Until this week, bills that would ask New Mexico voters this November to adopt reforms at the troubled Public Regulation Commission appeared to be that rarity of rarities around the state Capitol: roadblock-free legislation.

Three reform measures sailed through the House of Representatives with nary a sighting of a "no" vote in any of the committees that reviewed them or on the House floor.

But suddenly, the bills have run into a challenge: Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen.

One of the most powerful lawmakers in the New Mexico Legislature, Sanchez said Wednesday he thinks the Legislature should take another year to vet the proposals.

If Sanchez were a rank-and-file state lawmaker, his opinion could be written off as representing a small minority. But Sanchez is not just any lawmaker. As Senate majority leader, he controls what bills senators hear on the Senate floor after legislation survives a vetting in committees.

And his opinion Wednesday was that, "A 30-day session is a very short session. I don't think it's enough time for us to vet these constitutional resolutions carefully enough. Let's do it deliberatively, not just do it in the next five days."

The constitutional amendments Sanchez was referring to would give the Legislature authority to determine qualifications for individuals seeking to serve on the Public Regulation Commission, transfer the reporting and registration of corporations from the PRC to the Secretary of State's Office and remove the Division of Insurance from under the elected commission's control.

Advocates stepped up the push for reforms following former commission member Jerome Block Jr.'s resignation and guilty plea to felony charges last fall. Block's admission to fraudulently using a state-issued gasoline card and embezzlement, among other things, left another black mark on an agency already known for its share of scandals since it came into being in 1999.

If the constitutional amendments pass the Legislature during the 30-day legislative session, New Mexico's voters could decide their fate this November.

But Sanchez on Wednesday had a less-than-optimistic view of the bills' chances in the Senate.

"I'm not sure if they're going to make it to the [Senate] floor," the majority leader said. Constitutional amendments must pass both the House and Senate before they can go to New Mexico's voters.

Sanchez's reluctance about the reform bills passing this year comes nearly 10 years after a legislative subcommittee he co-chaired in 2002 suggested studying reforms of the Public Regulation Commission, including most of the ideas being contemplating during this session.

Sanchez acknowledged his role in that subcommittee Wednesday, but added, "The report said, 'We need to look at this and talk about this. It didn't say to do it.' "

Advocates pushing reform at the PRC reacted swiftly to Sanchez's remarks Wednesday, saying that delaying action for a year would mean New Mexican voters couldn't decide the fate of the reform measures until 2014 instead of this November. That's because if lawmakers wait to pass the ideas in 2013, New Mexicans couldn't vote on the reform ideas until the next general election in November 2014.

"Given the parade of scandal and controversy over the past decade at the PRC, and the strong consensus around this reform package, the time is ripe for action," Fred Nathan, director of Think New Mexico, wrote in an email. The think tank issued a report that recommended reforms last autumn.

Two Public Regulation Commission members added their voices to the chorus calling for immediate passage of the constitutional amendments.

"Now's the time to do something. Waiting two years, I don't know what that achieves," said Commission Chairman Patrick Lyons. "You can study something to death."

Added Commissioner Jason Marks: "We came up with constitutional amendments that create the right structure and don't fill in all the details. We understand what Sanchez is saying."

But let the voters decide in November if they want to restructure the state agency, Marks said, and then let the Legislature fill in the details during the 2013 legislative session.

"Let's come back for the 60-day session and figure out exactly what qualifications and continuing ed you want for commissioners," Marks said. "Let's come back to the 60-day session if there are some nuances to this new insurance agency."

Currently, the PRC has wide-ranging powers and is responsible for setting rules and rates for utilities, registering corporations, conducting fire inspections and acting as the arbiter for health insurance premium rates, among other things.

But it has been plagued by a series of scandals. Block was the second member of the commission to resign in less than two years because of a felony conviction. Commissioner Carol Sloan of Gallup stepped down in April 2010 after a conviction for battery.

And in 2007, a Santa Fe jury awarded more than $840,000 in damages to a former employee who accused then-commissioner David King of sexually harassing her.

"Based on the feedback we have received from the public, reform can't come soon enough," Nathan said in his email.

Contact Trip Jennings at 986-3050 or at tjennings@sfnewmexican.com.