Senate Indian Rural Cultural Affairs Committee holds organizational meeting, schedules three bills for next session

The Senate Indian Rural Cultural Affairs Committee met Tuesday, Feb. 4, for an organizational session in which members introduced themselves and set logistics for the coming legislative week. Chair Sen. Shannon Pinto said the committee has three bills on its agenda and will reconvene Tuesday at 9 a.m. to consider them.

The organizational meeting served largely for roll call, member introductions and scheduling. "We do have 3 bills on our agenda, and we won't meet Thursday," Pinto said, adding that the committee's usual start time is 9 a.m. and that she expected the Senate to go to the floor around 11 to 11:30 a.m.

The committee secretary, Anita Senejani, introduced herself as staff for the committee. Several senators gave brief introductions: Sen. Joshua Sanchez said he represents District 29, which covers Valencia and Socorro counties; Sen. Bill Soules said it is his first time on this committee though he has served 12 years in the Senate; and Sen. Antonio Maesta described prior work with community organizations and his background as a lawyer. Several other committee members answered the roll call as present.

No bills were discussed on their merits during the session and the transcript contains no bill numbers or fiscal details. Pinto told members the committee will have a "full meeting with all the bills" that have been referred to the panel at the next scheduled session; she did not list bill titles, sponsors or numbers during this organizational meeting.

The meeting concluded without formal votes. Pinto closed the session by reminding members of the next meeting time and noting members on Zoom. "We are adjourned until Tuesday, 9AM," she said.

The committee's next meeting is scheduled to take up the three referred bills; further details, including bill numbers and sponsor information, were not specified during the Feb. 4 organizational meeting.