Pub. 13 2016 Issue 1

O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S - H E L P I N G N E W M E X I C O R E A L I Z E D R E A M S 8 EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE JOHN W. ANDERSON, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT New Mexico Bankers Association Legislature Highlights As 2016 is an election year, there have been a number of legislators who have announced that they will not seek reelection either because they are retiring or seeking other elected offices. T he 30-day Legislature adjourned on February 18. When all was said and done, the Legislature passed a $6.2 bi l l ion budget and a $166 million public works package. Also enacted was driver’s license legislation that places New Mexico in compliance with the federal REAL ID Act. This ensures New Mexico’s driver’s licenses are secure for entering federal installations and boarding commercial f lights while providing a driver’s permit for undocumented immigrants as well as for residents who do not desire a full license. This past session, there were 378 bills in- troduced in the House and 344 in the Sen- ate. A total of 101 bills were passed by the Legislature. The Governor signed 92 bills and vetoed 9. Election year: The 112-member legislature has 70 mem- bers in the House of Representatives and 42 members in the Senate. Currently, Re- publicans outnumber Democrats 37-33 in the House and the Democrats hold a 24-18 advantage in the Senate. As 2016 is an elec- tion year, there have been a number of leg- islators who have announced that they will not seek reelection either because they are retiring or seeking other elected offices. The list includes: • Representative Ken Martinez (D-Grants)-former Speaker of the House • Representative Lucky Varela (D-Santa Fe)-former chairman of the Legisla- tive Finance Committee Bills Enacted by the Legislature and Signed into Law by the Governor: SB 56: Local Government Treasurer Investments (Rodriguez). The bill al- lows local governments to purchase feder- ally insured obligations, including brokered certificates of deposit, certificate of deposit account registry service, and federally in- sured cash accounts. The bill would permit local governments access to the CDARS pro- gram. Left to right: John Anderson, Jon Hitchcock, Paul DiPaola, Congressman Ben Ray Lujan and Jay Jenkins.