New Mexico RSOL is celebrating. We are having a whirlwind legislative session, and so far we are excited at our successes. Of the many bills we have been watching, we are actively opposing five separate bills. HB 446, which the administration erroneously claimed would have effectively made NM SORNA compliant was tabled last week in the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee (HCPAC). This occurred after heated debate and impassioned testimony which did not conclude until after midnight.
Also tabled was SB 252. This bill, heard in the Senate Public Affairs Committee, would have given the Children Youth and Families Department (CYFD) the power to remove parental rights from individuals on the basis of their just being on or having been on the registry.
A third bill, HB 48, pertaining to social media restrictions, which RSOL National joined us in lobbying against was expected to easily pass the House of Representatives because the bill’s reach had been so narrowly tailored due to our opposition. Representative Yvette Herrell attempted to hijack the legislation with an unfriendly amendment on the floor of the House. As a result of Herrell’s stunt, the bill was referred back to the House Judiciary Committee where we hope it will die.
HB 570 which would add six new offenses to the list of registerable offenses and make some other changes to SORNA is still awaiting its first hearing in HCPAC. Please remember that the session is not over; tabled bills are not dead; they can come back to life or can be rolled into other legislation. We will continue working and hoping for more good news to come.