Legislative Roundup: 5 Days Remaining In Session
Kaylhni Andrade, visiting the Capitol from Albuquerque, smiles as she covers herself in the folds of Sahira Guillen’s quinceañera dress during a presentation for Early Childhood Education Day on Monday, March 17, 2025. Guillen, with OLE NM, along with three other young women, donned quinceañera dresses to represent the 15 years that they have fought for better wages for early childhood educators. Photo by Gabriela Campos/The New Mexican
The Santa Fe New Mexican Staff:
CYFD reform heads to governor: A bill to create an Office of Child Advocate within the New Mexico Department of Justice to Read More
Weekly Fishing Report: March 18, 2025
By GEORGE MORSE
Sports and Outdoors
Los Alamos Daily Post
The snowpack in Northern New Mexico is still well-below normal. Despite more beneficial snow that fell this past week, the measure of snow water equivalent, which is the amount of water you will have once the snow is melted, is below 50-percent of normal in the Upper Rio Grande, Jemez River and Pecos River basins. The Chama River Basin improved somewhat and is now 57-percent of normal.
The snowpack in Southern Colorado, including the headwaters of the Rio Grande, is also below normal. Snow water equivalent in the Rio Grande headwaters Read More
‘Effectively Disappeared’: Little Info About 48 People Taken By ICE Across NM, Advocates Say
Edwin Jesus Garcia Castillo talks about his experience of being detained at the Torrance County Detention Facility during a news conference Monday, March 17, 2025, at the state Capitol. Photo by Matt Dahlseid/The New Mexican
By Esteban Candelaria
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Four dozen people have “disappeared” from three New Mexico cities after a weeklong operation by the federal government earlier this month, according to a complaint filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico on Sunday.
Little is known about the 48 people who were arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Read More
Bill Strengthening Protections For Kids In CYFD’s Care Headed To Governor’s Desk
NMDP News:
SANTA FE — Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted to concur with Senate amendments to House Bill 5, which would create an independent Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) to oversee child well-being in the state.
House Bill 5, which passed the House unanimously March 4, 2025, would establish the Office of the Child Advocate as an independent office that would not only receive and investigate complaints related to children’s services at the Children, Youth, and Families Department (CYFD), but also ensure their resolution, and inform the public, legislature, and Governor Read More
FBI: U.S. Attorney’s Office Secures Guilty Plea From Shiprock Woman In Navajo Nation DUI Crash
FBI News:
ALBUQUERQUE — A Shiprock woman pleaded guilty in Federal Court to assault resulting in serious bodily injury after driving while intoxicated and causing a crash that severely injured two children on the Navajo Nation.
According to court documents, April 23, 2023, Jazmyne Deschinny, 22, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was driving a sedan carrying eight people within the exterior boundaries of the Navajo Nation. Deschinny was heavily intoxicated, with a blood alcohol level of 0.264, which is more than three times the legal limit in New Mexico. She also had opiates and cannabinoids Read More
Luján Statement On Senate Passage Of Bipartisan Legislation To Halt All Lethal Trafficking Of Fentanyl
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján
U.S. SENATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) issued the following statement on the March 14 Senate passage of the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of (HALT) Fentanyl Act:
“The fentanyl crisis has taken far too many innocent lives and has devastated communities across New Mexico and the United States. The bipartisan HALT Fentanyl Act will give law enforcement the tools necessary to combat the fentanyl crisis, keep fentanyl off our streets, and help protect New Mexico communities.
“This legislation is a critical step toward protecting our communities Read More
House Passes Bill To Address Rising Grocery Prices
Sponsor Rep. Charlotte Little (D-Albuquerque)
STATE News:
SANTA FE — The House of Representatives passed legislation Friday to help address rising grocery prices in New Mexico on a vote of 39-27.
House Bill 17 would establish a commission to study and make recommendations on how to reduce grocery store prices and improve local supply chain issues that may impact the price of goods. The commission would focus on policies and proposal recommendations to reduce the cost of household essentials like bread, eggs, tortillas, and milk, as well as proposing strategies to expand access to locally-grown Read More
Senators Heinrich, Britt, Hirono And Hyde-Smith Resolution Honoring National Board Certified Teachers Passes Senate
U.S. SENATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) announced that their bipartisan resolution recognizing the importance and contributions of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) passed the Senate.
Students taught by National Board Certified Teachers gain 1-2 months of additional instruction per year and are 11% more likely to score proficient on literacy exams.
Nationally, there are over 141,000 teachers who have earned National Board Certification. In New Mexico, there Read More
Robinson: New Mexico Doctors – ‘We Are Exhausted And Demoralized’
By SHERRY ROBINSON
All She Wrote
© 2024 New Mexico News Services
Five progressives killed the medical malpractice bill.
You might say the trial lawyers got their money’s worth. You might say it’s late in the session and everybody’s getting tired and cranky. You could even observe that the strife of national politics has haunted this legislative session. It would all be true.
But there’s another element that’s more troubling, and that’s denial and willful ignorance.
New Mexico doesn’t have enough doctors. It’s a national problem, but it’s worse here. In recent years New Mexico was the ONLY state Read More
Dannemann: The Trial Lawyer Argument Is Bogus
By MERILEE DANNEMANN
© 2025 by Merilee Dannemann
In New Mexico, there aren’t enough doctors. There aren’t enough nurses. There aren’t enough hospitals, especially in small towns. There aren’t enough patients paying full price for their healthcare and too many on Medicaid.
You probably already know this. We talk about it all the time.
Two other factors contribute to this crisis. One is the presence of private for-profit ownership of hospitals and the other is our high rate of malpractice insurance.
But one of these two issues is claiming to be the solution to the other one, and that is pure nonsense. Read More
