A delicious aroma
Here at BillTrack50 we spend a lot of time reading bills, as you might expect. While that is usually exploring the big issues of the day and helping our many wonderful customers, there is a risk that we can get pulled down random rabbit holes by the bills that we stumble across. A case in point. While innocently looking at which bills are assigned to which committees I came across the New Mexico House Rural Development, Land Grants And Cultural Affairs Committee. It sounds innocuous enough, and in fact it deals with a lot of important but slightly dull issues. But then my eye was caught by SB188. Its title is 'Official State Aroma'. Everyone knows that states have official flowers, birds and animals (and most can name them for at least their own state), but an official state aroma? My curiosity was piqued.
If forced to guess, what would you say the state aroma for New Mexico would be? (No peeking). If you've ever visited The Land of Enchantment then you probably guessed it, it's the smell of green chiles roasting in the fall. The bill was introduced in the Senate by Democratic Senator Bill Soules on January 23 this year, and quickly passed into the Senate Indian, Rural and Cultural Affairs Committee. Soules was ably supported by a bunch of schoolkids during its debate, whose enthusiasm for the seductive aroma of roasting chiles proved compelling for the Senators on the committee and it was passed 5 votes to nothing. Score 1 for the chile!
On the Senate floor there was intense and considered debate, as befits such a weighty issue. Sen. Cliff Pirtle tabled an amendment replacing the smell of roasting green chile with 'dairy air', an amendment rejected by the Senate on the grounds that, well, cows smell bad. Sen. David Gallegos offered a compromise — the green chile ice cream at La Lecheria in Santa Fe, combining the best of chile and dairy. In the end, roasting green chile won out and the bill passed 31 votes to 4. The four anti-chile votes came from Republicans Baca, Brandt, Moores and Pirtle. After the drama of the Senate, the bill passed easily through the House 56 to zero and became law.
What's In a Song?
After the drama of roasting chile smell, it got me thinking - what other chile related legislation has been introduced in New Mexico? Turns out, a bunch. This stakeholder page lists all bills containing the word chile (excluding appropriation bills). There have been 40 such bills since 2011. And while a lot have to do with the chile industry, there are others that are more . . . fun.
There are no fewer than four bills attempting to get chile related songs adopted as New Mexico's state song. The most recent attempt, in March this year, was HB510 which proposed "Red or Green" by Lenny Roybal as the official state chile song. It includes the immortal lyrics: "Good morning governor Welcome to Ben and Carmen's café May I take your order please? Huevos rancheros? Red or green?" and "Julia Roberts - the pretty woman with the Mona Lisa smile What would you like this morning Breakfast burrito? Red or green?". Sadly, this awesome track is not available on Spotify it appears, but here's a rendition by the great Lenny Roybal himself in the House last March as he tried to convince lawmakers of the merits of his song. His stellar performance won over the House, who passed the bill 56 votes to zero. When asked the controversial question of which he prefers, red or green, Rybal (who briefly flirted with politics by running for a county commission seat in 2010) gave the political answer of, "it depends who's cooking them".
Sadly, the bill died in the Senate, so "Red or Green" remains unrecognised. Though, rumour has it (started by me) that Taylor Swift is considering producing a cover version. You heard it here first (and last).
Other candidates for chile song include "Green Chile" by Melanie Humphreys in 2014 and "Chile Verde Rock" by Uvaldo Olonia in 2017 and again in 2019. None of them made much progress, inexplicably. What state doesn't want a state chile song? Come on New Mexico lawmakers, now you have an official state aroma it needs a song to accompany it! After all, you declared February 15, 2023 to be "Chile Day". How are you going to celebrate it, without a tune? The official state question of New Mexico is, of course, "Red or Green?" (and "Christmas" is diplomatically allowed as an acceptable answer) but the song isn't good enough?
I demand action! And chile. Perhaps a green chile cheeseburger, which was proposed as the official state hamburger of New Mexico in 2017. But didn't pass. Come on!
Credit: via picryl.com