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Veterans fare well under pen of governor

The Gallup Independent - 3/6/2018

SANTA FE - Veterans fared well in bills signed by Gov. Susana Martinez this past week. She also signed bills related to health care, families, crime, broadband, and business and vetoed a pet food fee and a raise for certain state officials.

She signed House Bill 47, which expands eligibility for use of the Family Assistance Program to provide financial help to members of the National Guard and their families. Previously, the fund was only available to members deployed overseas for at least 30 days. The program helps pay for food, rent, and utilities during financial emergencies. Rep. Harry Garcia, D-Grants, was a co-sponsor.

Other veteran-related bills were: ¦ House Bill 67, which makes it a crime to misrepresent your military service. ¦ Senate Bill 97, which allows out-of-state teachers who are active duty military, veterans, or spouses of military personnel to receive their New Mexico teaching licenses as quickly as possible.

¦¦ Senate Bill 86, which allows parents, spouses, children, and siblings of military service members killed in the line of duty to buy a gold star family license plate.

¦¦ Senate Bill 16, which increases the rank required to be appointed as adjutant general from major to at least colonel in order to give the adjutant general more federal recognition and increase the credibility of the New Mexico National Guard.

"By signing these bills into law I want to recognize the hard work and dedication of all the brave men and women who serve our state and nation in the U.S. Armed Forces," Martinez said in a statement.

The governor signed an important health care bill, Senate Bill 11, to reform "step therapy," a practice used by insurance companies to control costs by requiring patients to try affordable treatments first. Patients may suffer through less effective treatments or see their conditions worsen while efficient treatment is delayed. Now patients and doctors can appeal step therapy and go directly to more effective treatment.

"Patients need the best, most effective care possible, and the current step therapy model imposed by insurance companies doesn't always put the patient first," said Rep. Liz Thomson, D-Albuquerque.

Another important bill, Senate Bill 61, makes strangulation a serious violent crime. Victims of domestic violence said strangulation can cause permanent brain damage, but it's been difficult to prosecute because signs are hard to detect.

She signed two family-related bills. Senate Bill 231, by Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, encourages employers to hire foster kids by offering them a tax credit up to $1,000 of wages paid to foster youth employed for a year. Senate Bill 19 begins a reform of guardianship laws in New Mexico to provide more transparency and safeguards for protected persons and their families.

Business-friendly bills

Martinez signed two bills wanted by business groups.

House Bill 79 creates a tax holiday on Small Business Saturday, following Thanksgiving each year. Businesses of 10 or fewer employees don't have to charge gross receipts tax.

A second business bill, House Bill 38, sets the stage for small-cell technology that can be installed on light poles or buildings to boost signals and network capacity and reduce congestion for large cell towers. Because the state lacked a standardized permitting process, HB 38 sets deadlines for processing permits, establishes standard fee ranges statewide, and provides rules for local government to approve, deny, modify or regulate these kinds of installations. Supporters included the Association of Commerce and Industry, most wireless carriers and the New Mexico Municipal League.

In other action, the governor signed House Bill 207, which provides for infrastructure to expand internet access in public school, tribal and community libraries; House Bill 142, which imposes criminal penalties for owners and operators of public water systems who lie to inspectors from the state Environment Department; and Senate Bill 27, by Sen. Clemente Sanchez, D-Grants, which assures that automakers pay the state's car dealers for repairing vehicles under recall, do-not-drive, or stop-sale orders from the federal government or manufacturers.

Martinez vetoed two bills. Senate Bill 176, a bipartisan bill, would have increased salaries for the governor and other statewide elected officials and public regulation commissioners. They haven't had an increase since 2002. House Bill 64 would have imposed a $100 fee on pet food distributors to support spay and neuter programs in the state, but the governor considered it a tax.