Paid Leave Proposal Advances Despite Stiff Opposition
Hands go up in the audience as Rep. Doreen Gallegos, chair of the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee, asks who is opposed to HB11 during a long meeting of the committee Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, which narrowly voted to advance a revamped version of the proposal for paid family and medical leave. The proposal will go next to the House floor, where a version of a paid family and medical leave bill died in 2024. Photo by Jim Weber/The New Mexican
Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, testifies during a long meeting of the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee Wednesday, Read More
‘Just The Appetizer’: Senators Say Expect More Crime Bills
By Esteban Candelaria
The Santa Fe New Mexican
As the halfway point of this year’s legislative session approaches, lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee sought to temper criticisms that a public safety package making its way through the Roundhouse does not go far enough.
House Bill 8, which the committee took a red pen to on Wednesday, presently represents one of the largest efforts to tackle crime in New Mexico during this legislative session.
After some changes the committee voted 7-1 to advance the bill, with all but Sen. Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, voting for it. Maestas argued cracking Read More
Community Benefit Fund Passes Senate Finance Committee
NM LEGISLATURE News:
SANTA FE — The New Mexico Senate Finance Committee voted Wednesday to advance Senate Bills 48, the Community Benefit Fund, marking a major step toward ensuring that communities statewide have the resources to invest, adapt, and innovate in the face of a changing climate.
Sponsored by Senate Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque), the Community Benefit Fund (CBF) is a key component of the Clear Horizons Act, providing $340 million in funding for locally driven projects that improve infrastructure, expand clean energy, and create economic opportunities across urban Read More
Legislative Roundup: 31 Days Remaining In Session
Nancy DeHerrera Crochet, right, tears up a little as her father 105-year-old Valdemar DeHerrera, the oldest survivor of the Bataan Death March, is honored by Secretary of Veterans Services Jamison Herrera during a short ceremony in the rotunda for Military and Veterans Day at the State Capital Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. Photo by Jim Weber/The New Mexican
State Sen. Shannon Pinto reacts as Secretary of Veterans Services Jamison Herrera, right, presents her with a forgotten heroes flag during a short ceremony in the rotunda for Military and Veterans Day at the State Capital Wednesday, Feb. 19, Read More
Learn About Two Recent NASA Solar Missions Feb. 22
NMDCA News:
Learn all about NASA’s two most recent missions to the Sun at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science (NMMNHS) with ParkerPunchPalooza 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Feb. 22.
ParkerPunchPalooza lets visitors explore a pair of NASA solar missions – the NASA PUNCH mission and the Parker Solar Probe – with hands-on activities and back-to-back presentations from NASA researchers.
Learn about both missions through handouts and giveaways and enjoy all-ages solar activities and demos from local teachers who are working with the Johns Hopkins Space Exploration Maker-Place Program. Read More
‘Welcome Child And Family Wellness Leave’ Act Headed To House Floor
Rep. Christine Chandler -
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- Updated proposal reflects input from community stakeholders and small business owners
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Bipartisan Legislation Introduced To Bring New Mexico Into Nine Major Interstate Compacts For Health Care Workers
Fred Nathan, Jr.
Executive Director
Think New Mexico
From Think New Mexico:
A bipartisan team of 10 legislators has introduced a package of bills to bring New Mexico into the interstate compacts for physicians, physician assistants, psychologists, counselors, dentists and dental hygienists, emergency medical personnel, audiologists and speech therapists, physical therapists, and occupational therapists. (See below for a chart listing all bill numbers and sponsors.)
Joining these interstate compacts was one of the top reforms recommended by the nonpartisan think tank Think New Read More
Los Alamos-Based UbiQD Expands Solar Innovation With Acquisition Of BlueDot Photonics
QCD on flexible film. Courtesy/UbiQD
Courtesy/UbiQD
UbiQD News:
UbiQD, Inc., the New Mexico-based leader in quantum dot (QD) technology and manufacturing, today announced the acquisition of substantially all assets of BlueDot Photonics, Inc. (BlueDot), including its groundbreaking perovskite-based quantum cutting technology. The deal also enabled UbiQD to secure exclusive rights to BlueDot’s associated intellectual property, originally developed at the University of Washington and licensed from CoMotion.
By leveraging BlueDot’s innovative doped perovskite materials, Read More
Mason: Rev Your Engines For Electric School Buses!
By SARA ANN MASON
Los Alamos
What would you say to saving our schools money, reducing students and school staff exposure to a known cause of chronic health conditions, increasing community air quality, and lowering carbon emissions?
You might think such wide-ranging benefits require many different policies, but they are all achievable by simply converting our school buses to electric vehicles. And we have the opportunity to make that easier for our schools this legislative session!
House Bill 32, “Electric or Alternative Fuel School Buses”, makes electric school buses available and affordable Read More
Ringside Seat: MIA: Still No Legislator For One District
By MILAN SIMONICH
The Santa Fe New Mexican
New Mexico’s Legislature has been in session for a month. The 30,000 residents of House District 6 still do not have a representative.
Few believed the wheels of government would grind this slowly, but corruption is like molasses in the fuel tank.
Several politicians are to blame for leaving residents in parts of Cibola and McKinley counties without representation. The breakdown began with the man who last held the seat, the late Rep. Eliseo Alcon. Ill with liver cancer, Alcon ran for reelection and won a ninth term.
He resigned from office Nov. Read More
