Ten Years Later, Lujan Just Doesn't Get It

Ben Lujan

In the face of multiple indictments of crime rings accused of duping the State of New Mexico so thousands of people who have entered the country illegally can obtain driver's licenses that provide the appearance of legitimacy, NM Speaker of the House Ben Lujan wants to revive an idea that has already been soundly rejected as inadequate. Instead of simply allowing an up or down vote on a corrective bill that was overwhelmingly approved during this year's 60 day legislative session, Speaker Lujan's bill seeks to "reduce the number years" before these dubious driver's licenses expire. Given that the anniversary of 9-11  is approaching, Lujan is rolling the political dice. Seven years ago the bi-partisan 9-11 Commission called for driver's license issuance reforms that Lujan seems to insist on ignoring. Will he get away with this approach? Only time will tell. His position seems doubly suspect with fresh evidence suggesting these previously mentioned crime rings are bringing people to New Mexico for less than 24 hours to game the New Mexico system.

9-11 Hijacker Mohammed Atta's License

The speaker's proposal is actually very similar to what was loosely characterized as a "compromise" bill that failed in the House earlier this year. Lujan's new bill (HB 22), which can be seen here, also adds a few additional document requirements to the process and some after-the-fact penalties to those who are sure to be long gone before what they have done is uncovered.

Thus far, early reports on this year's "special session" seem to suggest the legislature is moving at a snail's pace. Costs for the stalling is forcing taxpayers to foot a $50,000 per day tab. And there are no reports coming from the Democratic Party caucus in the NM Senate suggesting there is much attention being paid to the wishes of the voters on driver's licenses. Instead, Senate Democrats seem to be taking their cues on their positions from Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez. Minus Senator John Arthur Smith of Luna County, who is as independent as Representative Andy Nunez, every other Democrat in the NM Senate seems to be fine with the hopes that voters are not paying attention. Readers who are paying attention and want to assert their concerns can find contact information on their legislators here should they want to send a message to them and voice their concerns.

Ten Years Later, Lujan Just Doesn't Get It