Legislative Roundup: 40 Days Remaining In Session
Sawyer Garners, 17, of Glorieta plays the vibraphone alongside the New Mexico School for the Arts Latin band in the rotunda at the state Capitol Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. Photo by Gabriela Campos/The New Mexican
Neema Pickett, a liaison for the city of Albuquerque Office of Black Community Engagement, speaks to the group gathered in support of HB 281 outside the state Capitol Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. Photo by Gabriela Campos/The New Mexican
The Santa Fe New Mexican:
Haaland expected to formally announce: All signs point to Deb Haaland formally announcing her gubernatorial run today.
A series of seconds-long, Read More
Celebrate Engineers Week With Lecture By Pramod Khargonekar On AI And Engineering Feb. 19 At Fuller Lodge
Pramod Khargonekar
The community is invited to celebrate Engineers Week with a free public lecture by Pramod Khargonekar of the University of California, Irvine, 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19 at Fuller Lodge.
Khargonekar, the vice chancellor for research and professor of electrical engineering and computer science, will present “Future of Work and Workers in the AI Era”. As automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies continue their remarkably rapid development, it is expected that many facets of work and lives of workers will be impacted.
In this talk, Read More
LAFRW Book Donations Honor Longtime Member Marie Todd
On Feb. 7, 2025, the Los Alamos Federated Republican Women donated books to the White Rock Public Library and Chamisa Elementary School titled the One Flag, One America – The Story of the American Star by Michelle Hirstius and Why American Matters by Dr. Ben Carson and Valerie Prundstein. The books were dedicated as part of the Mamie Eisenhower Library Project in honor of Maria Todd. She was a long time LAFRW member and past President, loving wife, mother and grandmother who lived in White Rock and passed away in January 2025. Pictured are Linda Bullock, LAFRW President, left, and library staff Read More
Legislation To Raise New Mexico’s Top Oil And Gas Royalty Rate On State Lands Passes First Committee
NMSLO News:
SANTA FE — Legislation pushed by New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard to increase the top royalty rate charged for new oil and gas development on the best state lands from 20% to the market rate of 25% cleared its first hurdle Feb. 6.
Senate Bill 23, sponsored by Sen. George Muñoz and co-sponsored by Sen. Liz Stefanics and Rep. Matthew McQueen, would bring New Mexico’s royalty rate in line with what is charged in Texas and on private lands in New Mexico and would generate millions more each year and $1 billion to $ 2 billion overall in additional value for New Mexico’s Read More
Heinrich Pushes USDA Nominee To Address Rising Cost Of Eggs Driven By Avian Flu Outbreak
U.S. SENATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) today pushed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary-designee Brooke Rollins to share her plan to address the rising cost of eggs driven by the ongoing highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI or H5N1) outbreak.
Heinrich points to tools, such as HPAI vaccines, that the USDA could develop and deploy to help tackle the outbreak and lower food prices. Under the Trump administration, the avian flu outbreak is stressing poultry and egg producers’ ability to make a living and forcing working families to pay more Read More
Luján, Colleagues Raise Concerns About Risks In Delays To Accessing Funding For NM Community Health Centers
SENATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M) joined U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and 19 of their colleagues in writing a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Acting Secretary Dorothy A. Fink, M.D. regarding reports that Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grantees, including community health centers, are experiencing significant delays in accessing funding.
The senators also expressed concerns about restrictions on regular communications between HRSA and grantees. These issues come after an Office of Management Read More
State Law Impedes City Donation Of Midtown Campus Equipment To Santa Fe Nonprofits
By CARINA JULIG
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Katie Olivant, managing director of New Mexico Actors Lab, was encouraged when the city of Santa Fe began seeking requests from local nonprofits for music and film equipment that had sat unused for years in buildings on the midtown campus.
The theater company asked for microphone stands and a subwoofer.
