SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - Republican legislators and a handful of Democrats are decrying as unconstitutional a plan to close off public access to the New Mexico Statehouse as lawmakers prepare to meet for a special legislative session.
Twenty-two legislators on Thursday petitioned the state Supreme Court to prevent the Legislature from closing off the state Capitol to direct public access as a precaution against the coronavirus.
Webcasts of committee meetings and floor debates would be available to the public under a plan devised this week by a panel of leading House and Senate lawmakers, including Democratic House speaker Brian Egolf. The special session starts on June 18.
But a group of mostly Republican legislators have condemned those arrangements as “contrary to the duty of transparency owed to the public in a representative democracy.” They say that residents in remote, rural areas don’t have reliable internet service to watch the webcasts and that other precautions such as physical distancing and face masks could be taken to guard against COVID-19.
The Supreme Court gave the legislative council committee that drew up the attendance restrictions until Monday to respond to the lawsuit.
Former state land commissioner Aubrey Dunn signed on as a plaintiff to note that he would have difficulty participating in the special session from his rural ranch where internet service is spotty.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham called a special session of the Legislature to rewrite the state’s spending plans as state government income plummets. Proposals from the governor and a lead budget-writing committee would fill the budget hole by tapping federal relief funds and state financial reserves, while scaling back spending increases on public salaries, public education and more.
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