passing an extreme law with the ballot initiative Albuquerque voters rejected in 2017...

The proposed law requires mountains of red tape for small businesses to maintain. It will be costly for small businesses to pay this benefit that they are not already paying. The increased cost will have to be passed on to customers. It will negatively affect more Hispanic-owned small businesses than any other. Current PTO policies will change, and not for the better. It will chase jobs and businesses out of the city and county. The only good that will come out of this is that lawyers will get rich at the expense of our small businesses. That is not what we need for our businesses and for our workforce....

New businesses, both small and large, will stop considering Bernalillo County as a viable place for economic development due to their hands being tied by restrictive, poorly written, ill-considered mandates.
And from Ernie C'De Baca of the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce (AHCC) ([link removed]) :

Requiring paid sick leave will deprive many Hispanics of accomplishing the American dream of (owning) businesses.

The proposed Bernalillo County Paid Sick Leave Ordinance will create a disproportionate hardship on Hispanics who own small businesses and the Hispanic and poor populations that they serve. The ordinance that the County Commission is considering would require businesses with even two employees to provide paid sick leave. It would apply to all businesses in the East Mountains, and the South and North Valley, as well as those required to get a license from Bernalillo County to do business....

Caring for family is a core value of our Hispanic community. For Hispanic-owned businesses, this value is even stronger. Every day, they work hard, long hours to achieve the American dream of owning a successful business that can provide for their families and the families of their employees. They are not wealthy business owners, and often make personal sacrifices to keep the doors open and pay their employees — they don’t need an ordinance to require them to take care of their employees, because they already do. The AHCC proudly represents these businesses whose voices have not been heard by the proponents of this proposed ordinance. The AHCC attempted numerous times to meet the co-sponsors of the proposed ordinance, Commission Chair Maggie Hart Stebbins and Commissioner Debbie O’Malley to no avail.

Learn more about what you can to today at trickleave.org

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2. DEMOCRAT AND ACCUSED DWI OFFENDER SEN. RICHARD MARTINEZ ISN'T SHOWING UP TO WORK

Democrat State Sen. Richard Martinez, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee that writes New Mexico's DWI laws, has been a no-show to legislative committee hearings. He even avoided the public when he waived his right to an arraignment in order to plead not guilty to DWI ([link removed]) in a crash he caused this past June.

From the Santa Fe New Mexican ([link removed]) :
One surefire way exists to determine if a New Mexico legislator is in hiding.

Check his or her requests for travel expenses. If they dry up all at once, the lawmaker has uncharacteristically forfeited income by skipping committee hearings....

Martinez was on pace until this summer to continue his practice of attending a full range of interim committee hearings and receiving generous compensation for doing so.

Then he stopped appearing at public meetings where he had been ubiquitous. State records show Martinez has not requested compensation for daily expenses or mileage since June 18.

He began skipping legislative hearings after of his arrest June 28 on charges of aggravated drunken driving and reckless driving. Martinez drove his 2010 Mercedes SUV into the back of a Jeep, injuring two people....

Until his arrest, Martinez could be found at all sorts of public meetings....

His constituents in Rio Arriba, Santa Fe, Sandoval and Los Alamos counties probably wonder when Martinez will surface. They could always count on him signing up for a full load of legislative hearings and collecting the payments that went with them.

Martinez is not providing them with any voice at meetings he once said were so important.

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3. OTHER NEW MEXICO NEWS BRIEFS
* Gov. proposes background checks on gun sellers ([link removed])

* Gov. hires her second secretary of education ([link removed]) (her first one lasted only 6 months)

* Albuquerque Mayor Keller spends $53,000 on "sculpture" ([link removed]) ; raises ire of Albuquerque's disabled community


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** LISTEN TO CHAIRMAN PEARCE'S WEEKLY PODCAST!
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Be sure to catch Inside New Mexico with Steve Pearce each week on your favorite podcast platform!

You can subscribe to listen and be notified when a new episode is available:
* Apple Podcasts ([link removed])
* Spotify ([link removed])
* Google Podcasts ([link removed])

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