City officials reached out at one point to let her know the group could pick up the equipment, she said — but then went radio silent when she tried to arrange a pickup time.
“I sent an email asking for further information, and they said they would have Read More
Robinson: A Bigger Conversation About Water
By SHERRY ROBINSON
All She Wrote
© 2024 New Mexico News Service
For the two sponsors of the Strategic Water Supply bill now before the Legislature, this is personal.
Rep. Susan Herrera, D-Española, said she gets asked frequently why she’s carrying the governor’s controversial bill. She explains that her district is rural and agricultural.
“Eighty percent of the people coming to me with problems have water problems,” she told the House Agriculture, Acequia and Water Resources Committee. “Climate change is real. I’ve seen things in the last five years I never thought were possible…
“This Read More
Denish: Remembering New Mexico First – RIP
By DIANE DENISH
Corner To Corner
diane@dianedenish.com
In Mid-January, New Mexico First, the non-profit public policy organization, closed its doors after 38 years.
As a participant and observer of NM First from the beginning I have a historical view. I served as board chair early on, was at the first board meeting and recently at the last board meeting as a guest. (and dozens of board meetings in-between). Initially in 1986, I was co-chair of the task force brought together by U.S. Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Jeff Bingaman.
As a task force, we visited Texas and Arizona, who had examples Read More
Paying Out-Of-Pocket: New Mexico’s Thorny Medical Malpractice System Explained
By MARGARET O’HARA
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Dr. Debbie Vigil didn’t plan to retire in 2023.
Born and raised in Santa Fe, Vigil started practicing as an independent OB-GYN in the city in 1989, out of a desire to serve her home state.
“I was committed to the people of New Mexico,” she said. “I’m Hispanic. I speak the language. I know the culture. That was the whole reason I went into medicine.”
But Vigil said her choice to practice in New Mexico came at a cost, specifically the high cost of medical malpractice insurance in the state, which regularly runs OB-GYNs like Vigil more than $100,000 per year in Read More
New Mexico House Moves Two More Public Safety Priorities
HB 31 Sponsor Rep. Joy Garratt
House Judiciary Committee News:
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- Legislation would deter shooting threats and vehicle thefts
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SANTA FE – The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) has advanced two more priority policies that will be considered for inclusion in the House Democrats’ integrated public safety package.
House Bill 31 would increase the penalty for making a shooting threat toward a school or public to a fourth-degree felony, aligning it with the state’s penalty for bomb threats. It is sponsored by Rep. Joy Garratt (D-Albuquerque), Rep. Brian Baca (R-Los Lunas), and Andrea Reeb (R-Albuquerque). Read More
Ringside Seat: Former Senator Turns Down Regent Seat
By MILAN SIMONICH
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Bathed in scandal and soaked by greed, Western New Mexico University lost its chance to land an excellent administrator.
Former state Sen. Siah Correa Hemphill, D-Silver City, told me she turned down an offer from the governor to be a regent of WNMU. Litigation regarding irresponsible spending by the previous board shaped her decision.
“After a lot of thought about the reality of being on the board of regents, I declined. The attorney general said new board members will be the ones who most likely will be sued ‘in their capacity,’ so I’m sure it will be a Read More
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández Introduces Bipartisan Bill To Strengthen Public Safety In Indian Country
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández
STATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM), Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and Sharice Davids (D-KS) introduced the bipartisan Bridging Agency Data Gaps & Ensuring Safety (BADGES) for Native Communities Act to support the recruitment and retention of Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) law enforcement officers, bolster federal missing persons resources, and give Tribes and states tools to combat violence.
U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), John Hoeven (R-ND), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) introduced Read More
LWV’s Lunch With A Leader: Hari Viswanathan Feb. 20, 2025
Senior Scientist Hari Viswanathan
LWV News:
The League of Women Voters of Los Alamos (LWV) February Lunch with a Leader community event is noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20 at the Unitarian Fellowship Hall on Sage.
