Op-Ed: A Deep Dive Into Medical Malpractice
By Rep. CHRISTINE CHANDLER (D-Los Alamos)
Chair of the House Judiciary Committee
Healthcare access is top of mind for everyone in New Mexico, rightfully so, as we see more and more doctors leave the state to practice elsewhere. There are many reasons for this exodus. All of these reasons need to be addressed, including (especially) the unbounded litigation environment created by New Mexico’s Medical Malpractice Act.
Bills implementing the medical compacts, expanding the medical school, ramping up recruitment with a generous loan repayment program, increasing residencies, enacting Read More
Feds Approve New Mexico’s $382M Broadband Plan
STATE News:
SANTA FE — The federal government today approved New Mexico’s landmark $382 million broadband infrastructure proposal, unlocking funding to connect more than 42,500 unserved and underserved locations statewide.
The New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) will award 31 grants through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program – the state’s largest broadband funding initiative. The BEAD program was created when President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Read More
Legislative Roundup: 23 Days Left In Session
Representatives of the New Mexico Primary Care Association pass out teddy bears to legislators and staff around the Roundhouse for Primary Care Day, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, as the legislature starts to kick into full gear on the second week of the 30-day session. Photo by Jim Weber/The New Mexican
Yvette Ramirez Ammerman, CEO at the New Mexico Primary Care Association, passes out teddy bears to legislators and staff around the Roundhouse for Primary Care Day Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, as the legislature starts to kick into full gear on the second week of the 30-day session. Photo by Jim Weber/The Read More
LAHS Students Plan Protest Of ICE Abuses Friday
By ABEL SAYRE
Co-organizer
LAHS student
The Los Alamos chapter of Indivisible is pleased to support a student organized walkout and protest at LA High School this Friday Jan. 30, in response to the widespread abuses by ICE in Minneapolis and around the nation.
Leaving the school at 1 p.m., students and their supporters will march to Ashley Pond, where a rally will be held at about 1:30 p.m.
Indivisible encourages people of all ages who are fed up to attend the march and/or rally, and bring signs, noisemakers, and more. Read More
Lawmakers Lament Bleak—But Fixable—Future Of Health Care In New Mexico
By MARGARET O’HARA
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Even among the people in charge of health care in New Mexico, health care can be hard to find.
“Raise your hand if you can navigate the health care system in New Mexico,” Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, said Tuesday during a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee, which he chairs.
Not even the committee’s presenters—including three Cabinet secretaries and the head of the University of New Mexico Health System—raised their hands in response.
Frustrations around lack of access to health care were among the major themes as senators Read More
Op-Ed: Hold The line In Hard Times
By ERIC SCHALLER
Los Alamos
I used to work in a level 1 trauma center’s Emergency Department. Occasionally, we saw the results of horrible, evil things come in the door. Things that could rattle the most seasoned docs, nurses, techs, and researchers. Things that I don’t talk about. Things that make you question the assumption that humanity is basically good. Things that make you question whether what you are doing is worthwhile. Things that can make you become cynical and turn your back on trying to help people.
To help myself and my team cope with things like this, I developed the following
New Mexico Lawmakers Aim To Prevent Sunset Of Pet Food Fee For Spay And Neuter Programs
Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, a Santa Fe Democrat, defends a law that helps fund spay and neuter programs during a Senate Conservation Committee meeting at the state Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. The law, which calls for a fee on pet food to fund the programs, is scheduled to sunset. Jim Weber/The New Mexican
By LILY ALEXANDER
The Santa Fe New Mexican
A pet food manufacturer fee that could provide an estimated $1.37 million annually to make spay and neuter programs affordable for low-income pet owners in New Mexico faces a sunset date in July.
Some state lawmakers are trying to throw Read More
Los Alamos High School To Host Peaceful Ice Walkout Friday
OBAE Proposes $10 Million For Broadband Affordability
OBAE News:
SANTA FE — The New Mexico Office of Broadband Access (OBAE) and Expansion (OBAE) has announced legislation to authorize $10 million in broadband funding to help low-income families afford broadband service.
Senate Bill 152 was introduced by Senate Majority Whip Michael Padilla (D-14) and prepared by OBAE in consultation with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC).
The funding would come from the State Rural Universal Service Fund, which by current statute, has $40 million specifically earmarked for broadband programs.
The legislation is called the “Low-Income Read More
NMSOP To Host Patient Advocacy Day At Roundhouse
NMSOP News:
SANTA FE — Patients, survivors, and advocates from across New Mexico will gather at the State Capitol on Friday, January 30, for Patient Advocacy Day, hosted by New Mexico Safety Over Profit (NMSOP).
Patient Advocacy Day will center the voices of New Mexicans who have been directly impacted by the state’s health care workforce shortage, unsafe hospital conditions, and barriers to accountability when preventable harm occurs. Participants will meet with lawmakers to share why NMSOP’s legislative priorities are critical to improving access to care without weakening patient Read More
New Mexico Senate Committee Discusses Harsher Penalties For Felons With Guns
By ESTEBAN CANDELARIA
The Santa Fe New Mexican
The illegal possession of a firearm by a person previously convicted of a crime carries serious penalties in New Mexico — at least three years in prison.
Still, hundreds of people have been charged with the offense in recent years.
So, how can New Mexico better deter the problem?
That was the question lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee pondered Monday afternoon, as the Legislature gears up to consider several proposals designed to curb violent crime in New Mexico during this year’s 30-day session.
