From Frank Haley of KDAZ AM730 News:
A flurry of bills is being introduced as the doors swings shut on the 30 day session in the merry round house in Santa Fe.
The deadline for new legislation passed Wednesday. Even so, blank “dummy” bills were handed out to party and committee leaders to ensure legislative compromises may be written at the last minute.
Most of this year’s 600-odd bills and 40 proposed constitutional amendments are doomed to fail.
Round Up from the Roundhouse, from the New Mexico House Republican Caucus:
House Unanimously Approves Bill to Protect Children from Dangerous Predators
Santa Fe, NM – Legislation to protect children from sexual predators who use their position of authority to prey on their victims passed the House of Representatives today by a vote of 63-0. The bill, House Bill 121, is sponsored by Rep. Sharon Clahchischilliage.
“Skilled predators take advantage of the implicit trust we invest in certain positions of authority to target children,” said Clahchischilliage. “This bill fixes the law to hold these violators accountable for their crimes against minors. It passed the House without any opposition, and I hope it will receive the same support in the Senate.”
The bill would remove the current requirement that an injury result an incident of abuse in order for an adult to be charged with criminal sexual contact of a minor. It would also align the victim age ranges defined in the criminal sexual penetration and criminal sexual contact statutes.
The legislation clarifies that all offenders who commit criminal sexual contact or criminal sexual penetration will be held accountable for their actions by eliminating the defined list of offenders from the statute. Currently, only individuals belonging to one of the listed classifications could be prosecuted under the laws.
If passed, prosecutors also would no longer need to prove that an individual expressly stated or leveraged their authority over to the victim in order to be convicted of criminal sexual contact with a child.
In addition, HB 121 would make it clear that it’s a crime for a person of authority to engage in sexual act with a minor, with or without the minor’s consent.
Bill to Combat Truancy Passes House Education Committee
Santa Fe, NM – Legislation to ensure all New Mexico students make it to class passed the House Education Committee by a vote of 7-5. The bill, HB 240, is sponsored by Rep. Jimmie Hall It would establish programs to prevent truancy, and it would also allow driver’s licenses of habitually truant students to be suspended.
“In order to learn, our students need to be in class,” Hall said. “The steps outlined in this bill would help schools identify and assist students before they make skipping class part of their daily routine.”
The bill would require school districts and charter schools to implement an early warning system that would identify students who are either habitually truant or at risk of dropping out. The early warning system would notify parents when their student has three or more absences. The proposal would also require the student and parents to meet with a truancy prevention team to develop an attendance plan when the student has five or more absences.
Parents of a habitually truant student would also be notified when their child had 10 or more absences. This proposal would also put steps in place to suspend the driver’s licenses of habitually truant students with 10 or more absences in a school year.
Habitually truant students are more likely to drop out of school. Last year, almost 15 percent of New Mexico students were considered habitually truant.
