SANTA FE - One state senator wants to remove the names of sitting officeholders from public buildings.

Gov. Susana Martinez hopes to expand DNA testing to all people arrested in felony cases.

A state representative from Albuquerque will revive his attempt to stop former legislators from becoming lobbyists for at least a year after they leave office.

Those proposals will be among more than 200 bills introduced in New Mexico's 60-day legislative session, which starts Tuesday.

One early battle, that for speaker of the House, will help determine which bills get hearings on the floor.

The incumbent speaker, Democrat Ben Lujan of Santa Fe, probably will face a challenge Tuesday from fellow Democrat Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces. Democrats hold a 37-33 advantage in the House, and at least some Republicans plan to stay on the sidelines during the vote for speaker.

"I have never voted for a Democrat to be speaker of the House, and do not plan to," Rep. Dianne Hamilton, R-Silver City, said Sunday in an email.

Hamilton for the third time is carrying a bill to require people to present photo identification in order to vote. She called it "a vitally needed election safeguard," and cited a 2009 poll that showed overwhelming public support for the idea.

"I am hopeful that the speaker of the House, whomever that might be, will listen to our people and support my bill," Hamilton said.

Sen. Mark Boitano, R-Albuquerque, said he will introduce a bill to erase the names

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of sitting politicians from public buildings, and to outlaw any attempts to memorialize those in office by naming public buildings for them.

"It's bad policy, 24/7 advertising for politicians at taxpayers' expense," Boitano said.

Boitano cited a gym at Pojoaque Valley High School that is named for Lujan, D-Santa Fe. The gym also served as a polling place last June in the primary election. Nobody could bring campaign materials to the gym, but candidate Lujan's name was plastered on the building.

Lujan did not respond to requests for interviews. He has been in the Legislature since 1975. School administrators named the gym for him in 1993.

Any government entity that receives state money would be subject to the naming restrictions, Boitano said.

He has proposed another bill that would prohibit the state and its political "subdivisions" from spending money to promote ballot initiatives.

Martinez, through Republican legislators, will seek to expand DNA testing of suspects in serious criminal cases. Under current law, DNA testing is required only of those arrested in a subset of felonies, such as murder and sex offenses.

Martinez's idea is to expand "Katie's Law" with more DNA testing. The law is named for Katie Sepich, who died in 2003 at the hands of a rapist in Las Cruces. Martinez was the Do a Ana County district attorney at the time.

Using DNA, investigators cracked the case in 2007. They obtained a confession from Gabriel Avila, a 27-year-old Mexican national.

But, Martinez said, Sepich's killer could have been pinpointed sooner with more expansive DNA testing. Avila was jailed in other cases soon after 22-year-old Sepich's murder, but was not tested immediately.

Rep. Bill O'Neill, D-Albuquerque, who survived a tough re-election campaign in November, is back with a bill to curtail lobbying by former legislators.

Much of Martinez's and the Legislative Finance Committee's budget preparations have focused on administrative cutbacks in the state education department.

But Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Do a Ana County, has filed a bill that would require the department to take on another task. Under her plan, the department would establish "bullying prevention policies" that then would be implemented by school boards across the state.

Santa Fe Bureau Chief Milan Simonich can be reached at msimonich@tnmnp.com or (505) 820-6898.