Block Unlikely to Face Impeachment in Special Session

Jerome Block Jr.

Capitol Report New Mexico - With the special legislative session scheduled to start in exactly one week (Sept. 6), New Mexico legislators were told Monday (Aug. 29) by the director of the Legislative Council Service, the Roundhouse agency that works with lawmakers of all political stripes, that should legislators decide to impeach Public Regulations Commissioner Jerome Block Jr. the proceedings should not be done during the special session. Instead, director Raul Burciaga said impeachment should be reserved for what’s called an “extraordinary session” because of what Burciaga says is the serious nature of an impeachment hearing. Speaker of the House Ben Luján (D-Nambé) last week approved the formation of a subcommittee to look into whether the allegations facing Block Jr. rise to the level of impeachable offenses. The special session is expected to last for two to three weeks and given its time constraints, Burciaga said Monday “it would be inappropriate” to hold impeachment proceedings in the same session as the subcommittee looking into the Block case. Instead, Burciaga recommends having the legislature call itself into a separate, extraordinary session. It takes three-fifths approval of each chamber of the legislature to convene itself into extraordinary session. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Block Unlikely to Face Impeachment in Special Session