First year MPP students took a trip to Santa Fe on Friday, February 7, to visit the New Mexico Capital and get a close look at the Roundhouse during the busy 30-day legislative session.

Our very own MPPer and senior fiscal analyst for the Legislative Education Study Committee (LESC), Marit Rogne, arranged the visit.  Students sat in on the Senate education committee, and heard the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) Deputy Director, Charles Sallee, testify in support of a bill that would provide differential pay to Special Education and Bilingual Education teachers.  The committee tabled the bill, effectively killing it.  Mr. Sallee had addressed the MPP Policy Seminar in the Fall; and students were excited to see him in action.

Next on the agenda was a meeting with legislative staff, including Raúl Burciaga, the director of Legislative Council Service, and 6 policy analysts who staff the LESC and LFC.  Representative Dow from Truth or Consequences also stopped by.  Before leaving the Roundhouse, students checked out the House floor from the gallery above, and heard the Navajo Nation Vice president call for collaboration with the state on economic development initiatives. 

They ended the day with lunch at Del Charro near the Santa Fe Plaza, and as MPP student Sam Hatch said about the visit: “It was a really good day.”