HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 1

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second special session, 2020

INTRODUCED BY

Rod Montoya and Gregg Schmedes and Cathrynn N. Brown

and Randal S. Crowder and David M. Gallegos

 

 

 

 

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING LEADERSHIP ON THE NEW MEXICO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TO REVIEW THE GOVERNOR'S RESPONSE TO THE CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 PANDEMIC AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW BEST TO ADDRESS THE PUBLIC HEALTH, ECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO'S PANDEMIC RESPONSE.

 

     WHEREAS, the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has continued for nearly nine months, and more than eighty-four thousand New Mexicans have tested positive for the disease, with one thousand four hundred related deaths from the disease across the state; and

     WHEREAS, the governor and the secretary of health have issued numerous public health orders to address the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019; and

     WHEREAS, the governor's actions and decisions during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic have been unilateral and typically made with little or no advance warning, advice or consultation with members of the legislature, yet the governor has appointed several advisory groups composed of unelected individuals who are helping to make public policy; and

     WHEREAS, the governor's actions to impose stay-at-home orders and establish restrictions on and closures of New Mexico's businesses have resulted in the lives of New Mexicans being negatively impacted in terms of their economic and financial health as hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost; and

     WHEREAS, the governor has closed public schools and required remote learning, and New Mexico's students have been adversely impacted in terms of their educational advancement and psychological and social development, which has led to failing grades and increased suicides; and

     WHEREAS, the governor's strict implementation of the department of environment's rapid response program has caused numerous grocery stores across the state to close and has forced New Mexicans to go to surrounding states with high coronavirus disease 2019 infection rates in order to purchase needed supplies; and

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico legislative council has been advised that during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the governor overstepped her authority in making emergency appropriations from the general fund without legislative approval;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico legislative council be requested to convene a subcommittee composed of the ten legislative leaders serving on the council to provide oversight of New Mexico's ongoing actions to curb the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 and to provide a process whereby the legislature exercises its constitutional authority as an equal branch of government in making public policy decisions during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the subcommittee be requested to review the governor's current and past public health orders to determine the orders' effectiveness in controlling the spread of coronavirus disease 2019, the proper utilization of New Mexico's health care system's capacity to effectively treat coronavirus disease 2019 patients, the economic impact and consequences of shutdowns and other business restrictions, the preservation of the state's ability to properly educate students and the impact on other public health outcomes resulting from the governor's actions; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the subcommittee be requested to make recommendations to the governor and the legislature regarding how best to address the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, including public health, economic and educational consequences imposed on the residents of New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the subcommittee be requested to review the All Hazard Emergency Management Act and the Public Health Emergency Response Act to determine whether any modifications to those acts are needed to ensure that the legislature plays a role in future pandemics or other public health emergencies and whether the governor's powers under those acts should be changed in any way; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a report be issued to the legislature and the public identifying the subcommittee's findings on New Mexico's effectiveness in addressing the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the co-chairs of the New Mexico legislative council.

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