Director To Request $750,000 In Emergency Funding For Operations Of Magistrate Courts Through June
Scales of Justice. Courtesy image
COURT News:
Administrative Office of the Courts Director Artie Pepin will appear before the state Board of Finance Thursday to request emergency funding of $750,000 for operations of magistrate courts through June.
In April, the governor vetoed a $750,000 supplemental appropriation approved by the Legislature to address underfunding partly caused by a loss of revenues from vetoes in 2014.
Without the requested $750,000 emergency grant, according to Pepin, the AOC will not pay leases on court buildings for June and state insurance premiums. Those steps Read More
Udall To Discuss Critical NM Funding For Labs
U.S. SENATE News:
WASHINGTON – This week, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall will attend Senate Committee meetings on several issues important to New Mexico, including the Fiscal Year 2016 budgets for New Mexico’s national labs, military bases and the Department of Veterans Affairs; Indian water rights settlements; important safety updates at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that affect all airports; and expanding U.S. relations with Cuba.
Additionally, a bill that Udall recently introduced to create a national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES), will be considered by the Senate Read More
Officials Celebrate $14 Million Solar Power Project
USDA News:AG’s Statement On Kari Brandenburg Investigation
Attorney General Hector BalderasAPD News:
ALBUQUERQUE ― New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas released the following statement Thursday regarding the Kari Brandenburg investigation:
“Today (Thursday) my office released detailed findings from a four-month-long investigation regarding a public referral from the Albuquerque Police Department alleging that Bernalillo County District Attorney, Kari Brandenburg, engaged in bribery or intimidation of witnesses.
“The investigation concluded that there is insufficient evidence to bring charges of bribery or Read More
Heinrich Fights For New Mexico In Annual Defense Bill
U.S. SENATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, voted to advance the committee’s fiscal year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The bill includes key provisions Senator Heinrich worked to include that benefit New Mexico’s men and women in uniform, military installations, private industry, national laboratories, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).
The bill, which sets the Department of Defense spending levels and policies for the upcoming fiscal year, was reported out of committee Read More
Attorney General Announces Free Trainings On Open Meetings Act And Inspection Of Public Records Act
AG News:
SANTA FE – Attorneys from the Office of the Attorney General are traveling throughout New Mexico for the remainder of the year, offering free training sessions on Sunshine Laws designed to help government agencies and municipalities better understand the requirements of the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) and its Open Meetings Act (OMA).
The training sessions will be held monthly beginning next week and continuing through the end of the year.
IPRA defines what information agencies must release to the public. The Act recognizes that “all persons are entitled to the Read More
New Mexico House Speaker Don Tripp Says Senate Democrats Sabotaged Capital Outlay Bill
GOP News:
ALBUQUERQUE – Speaker Don Tripp released the following statement this evening:
“I have been waiting for several days for Senate Democratic leadership to return my calls so that we could come to an agreement that would benefit the most New Mexicans. Time and again, however, our negotiations have been derailed by an obvious lack of sincerity by the Senate Democrats.
“It is very difficult to work with people who do not value their word, and their unwillingness to negotiate in good faith has cost New Mexico a capital outlay bill and a jobs package that passed the House Read More
Democratic Chairwoman Expresses Disappointment Saying Governor Chooses Politics Over Capital Outlay
DEMOCRATIC News:
Democratic Party Chairwoman Deb Haaland weighed in this evening on Governor Martinez’s apparent decision not to call a special session in order to pass a much needed capital outlay funding bill.
“Governor Martinez and New Mexico Republicans know this bill would help the working families all across our state,” said Haaland from a Young Democrats event in Grants. “That’s why it is absolutely shocking to me that the Republicans won’t put partisan differences aside for one day to conduct the people’s business, as they were elected to do. I’m disappointed, and I’m thinking about Read More
US And China Mark 10th Anniversary Of Peaceful Uses Of Nuclear Technology Joint Coordination Meetings
NNSA News:
CHENGDU, CHINA – The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Anne Harrington and China National Energy Administration (NEA) Director General Liu Baohua co-chaired the 10th Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technology (PUNT) Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) meeting May 6-7 in Chengdu, China.
