By Robert Nott
The Santa Fe New Mexican
SANTA FE, N.M. — Smokey Bear fans likely are jumping for joy after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill approving the creation of a license plate honoring the firefighting black bear.
The governor signed House Bill 251 with no fanfare Tuesday, sending a message to House Speaker Javier Martínez, D- Albuquerque, saying she did not think a 30-day session was the time to introduce “relatively inconsequential legislation such as this.”
“Despite all this, I have to decided to sign HB 251 to avoid spending more time on Smokey next year,” she wrote.
Lujan Grisham noted in her pun-filled message she vetoed a similar proposal last year.
“While I understand it may have been unbearable to receive my veto message last year, I urge you to see the forest through the trees and bear in mind the limited time the Legislature has in even years when deciding which legislation to introduce and debate — especially during the last few days of the session,” she wrote.
The measure was one of the last initiatives to be passed by the Legislature in this year’s 30-day session. It generated some last-minute debate on the House floor as the legislative clock ticked away and a slew of bills concerning weightier issues — such as gun safety measures and initiatives to give the Legislature more power during sessions — unsuccessfully awaited a possible hearing before the session ended at noon Feb. 15.
HB 251 gives the state’s Motor Vehicle Division approval to apply for a license from the U.S. Forest Service to use Smokey’s name and image on a new specialty license plate. New Mexicans wanting the plate would pay an initial registration fee of $50 and then $40 in renewal fees every year thereafter.
Firefighters rescued a little black bear in the wake of forest fires in the Capitan Mountains in 1950 that they dubbed Smokey. He later became a symbol of forest fire prevention for the U.S. Forest Service, known for the catchphrase, “Remember — only you can prevent forest fires.”
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