Politics

Hargraves: Middle Level Students

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By BILL HARGRAVES, Candidate
LAPS Board Aspen District  
 
My last column discussed education tracks and suggested areas to improve. In this column I want to suggest what approach might be taken to address the needs of the middle level or middle track students.
 
Middle level students struggle in various ways. Until recently and except for family there was very little assistance or support systems, no safety nets to help. Even now as we start to acknowledge the struggle of these students, our solutions are often ineffective and take too long to initiate. Watching these
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Los Alamos High School’s Deanna Gutierrez Selected For United States Senate Youth Program

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Deanna Gutierrez of Los Alamos High School

U.S. SENATE News:

Students Headed to Washington, D.C.; Receiving $5,000 Scholarship

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich have announced the names of the two students who have been selected as delegates to the 53rd annual United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) set for March 7-14 in Washington, D.C.

Deanna Gutierrez of Los Alamos and Jonathan Salazar of Albuquerque were chosen from across the state to be part of the group of 104 student delegates who will attend the program’s 53rd annual Washington Week.

Gutierrez attends Los Read More

Study: Big Donors Dominate Competitive 2014 Congressional Races

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NMPIRG News:

 ALBUQUERQUE — The New Mexico Public Interest Group (NMPIRG) released a new study Wednesday, “The Money Chase: Moving from Big Money Dominance in the 2014 Midterms to a Small Donor Democracy.”

The study, which was written by NMPIRG and Demos, found that the top two vote-getters in the 25 most competitive districts in 2014, got 86 percent of their campaign dollars from individuals giving $200 or more. Only two of the 50 candidates surveyed raised less than 70 percent of their individual contributions from big donors, and seven relied on big donors Read More

Bjarke-McKenzie Withdraws From School Board Race

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Judy Bjarke-McKenzie

POLITICAL News:

Los Alamos School Board President Bjarke-McKenzie just told the Los Alamos Daily Post that she is withdrawing from her bid for re-election.

“I regretfully have withdrawn due to personal and medical reasons and I don’t want people to vote for me and waste their vote,” she said.

Early voting began this morning for the Feb. 3 election so it is too late to remove Bjarke-McKenzie’s name from the ballot.

“The other candidate in my district, Jenny McCumber, is perfectly capable and a good choice for school board,” Bjarke-McKenzie Read More

Report: New Mexico 17th Highest In Unfair Tax System

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Courtey/NMVC

NMVC News:

ALBUQUERQUE—A new study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) ranks New Mexico 17th in the nation in terms of having an unfair state and local tax system.

This means that 33 states have tax systems that are considered more equitable than ours.

The study, Who Pays?, analyzes tax systems in all 50 states and factors in all major state and local taxes, including personal and corporate income taxes, property taxes, sales and other excise taxes. New Mexico is among the states with a high negative tax inequality index—meaning its tax system actually Read More

Maestas Barnes To File Bill For Amber Alert System

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Rep. Sarah Maestas Barnes

STATE News:

SANTA Fe – In an effort to protect New Mexico’s children, Rep. Sarah Maestas Barnes, R-Bernalillo County, announced today that she plans to file legislation that will require all cell phone and pager companies to issue Amber Alerts. Under current New Mexico law, there is no requirement.

“When a child goes missing, we need to do everything we can to find them and bring them back home safely,” Maestas Barnes said. “The Amber Alert System saves lives – that is why it’s so critical that we expand the service to reach all New Mexicans who have a cell phone.”

The Read More

James To File Legislation For Tougher Child Abuse Laws

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Rep. Conrad James

STATE News:

SANTA FE — Rep. Conrad James, R-Bernallio County announced today that he plans to file legislation that will toughen penalties for convicted child abusers and those whose abuse contributes to the death of a child. 

“We should always fight to protect our children and hold those who harm them accountable for their heinous actions,” James said. “When we toughen child abuse laws, especially abuse that kills a child, we send a strong message that harming our children will not be tolerated.”

Currently, those who intentionally beat a child to death face life in prison Read More

Los Alamos Republican Party Meets Jan. 15

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GOP News:

The Republican Party of Los Alamos County will hold its regular meeting at 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 15 at UNM-LA Room 610.

The public is welcome to attend a presentation by Mark Jones, Jody Benson and Iris Chung about a possible ban on single-use plastic bags in Los Alamos County. A business meeting will follow the presentation.

For more information, contact Robert Gibson at 505.662.3159. Read More

Harrison: Fixing The Broken Campaign System

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By VIKI HARRISON, Executive Director
Common Cause New Mexico

For the past six months, Common Cause New Mexico and the Foundation for Open Government have been traveling the state, talking to folks from Las Cruces to Farmington about the heavy price New Mexicans pay due to the influence of money in politics.

I was in Los Alamos recently talking about our legislative agenda – which is aimed directly at the role money plays in both campaigns and policy making.

While many of the biggest contributions made by donors to PACS and candidates are hidden from view – the effects of them are plain:

  • insufficient
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Municipal League Aims To Fix Food Tax For Good

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By William F. Fulginiti,
Executive Director, New Mexico Municipal League

SANTA FE – The New Mexico Municipal League is backing efforts in the upcoming legislative session to reverse the painful consequences of a 2004 law that repealed taxes on retail food sales and medical services to reduce the tax burden of our state’s low-income residents.

The law did not help the disadvantaged, and it hurt the state by spurring a rush to increase other taxes meant to compensate cities and counties for the loss of revenue. The result is higher gross receipts taxes (GRT) — potentially more than 9 percent Read More