For Ben Baker, senior public safety adviser Read More
House Advances 10 Bills To Expand Access To Quality Affordable Healthcare In New Mexico
STATE News:
SANTA FE — Jan. 26, the New Mexico House of Representatives advanced 10 pieces of legislation to improve healthcare access across the state by lowering out-of-pocket costs, expanding access to care, and recruiting and retaining more providers.
The House Judiciary Committee unanimously passed seven bills today that would expand access to healthcare through participation in interstate healthcare compacts, which allow states to expedite licensing for qualified healthcare providers who wish to practice in multiple states.
“By joining interstate compacts, New Mexico can Read More
Legislative Roundup: 24 Days Left In Session
Flamenco dancer Kayla Lyall performs for an audience in the rotunda of the Roundhouse Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. Photo by Matt Dahlseid/The New Mexican
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Medical school funding: The University of New Mexico School of Medicine is one step closer to a new home.
Lawmakers in the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee offered initial approval Monday to Senate Bill 6, which would provide nearly $547 million in state funding for the construction of a new medical school building at UNM’s Albuquerque campus.
The new building — which will be located on the corner of Lomas Read More
Hundreds Rally For Immigrant Rights At State Capitol
House Speaker Javier Martínez, right, marches with members of Somos Acción and other demonstrators along Paseo de Peralta while heading to the state Capitol Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, during an Immigrant and Worker Day of Action rally. Photo by Matt Dahlseid/The New Mexican
By CLARA BATES
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Undeterred by subfreezing temperatures, hundreds of immigrant rights advocates from across New Mexico gathered at the state Capitol in Santa Fe on Monday to call for a ban on local government-contracted immigration detention centers, stricter privacy protections and workforce development Read More
After Paying $1.23 Million For Office Units, NMDOT Sells Them Back To Vendor For $375,000
By DANIEL J. CHACÓN
The Santa Fe New Mexican
As the New Mexico Department of Transportation takes center stage amid a push to pass a $1.5 billion bonding package, a costly and embarrassing mistake is percolating behind the scenes.
In July 2024, the department bought five mobile office units for $1.23 million. Problem is, they didn’t meet permitting requirements in a commercial setting, prompting staff to make the decision to sell them back to the vendor for $375,000 — resulting in a net loss of $857,000.
The foul-up is one of a handful of instances in which the department was out of compliance Read More
New Mexico Law Has Triggered Review Of Two Health Care Mergers Since 2024
Sen. Katy Duhigg, D-Albuquerque, attends a hearing in 2022. Duhigg was one of the sponsors of the Health Care Consolidation Oversight Act in 2024 and its expansion in 2025. Courtesy/Santa Fe New Mexican
By CLARA BATES
The Santa Fe New Mexican
New Mexico has so far reviewed only two hospital acquisitions under oversight laws passed in 2024 and 2025, largely in response to the state’s nation-leading rate of private equity-owned hospitals.
One transaction was approved in December 2024 and the other is currently under review, according to the New Mexico Office of the Superintendent of Insurance Read More
Senate Passes ‘Rocket Docket’ Legislation, Interstate Medical Compacts (SB 1) & Harm To Self & Others (SB 3) Head To House Of Representatives
NMSR News:
SANTA FE — Jan. 23, the New Mexico State Senate successfully streamlined the passage of several pieces of legislation, including Interstate Medical Compacts (SB 1) and Harm to Self and Others (SB 3) which were introduced on opening day in a ‘rocket docket’ and now make their way to the New Mexico House of Representatives.
This collaborative show of bipartisanship is due in large part to fierce Republican advocacy to improve healthcare access and public safety in New Mexico. In fact, these Democrat-sponsored pieces of legislation are built on Republican proposals that have been Read More
GOP State Senator Asks Feds To Help Block Bill To Ban ICE Contracts In New Mexico
Then-Rep. Jim Townsend, R-Artesia, reads a bill in his office in 2024. Courtesy/Santa Fe New Mexican
By CLARA BATES
The Santa Fe New Mexican
A Republican state senator is requesting the U.S. Department of Justice’s “attention and intervention” on legislation that would restrict local governments from entering into immigrant detention contracts.
Sen. Jim Townsend, R-Artesia, wrote in a Thursday letter addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi that House Bill 9, which would ban public entities in New Mexico from contracting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “raises serious constitutional Read More
Campaign Finance Records Show Big Spending In New Mexico Malpractice Fight
By NATHAN BROWN
The Santa Fe New Mexican
There’s a lot of money at stake when it comes to New Mexico’s medical malpractice laws.
Perhaps it’s not surprising advocates on both sides of the issue contribute a lot to lawmakers’ campaigns.
From the 2020 primary election cycle through 2026, the Committee on Individual Responsibility — the political action committee associated with the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association — has made $937,000 in donations to individual politicians or their PACs and $442,200 to broader PACs such as those associated with House and Senate Democrats and the state House Read More
U.S. House Of Representatives Passes Heinrich, Kelly Legislation To Repeal Cash Grabs For Senators
U.S. SENATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) released the following statements applauding House passage of legislation that mirrors Senate legislation they authored to repeal the ‘Arctic Frost’ provision, which allows Republican senators to collect $500,000 for every phone record that was previously, lawfully obtained.
“I’m pleased the House unanimously passed this legislation to repeal a last-minute provision that lets a few Republican Read More