Since 2002, the United States and China have held periodic joint meetings on their cooperative activities under the U.S.-China PUNT Agreement. The agreement is a formal government-to-government Read More
U.S. Sen. Tom Udall Calls For Congress To End Mass Telephone Surveillance, Reform Patriot Act
U.S. Sen. Tom Udall
U.S. SENATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, during a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall urged Congress to oppose a straight reauthorization of several expiring provisions of the Patriot Act and restore Americans’ privacy rights by ending the government’s dragnet collection of phone records.
The Patriot Act provisions — including Section 215, which has been used to justify bulk collection of Americans’ phone records — expire at the end of the month, and Congress is currently debating reforms that would require greater oversight, transparency, Read More
Gov. Susana Martinez Announces 2015 New Mexico True Summer Reading Challenge
Gov. Susana MartinezState Environment Secretary Discusses $73 Million WIPP Settlement With DOE
NMED Secretary Ryan Flynn
“Liability was a major issue,” said New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) Secretary Ryan Flynn during a telephone interview Tuesday, discussing the state’s $73 million settlement on April 30 of claims for violations and liabilities related to a major contamination accident at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad in southern New Mexico. “We felt strongly that the weight of the evidence on our side was so overwhelming, we were able to get past that issue early on,” he said.
The WIPP facility has been closed Read More
Los Alamos Federated Republican Women Meet May 14
LAFRW News:Udall, Heinrich Unveil Renewable Electricity Standard
SENATE News:Attorney General Balderas Announces First Meeting As Chair Of New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy Board; Sets Priorities
Attorney General Hector BalderasHouse Democrats Push For Better Behavioral Healthcare
Members of the Legislative Finance Committee at Tuesday’s Behavioral Health presentation in Santa Fe. Courtesy photo
Dist. 43 Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard discusses New Mexico’s behavioral health crisis at Tuesday’s meeting. Courtesy photo
STATE News:
- Serious Questions Arise At Legislative Finance Committee Behavioral Health Presentation
SANTA FE – New Mexico House Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard (Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, Sandoval and Santa Fe) raised some serious concerns over New Mexico’s behavioral health system at Tuesday’s Legislative Finance Committee Read More
Udall Bill To Help Veterans Through Claims Process
U.S. Sen. Tom UdallBill Introduced For Tech-Transfer Maturation Program
U.S. SENATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. and Michael Bennet, D-Colo. introduced legislation to launch a new National Laboratory Technology Maturation Program (NLTMP) at DOE to facilitate successful commercialization of laboratory-developed technologies and boost regional, technology-driven economic impacts.
The bill, S.1259, the National Laboratory Technology Maturation Act, will be considered June 4 during a hearing in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Under the National Laboratory Technology Maturation Program, Read More
Observations Of A Fly On The Wall At The Merry Roundhouse
By ROBERT GIBSONI served many of my eight years on the Los Alamos County Council as a member of its state legislative committee. In that role, I frequently visited with elected legislators (in both House and Senate), lobbyists, and staff. It was a close-up view of the legislature from the “outside.”
This year I had the opportunity to view the legislature from the “inside” as a staff member, an analyst for the House Regulatory and Public Affairs Committee (HRPAC). It was illuminating, although there were few surprises.
The basic job of legislative analysts is to study bills and provide Read More
House Speaker Tripp On Special Session Negotiations
House Speaker Don L. Tripp
STATE News:
SANTA FE – In response to the Senate Democrats claiming a deal has been struck on capital outlay, House Speaker Don L. Tripp issued the following statement:
“It is stunning that the Senate Democrats would publicly trumpet ‘mission accomplished’ on a capital outlay deal by agreeing to their own proposal when no one else even knows the details of the proposal. It’s unfortunate that the Senate Democrats would rather govern by press releases than engage in good faith negotiations with the House and the Executive.
“We’ve Read More
