MMA = Cockfighting? That’s what Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings is saying. He introduced a bill to ban mixed martial arts in New Mexico and said it was about fairness, given that cockfighting is outlawed. MMA practitioners responded by pointing out that the two are different in at least one important respect: mixed-martial arts fighters have a choice. One has to ask, has Jennings thought this thing all the way through? Does he really want to be the senator that pissed off all the MMA fighters in New Mexico? Laterz, Electoral College Albuquerque Rep. Mimi Stewart sure is busy this session. She put the House’s domestic partnership measure on the table, along with a slew of other actions. Among them is legislation to do away with the electoral college on a national scale. If enough states pass the proposal, then the popular vote will determine presidential elections. The House voted in favor of the bill on Friday, Feb. 20. The measure heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee next. Same-Day Voter Registration Plenty are blessed with far-in-advance planning skills, but some of us feel the pressure of hours—not days, weeks or months. Same-day voter registration would be a godsend for anyone who can’t think further ahead than tomorrow. What if you spend most of an election cycle asserting that all politicians are the same, and then on the eve of voting day, someone says something that changes your mind? You could roll out of bed, head down to the polls and take care of business all in one shot. Sure, it might cause some problems for county clerks, so it’s a good thing we’re thinking about it now. The Voters and Elections Committee gave the bill the thumb’s up, so it will go before the full House next. Is the SRC Dragging Its Feet on Ethics Reform? The session is more than halfway over, and in the wake of political scandals and suspicions statewide, the Senate Rules Committee isn’t talking about ethics measures. These bills would create an ethics commission, establish campaign contribution limits, allow public financing in statewide elections and more. If these pieces of legislation die one and all in committee this year, voters will be right in asking whether their politicians only pay lip service to ethics.
Making Sausage
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