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By Nicole Maxwell
A bill seeking to create a temporary cabinet department on the southern border failed in committee Wednesday morning.
SB 257, which would have set up a Border Security Office, failed in the Senate Rules Committee.
“The purpose of this legislation is to create a temporary, four-year Office of Border Security in the Governor’s Office, staff it with the director selected by the governor and approved by the Senate, and to support border security activities by coordinating and integrating efforts between federal, state and local agencies,” bill sponsor Sen. Anthony Thorton, R-Sandia Park, said. “The office is authorized to hire staff, coordinate eminent domain and enter into joint powers agreements with the federal government.”
The Border Security Office would have also coordinated efforts between federal and local governments to construct a fence on the southern border.
Thorton said the office would not be an enforcement office but was intended to integrate “the various activities that occurred to secure the border,” Thornton said.
The bill would have created an executive office and appointments but Thornton did not talk to the governor about it
Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, said she could not support the bill without the governor’s approval or at least her counsel on it.
“I understand what you’re doing and why, but I just don’t think this works unless it comes from and is agreed to by the governor,” Stewart said. “I mean, because… you’re telling her what to do, and I don’t think she probably would appreciate that.”
Republicans in the committee understood why Thornton, a freshman senator, did not contact the governor prior to filing the legislation.
Sen. James Townsend, R-Artesia, supported Thornton’s decision not to reach out to the governor prior to filing, even though it could have helped get the bill passed.
“I kind of understand why you might have not gone to the governor, although it might have helped… You have every right as a senator to bring anything forward,” Townsend said.
The bill was tabled on a 5-to-3 vote.
