Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — The New Mexico state Legislature spent so much time working on solvency issues that few other bills made it through, state Rep. Patty Lundstrom said Thursday.

At a press conference held in her office at the Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments, where she is the director, Lundstrom talked about several of the bills she introduced in this session.

One of her main goals this session was to get a bill passed that would deal with further problems that people are facing with the payday loan companies.

Lundstrom was instrumental in getting a bill approved last year that, for the first time, put restrictions on the payday loan industry that prevented it from charging 300 or more percent for their loans. Because of this legislation, many of the loans were turned into installment loans, but she said that that the companies were still charging excessive interest rates and needed to have additional caps on how much they could charge.

This bill failed to get passed, but Lundstrom said that she is hoping to get it in the agenda for the special session that Gov. Bill Richardson is expected to call for September.

That special session will still deal mainly with budget items and is needed, she said, to see how the state’s revenues fare during the first quarter of the fiscal year.

She said she has also not given up on trying to get legislative approval for the creation of an Indian Arts and Crafts Fund, which would protect Natives who produce authentic Indian arts and crafts and try to deal with the growing problem of fake Native crafts dominating the market.

The bill, which didn’t make it to the floor for a vote, would have set up a fund to study how much of an effect the Indian arts and crafts industry has on the state economy. It would also look at the potential adverse impact of the import, production and sale of items of nonauthentic Native arts and crafts.

She said she would also like to see the study look at much fake crafts are being sold as authentic and see what the state could do to promote the sale of authentic arts and crafts.

As for capital improvement projects, she said the Legislature had very few funds for new projects.

As a result, no new state funding was provided for projects like the expansion of U.S. 491 between Shiprock and Yahtahey, which ran out of funds because of increased construction costs.

But expansion funds will be made available, she said, through the section of the federal stimulus package that was given to the state for transportation needs.

None of the senators or representatives was given any funds this year to pay for capital improvement projects in their areas but the House and the Senate did pass capitol outlay bills that provided funds for projects. Most of the grants, however, will go to extending projects that were approved in previous years.