The featured speaker is Hari Viswanathan who will be presenting a Non-Technical Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Viswanathan was born in Suffern, N.Y. and moved to Los Alamos in 2nd grade in 1977 with his parents VK and Selvi Viswanathan who still live in Los Alamos. He graduated from Los Alamos High School 1989. He holds advanced degrees in chemical and environmental Read More
Next County Council Work Session 6 PM Tuesday
Los Alamos County Council members from left, David Reagor, Ryn Herrmann, Beverly Neal-Clinton, Melanee Hand, Randal Ryti, Vice Chair Suzie Havemann and Chair Theresa Cull. Courtesy/LAC
COUNTY News:
The next Los Alamos County Council Regular Session is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday. Feb. 11 at White Rock Fire Station #3, 129 N.M. 4 in White Rock. A Zoom option is offered for remote participation (Zoom Link).
View Tuesday’s agenda and use the eComments tool to provide public comment on items of interest.
Items include:
- Presentation by Jessica Kunkle, Manager of the Department of Energy
Legislative Roundup: 42 Days Remaining In Session
The Santa Fe New Mexican:
Fentanyl trafficking bill dies in committee: A bill to boost penalties for fentanyl trafficking failed in a House committee Saturday morning.
House Bill 107, sponsored by Rep. Andrea Reeb, R-Clovis, would have imposed a nine-year prison sentence for first-offense trafficking which didn’t result in death and a 12-year sentence in instances in which a person died of an overdose, with additional penalties for subsequent offenses. Numerous law enforcement representatives testified in favor of the proposal.
“This will help us out with addressing those folks who cause Read More
All Shall Be Well: Sadly God Is Not Glorified And America Is Not Living Up To Her Promise
Clergy from left, Deacon Amy Schmuck, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill and The Rev. Lynn Finnegan. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com
By The Rev. Mary Ann Hill
Rector
Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church
What a difference two decades makes! At the very beginning of his first term in office, President George W. Bush issued two executive orders aimed at faith-based and community organizations in order to improve the delivery of social services:
“Faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs) have a long tradition of helping Americans in need and together represent Read More
$340 Million Climate Measure Clears Senate Committee
The Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Post file photo
By ANDRÉ SALKIN
The Santa Fe New Mexican
The Senate Conservation Committee voted Saturday to recommend spending $340 million on both statewide and local sustainable energy projects.
Those investments would come through a new “Community Benefit Fund” proposed by Senate Bill 48, with Senate Bill 49 proposing the $340 million in one-time allotments to be used between fiscal years 2026 and 2028.
Both bills are being sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque; both passed committee Saturday on 5-3 party-line votes.
Proposed Read More
Op-Ed: Calling On Elected Officials To Honor Oath
By CELINA STEWART
CEO
League of Women Voters of the United States
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the League of Women Voters of the United States CEO Celina Stewart issued the following statement in response to actions taken by the new administration and the impact on voters.
“In the first 17 days of the Trump administration, we’ve witnessed nothing short of the weaponization of government against Americans. The callousness of the most recent actions, including the terrorizing of the immigrant community, shows a blatant disregard for the well-being of the American people. We’ve seen the weakening Read More
Lawmakers Mull How To Address Teen Gun Problem After Albuquerque Shooting Turns Deadly
From left, Adrian Maestas, Noah Maestas and Stephanie Maestas, father, son and step mother to the late Adrian Maestas Jr., sit together and listen to other individuals speaking of their loved ones who were lost to homicide during Victims of Homicide Day to honor the lives of New Mexican’s loved ones lost to violence in the Rotunda at the state Capitol on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. Adrian , 15, was shot and killed in Rio Rancho in Oct. 2024. Photo by Gabriela Campos/The New Mexican
Noah Maestas, 7, wears a shirt bearing an image of his late brother Adrian Maestas during Victims of Homicide Day in the Rotunda Read More
