Arguably the most important person in the Roundhouse Tuesday wasn’t the Governor Martinez, House Speaker Ken Martinez or Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez.

For one day and one day only, the spotlight was on Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque.

As I’m typing this, Ortiz y Pino is running the Senate Public Affairs Committee, a committee charged with determining a number of high profile bills all in one night.

Here’s a short list of what’s up for debate:

• Spaceport liability legislation
• Gun show background checks
• Driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants
• Forfeiture of vehicles when driver’s license is suspended or revoked for DWI
• Public hearings for fatal officer-involved shootings

It’s possible all of these won’t get handled, but that’s an impressive list nonetheless.

It comes from time ticking down in the session. Several of the House bills are now in the Senate (and vice versa) and as lawmakers scramble to get things done, committees will simply start getting packed.

Bill of the Day:  Senate Bill 41

SB 41, introduced by Sen. Sander Rue, R-Albuquerque, could prove a big help to the Children, Youth and Families Department.

If an emergency placement of a child is necessary, the bill gives CYFD the ability to make an emergency instant background check on any person potentially designated to take care of the child. That would help ensure the emergency home is a suitable one for that child as quickly as possible.

Sen. Rue’s bill passed the Senate floor overwhelmingly and is now over in the House.

Votes in the 2013 session can sometimes be made with an eye on 2014.

That appears to be the case on a statewide minimum wage hike on the Senate floor that was the talk of the day Monday.

SB 416 would raise the minimum wage from $7.50 to $8.50 an hour. It’s a key part of the Democratic platform for the 2013 session.

It’s also an issue that can energizes voters. In Albuquerque last November, two-thirds of city voters approved a citywide minimum wage hike.

During the floor debate, Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup, made a speech that would’ve indicated he was going to vote “no”. Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, pitched an illegal “statement” amendment that would’ve forced Albuquerque and Santa Fe to raise their minimum wage rates by the same percentage the rest of the state would have to.

Yet when it finally came time to vote, both Senators were on board with the rest of their fellow Democrats. SB 416 passed on a 25-17 party-line vote.

This is an interesting vote on two fronts. One, the frequently fractured Democrats banded together. That’s the first true party-line vote for a bill this session I could find.

The second reason is a bit of political gamesmanship. If the House passes the bill, it forces Governor Martinez to make a tough decision. Most of her supporters, her base and her party in general are vehemently opposed to a minimum wage hike.

But the Albuquerque vote is an indicator that a veto on minimum wage may not help her with the electorate as a whole.

This tough decision appears to be causing the Governor’s office to handle the topic with a light touch.

Despite several attempts to try to find out whether the Governor would sign or veto the minimum wage hike, there hasn’t been a clear answer provided.

Some Democrats I’ve spoken to believe forcing the Governor’s hand could help their prospects in the 2014 election.

While it’s not totally clear, that political calculus could’ve played a role in swaying any Democrats who were on the fence about a minimum wage hike to stick with the party this time around.

Bill of the Day

HB 87

Rep. Brian Egolf’s, D-Santa Fe, bill is part of a larger push this session to crack down on drivers with ignition interlock licenses.

HB 87 would prohibit any driver with an ignition interlock license from buying alcohol. New interlock licenses would have a special line making it clear that buying alcohol with the license is not allowed.

HB 87 passed the House 59-5 Monday and heads to the Senate.

The state’s water crisis is causing some concern that Chile crops could be in jeopardy.

State lawmakers say with many of our reservoirs low – some already empty – they are very concerned about farming and the state’s prized chile crop.

There are a few bills in the house to try to help farmers, one would give a tax break for equipment used to produce and process chile. This bill is currently in a house committee.

Another big issue is saving the water we do have.

There’s money in the budget to repair older acequias and dams that are leaking.

Another issue the state is dealing with has to do with Texas – who filed a lawsuit against New Mexico in an attempt to force the state to give them water. That’s water the state says it doesn’t have.

Lawmakers say they’ve had to set aside 6.5 million dollars for that legal fight.

As we come down the stretch of the legislative session the nights get longer in the Roundhouse, the fights get more bitter and the rubber hits the road.

There’s less time for delays on major issues.

Unless that is, you have a basketball game you want to be on time for.

Friday there was a Senate Public Affairs committee hearing scheduled for two dueling driver’s-license-for-illegal-immigrants bills, the first test for a proposal that has been very important to the administration.

But when the committee schedule was updated Thursday night, the committee hearing for the driver’s-license bills had been rescheduled for Tuesday.

This sort of thing happens all the time typically but usually because the bill’s sponsor isn’t ready or more amendments need to be prepared.

But there’s likely more of a sports-related reason behind this decision.

The House and Senate play in their annual basketball game Friday at 7 p.m. It’s a charity affair with proceeds going to the UNM Cancer Center but also a particularly competitive event.

The House has dominated the event since it started, but the Senate appears to have the favored team this year.

Senate Public Affairs has two members who likely wouldn’t want to miss that, Sen. Bill O’Neill, D-Albuquerque, and Sen. Tim Keller, D-Albuquerque, two of the Senate’s more active players.

It appears that the schedule was shifted to accommodate the basketball game.

The session ends at noon on March 16.

Bill of the Day:  House Bill 90

Rep. Paul Bandy, R-Aztec, really, really wants the feasibility of horse slaughter in New Mexico studied.

Although a controversial memorial calling for a study was shot down early in the session, Bandy also has HB 90, which calls for $20,000 to pay New Mexico State University to look into the feasibility of a horse slaughter facility in New Mexico.

The bill is sitting in House Appropriations waiting for a hearing but has already cleared one committee.

The New Mexico Senate is looking at a bill that would finance nearly $174 million in capital spending while creating jobs along the way.

The House approved the measure yesterday.

If approved by both chambers and signed by the governor, it would provide $13 million to replace school buses statewide, $10 million for water supply projects and $6 million for new voting equipment among its list of projects and purchases.

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