We need to pay our legislators!

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and other high-profile, powerful lawmakers hope to pass a highly complex and consequential energy bill through this year’s 30-day legislative session.

They hit a wall yesterday in the House Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Committee where a bipartisan majority of the committee’s members voted to table the Hydrogen Hub Act.

The marathon six hours about the 68-page bill brimming with technical and often arcane language demonstrated a challenge in New Mexico’s legislative system of relying on unpaid citizen lawmakers.

While intense public pressure against the proposal surely contributed to the outcome, it was also clear lawmakers had little time to digest the legislation or its implications before the hearing.

As we’ve noted time and again, because New Mexico lawmakers aren’t paid a salary or have full-time, year-round staff at their fingertips, they often rely on lobbyists to understand the legislation.

Read more at New Mexico In-Depth