Santa Fe, NM — Today, Senate Bill 319 was presented in the Senate. During the debate, mounting opposition from Republicans forced the bill's sponsor, Katy Duhigg (D-Albuquerque) to withdraw her bill from consideration. The bill would have mandated that every insured driver in New Mexico carry uninsured and underinsured motorist insurance for the vehicles in their policy. Estimates have indicated this measure could potentially increase an average New Mexico driver's monthly insurance payment by upwards of 43%.
Senator Jay Block (R-Rio Rancho) has issued the following accompanying statement:
"You know a bill is truly bad if the sponsor has to remove it themselves once real questions start being asked." The Senator continued, "This bill represented a giveaway to those who unlawfully operate vehicles without insurance and incentivized drivers to become uninsured motorists. For those of us who pay our monthly premiums and follow the rules responsibly, we would have been penalized for doing so. If a policy such as this would have passed, more and more people may have chosen to forgo car insurance if their costs keep rising. New Mexico citizens are better off with this bill stopped in its tracks."
