USA - New Mexico. Death penalty bill heads to full House.

After few revisions, death penalty bill heads to full House. Republican lawmakers took another step Monday night towards reinstating the death penalty in New Mexico. Members of the House Finance and Appropriations Committee voted 8-6 along party lines to send the capital punishment legislation to a vote of the full 70-member House of Representatives. Committee members found themselves at odds over the price of House Bill 7 if it were to pass. A legislative fiscal report that compiled data from each part of the criminal justice system found that on average, it could cost about $105,000 a year for one person in a death penalty case, and that about 14 cases could go to trial each year. That means reinstating the death penalty could cost taxpayers an extra $1.5 million a year. "Clearly all the fiscal analyses show that we can't afford this," said Christine Trujillo, a Democrat. "It's a pure waste of time." Democrats in the state House have argued the Legislature should not try to craft and pass death penalty legislation during a short special session but wait to take up the issue during the regular 60-day session starting in January. New Mexico used the death penalty sparingly when it was last in place, executing one man between 1977 and 2009. Unclear is whether the state Senate will even consider the bill. The Senate, where Democrats are the majority, adjourned Friday after passing several budget bills on the special session's 1st day, effectively snubbing the governor's tough-on-crime agenda. Senators may have to return to Santa Fe later this week, however, to at least vote on changes to budget bills made by the House.