HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Have a safe holiday and don't forget: Give all your money to politicians.

That's the message I'm getting in my email inbox. Tonight is the FEC deadline for the quarterly reports! If we don't collect enough, our opponents will shame us, then ruin America!!!! Please give give GIVE ...

Even politicos I normally like are driving me nuts with all their begging.

But don't worry. I'll be back to complain more next year.

Meanwhile, enjoy a short message from Allen Sherman:

Christmas Vacation and a Holiday Wish

I'll be gone for the next week, so this blog, baring anything totally earthshaking, will be dark during that time.

My Christmas wish is that everyone on all sides of the political fence come together and work in peace and harmony, putting aside all petty differences and resisting all temptations to take cheap political shots and underhanded partisan maneuvering. Instead of crass competition, let all sides joyfully strive to uplift one another and work for the public good.

Wait a minute, I'm wishing myself out of a job. Never mind. Talk to you in January.

(If you want some truly crazy holidaze music, check out my Christmas podcasts, all free.)

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: First Shot Fired in SOS Race

Rod Adair

The first shot in the race for Secretary of State’s Office has been fired. Not surprisingly, it was by the challenger, Democrat Maggie Toulouse Oliver, the Bernallilo County clerk who is trying to unseat incumbent Republican Dianna Duran. But the target was not Duran herself, but one of her employees, Rod Adair, a former state senator who is an administrator in Duran’s Elections Bureau.

In a fundraising letter Friday, Oliver said, “Two days ago the Republicans won again in their battle to ensure that dark money continues to pour into New Mexico.”

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the contribution limits the New Mexico Legislature adopted on “independent expenditures” were unconstitutional based on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United.

“And who was leading the charge to get this law overturned? Why, it was the Republican Party of New Mexico and none other than former State Senator Rod Adair, who happens to be in charge of elections and campaign finance enforcement in the Secretary of State’s Office. Unbelievable!"

But Adair, of course, shot back ...

For the rest of this column go to The Santa Fe New Mexican

NM Supremes Rule Same Sex Marriage is a Constitutional Right

UPDATED BELOW With comment from the governor

NM Supreme Court hears case in October

Most observers, even opponents of same sex marriage, predicted this would happen, but this morning the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled that same sex couples have the same right to get married as anyone.

Justice Edward Chavez wrote in the court’s opinion that while none of New Mexico’s marriage statutes specifically prohibits same-gender marriages, existing state laws have had the effect of prohibiting same-gender couples from civil marriage.

“Because same-gender couples … are a discrete group which has been subjected to a history of discrimination and violence, and which has inadequate political power to protect itself from such treatment, the classification at issue must withstand intermediate scrutiny to be constitutional. Accordingly, New Mexico may neither constitutionally deny same-gender couples the right to marry nor deprive them of the rights, protections, and responsibilities of marriage laws, unless the proponents of the legislation — the opponents of same-gender marriage — prove that the discrimination caused by the legislation is substantially related to an important government interest.”

The national Human Rights Campaign said in a news release, "With lesbian and gay couples having married over the past several months in many New Mexico counties, today the state Supreme Court ruled to allow same-sex couples throughout the state to continue making lifelong commitments through marriage.  This makes New Mexico the first state in the Southwest with marriage equality and the 17th state nationwide."

Update: 3:30 pm Governor Susana Martinez's office just sent me this statement from the governor about the decision:

 “My personal views on this issue are well-known, and I’m confident that most New Mexicans believe, like I do, that it should have been settled by a vote of the people. Instead, the Supreme Court stepped in and rendered their decision. While there will surely be intense debate about this decision moving forward, I encourage New Mexicans to continue to respect one another in their discourse, as this is an important issue for many New Mexicans on both sides. As we move forward, I am hopeful that we will not be divided, as we must come together to tackle very pressing issues, like reforming education and growing our economy, in the weeks and months ahead.”

There will be more on this in tomorrow's New Mexican.

The complete decision is below:

NM Supreme Court Decision on Marriage Equality by Steve Terrell

McWilliams Resigns from Human Services

Diana McWilliams, acting director of the Behavioral Health Services Division and acting CEO of the New Mexico Behavioral Health Collaborative, has resigned.

She told me last night that she's taken a job in Philadelphia to head a non-profit agency dealing in behavioral health and child welfare.

My story in this morning's New Mexican is HERE.

Her resgination letter is below.

McWilliams Resignation Letter by Steve Terrell

Wirth Pre-files Some Familiar Bills

The Legislature's web site now has the (growing) list of pre-filed bills. The first day of pre-filing was yesterday.

Wirth speaking in Rotunda during a previous session

Among the first batch are a couple of bills from Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, that repeatedly have failed in past sessions. That's not a knock on the senator. Sometimes it takes years for a bill to squeeze through.

There's Wirth's texting while driving bill, (Senate Bill 19) which died a lonesome death on the Senate calendar, where it stayed for weeks and weeks this year. (I recently wrote about that issue.)

Then there's SB 18, Wirth's bill that would require independent expenditure groups to disclose their contributors. Several times this bill has passed the Senate with unanimous or near-unanimous bi-partisan support, only to get lost in the maze of the House of Representatives before getting a vote. Someone over there just doesn't want this to pass.

Both the texting and the campaign finance bill would have to be on the governor's call in order to be discussed during the upcoming 30-day budget session, which starts Jan. 21

Wirth also has a bill, SB 17, which would require out-of-state "unitary corporate banks" to file combined state income tax returns. This year Wirth finally got the governor to sign his "combined reporting" bill for large retail stores. It was part of the big tax bill that passed in the closing moments of the Legislature. That one, which was kicked around in the Legislature for years, is a good example of Wirth's persistence paying off.

I did a story in Tuesday's paper about Think New Mexico's job bills getting pre-filed. You can find that HERE.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Expect to See More Activity by Social Welfare Groups in NM Politics

The murky world of “social welfare” organizations with a political bent was in the news here last week. First, State Democratic Party Chairman Sam Bregman filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service against an entity known as New Mexico Competes, claiming it was illegally coordinating with Republican Gov. Susana Martinez.

But there will be others competing with New Mexico Competes during the upcoming political season.

But the Dem-friendly New Mexico Prosperity won't be among them.

See more in my Sunday column HERE.