Governor Vetos John Block Sponsored Smokey Bear License Plate

When the legislature was in session New Mexico State District 51 Representative introduced 18 House Bills, 4 House joint resolutions and 3 House Memorials Resolutions.

The greatest irony of all 25 considerations introduced by Mr Block, is one that was not controversial, yet it was vetoed by the Governor with some scathing commentary on amendments from the Senate.

The Smokey the Bear license plate bill was vetoed by the Governor. HB363.

The governor statement around the veto reads…

“The Honorable Javier Martinez, Speaker of the House and Members of the House of Representatives
State Capitol Building
Santa Fe, NM 87501

Dear Speaker Martinez and Members of the House:

I regret to be the bad news bear, but I have decided to veto HOUSE BILL 363, as amended (“HB 363”), which would have authorized a special registration plate with the image and name of Smokey Bear. I want to start by saying that I am a proud fan of our fellow native New Mexican, Smokey Bear. As someone who grew up in a state with a high risk of wildfires, I understand the importance of his message of fire prevention and the need to spread it. I also support dedicating the fees collected for this special plate for forest fire prevention.

Unfortunately, a Senate floor amendment requiring that all standardized special registration plates be made with a blank space for an authorized decal logo effectively set mine and Smokey’s dreams up in smoke. The idea of standardizing special registration plates is laudable, but this approach is inefficient and unnecessary. The amendment is based an incorrect assumption that: (1) the Taxation and Revenue Department (“TRD”) has warehouses full of special registration plates that it cannot move and must inventory at cost, and (2) transitioning to a standardized sticker-based special plate would be cheaper and easier to manufacture. Neither of these are true. TRD has no inventories of special plates because these are now made on demand. And decal stickers are much more expensive due to the materials involved and the necessity to pre-order them in large batches—ironically creating the exact “inventory” problem this amendment seeks to extinguish.

Because of these issues, and pursuant to my authority under Article IV, Section 22 of the New Mexico Constitution, I have vetoed HOUSE BILL 363, as amended, enacted by the Fifty-Sixth Legislature, First Session, 2023. Although I am the one who must bear the weight of this veto, please remember: only YOU can prevent bad amendments.

Respectfully yours,
Michelle Lujan Grisham”

Of the 18 House bills sponsored by Mr. Block 14 did not make it any further than to be “introduced.” In layman’s terms, the bill did not garner enough interest nor deemed important enough to garner enough support in committee to debate its  merits, thus never made it to full committee discussion.

Examples of a few of those 14 are the bill to end the “Opportunity Scholarships” this bill as written according to the analysis report would have also ended the lottery scholarship program thus ending state sponsored scholarships. Other Block introduced yet stalled bills were and act prohibiting the Teachings of Critical Race Theory, (it’s not taught as part of curriculum as that’s a university level curriculum), an act relating to education restricting word usage specifically the word "LATINX" and “similar words” in universities, public schools and in classroom materials. This bill sponsorship is ironic, considering Mr. Blocks boyfriend, Karl Melton, works with an organization called Teaching Strategies which has white papers on diversity education and sensitivity training…

https://teachingstrategies.com/blog/ell-assessment-preschool/

Fourteen clearly did not garner support for Committee debate. One made it to committee but no further and two were enacted into law. The two enacted into law and both garnered significant support were, HB35  Free Cultural Services For Foster Families, and HB131 Prosthetic & Custom Orthotic Device Coverage. 

Of the 4 House Joint Resolutions 2 never moved out of committee and were tagged introduced but two veterans supportive bills were passed HJR5 and HJR6, Extend Veteran Property Tax Exemption and Increase Veteran Property Tax Exemption.

Of the 3 House Memorial resolutions 2 were enacted one never moved passed introduction. Violent Crime Victims and "Irish -American Day” resolutions were enacted. The failed one which never moved passed introduced was a second attempt to ban the use of the word “Latinx.”

The summary of legislation sponsored by Mr Block is 2 of 18 House bills were enacted into law, 2 joint resolutions passed and 2 memorials passed thus a 24% success rate on legislation introduced by Representative John Block. 

For a comprehensive breakdown of legislation sponsored by Representative Block visit: https://www.billtrack50.com/legislatordetail/28488

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