On tap for the special session: an item without controversy

A bill to provide in-state businesses with bidding preferences should pass during the session.

Expect one measure to pass this special session: a small incentive for state businesses.

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Sure, Gov. Susana Martinez has packed her special redistricting session agenda with far more than just reshaping New Mexico's voting borders. Ending social promotion, banning fireworks and, yes, repealing a law allowing undocumented immigrants driver's licenses have left more than a few up in arms.

But other items on the list are relatively noncontroversial bills that were vetoed earlier this year based on technicalities. Sen. Tim Keller (D-Bernalillo) argues that his in-state business preference bill was one of them. While New Mexico already gives a 5 percent preference to state companies that bid on public projects—meaning if a New Mexico company makes a bid within 5 percent of an out-of-state company, it wins the contract—many out-of-state companies are exempt from this.

"The state is actually losing money from the current law," Keller tells SFR.

Keller says the current law has 37 exemptions, which come at a cost of 3,000 to 5,000 jobs, including out-of-state universities, food companies and New York telecom companies, Keller says.

An example he cites is Albuquerque-based Creamland Dairy's loss of a $2.5 million contract with Albuquerque Public Schools to an Arizona company. Keller maintains his bill will close loopholes like these.

Still, Martinez vetoed Keller's bill during the regular session.

"She had a problem with three words," Keller tells SFR.

The governor's office worried three or so words could have led to lawsuits over state land leases from out-of-state oil and gas companies, Keller says.

In an e-mail to SFR, Martinez spokesman Greg Blair writes "we discovered a drafting error that would have created the unintended consequence of requiring private companies operating on state land to comply with the state's procurement code."

Keller has since dropped that clause.

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