Politics

Jobs Council Extended for Second Year

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Courtesy/LJC

STATE News:

SANTA FE – The Legislative Council has voted to extend the ground-breaking work of the Legislative Jobs Council for a second year.

During the interim, the bipartisan group of Legislators and private industry representatives tackled the immense and complex challenge of creating economic base jobs in New Mexico. The work of the Legislative Jobs Council is the most thorough and inclusive job creation planning in state history. 

Based on this work, specific legislation will be introduced during the 2014 legislative session with the hopes of creating jobs Read More

Martin Luther King Day Highlights Equality; Nonviolence

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Martin Luther King Jr. Courtesy/history.org

Staff Report

As the unquestioned leader of the peaceful Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was at the same time one of the most beloved and one of the most hated men of his time. From his involvement in the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 until his untimely death in 1968, King’s message of change through peaceful means added to the movement’s numbers and gave it its moral strength. The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. is embodied in these two simple words: equality and nonviolence.

King was raised in an activist family. Read More

PBS Live Streaming Gov’s State of the State Address

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Governor Susana Martinez

PBS News:

New Mexico PBS (KNME) Ch.5.1 is broadcasting live video of the 2014 New Mexico State of the State Address at 1 p.m. Tuesday (time is approximate) on Ch.5.1, as well as live streaming the speech and the follow-up panel discussion. Viewers can watch the Governor’s address again, in its entirety, at 10 p.m. on Ch.5.1.

Log in to watch and join the conversation.

2014 New Mexico State of the State Address:
https:////new.livestream.com/accounts/5890629/events/2692687

The Roundtable Panel Discussion immediately following the Governor’s speech with Moderator Read More

Senators Respond to President’s Directive on Surveillance Reform

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U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Mark Udall (D-Colo.), members of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, reacted to today’s speech by President Obama outlining his directive on reforming surveillance powers. The senators have been advocates for reining in overbroad surveillance powers and protecting Americans’ privacy.

They issued the following statement:

“After the long push to rein in overbroad surveillance powers, we are very pleased that the President announced his intent to Read More

Udall Secures Support for Critical PILT Funding

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U.S. SENATE News:
 
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Tom Udall won a commitment from a powerful Senate committee chairwoman Thursday to work with him to find reliable funding for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program, a critical source of revenue for local governments throughout New Mexico and the rural West. 
 
Udall secured her support after making his case for the program in a speech on the Senate floor. PILT funding expired at the end of last year, and Udall and others are fighting to find full funding. Udall argued in his speech that unless Congress renews PILT funding, local
Read More

N.M. Delegation Announces Federal Drought Assistance

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CONGRESSIONAL News:

WASHINGTON – Wednesday, U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Reps. Steve Pearce, Ben Ray Luján, and Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that 27 counties in New Mexico will qualify for emergency loan assistance from the Farm Service Agency (FSA) due to losses caused by the ongoing drought. A full list of counties is included below.

The designation makes producers, farmers and ranchers in these counties eligible for Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans, provided eligibility requirements are met. Funds are available for up to a maximum of $500,000 and Read More

‘Report From Santa Fe’ Features Bill Richardson Sunday

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Bill Richardson

RFSF News:

‘Report From Santa Fe’ will feature former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. Lorene Mills’ interview with Richardson airs at 8 a.m., Sunday on New Mexico PBS, KNME-TV, Ch. 5.1.

Richardson is the two-term governor of New Mexico, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former Secretary of the Department of Energy. He is the author of “How to Sweet Talk a Shark: Strategies and Stories from a Master Negotiator”

“As a fellow governor- and from nearly 40 years in Hollywood – I know how hard negotiating can be. If Bill Richardson offers to Read More

Luján Votes for Government Funding Package that Rolls Back Sequester Cuts

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U.S. CONGRESSIONAL News:

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico’s Third District voted Wednesday for the omnibus appropriations bill that funds the government for fiscal year 2014. As a result of the budget deal that was passed in December (see here), the appropriations bill rolls back the sequester cuts that have negatively impacted New Mexico.

“For too long Congress has had to legislate from one crisis to the next as House Republicans shutdown the government and used the appropriations process to make extreme demands,” Luján said.  “With Read More

GOP Pre-Primary Convention Jan. 30

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GOP News:

All registered Republicans in Los Alamos County are invited to participate in the American method of government at the grass roots level at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014 by coming to the GOP pre-primary convention. Ward Caucuses will be held to elect delegates to the County Pre-Primary Nominating Convention.

Public Notice:

“The Republican Party of Los Alamos County announces the 2014 pre-Primary convention Thursday, January 30, at 7:00 p.m. at the UNM-LA Jeannette Wallace Hall, Room 505.  Registration begins at 6:30 p.m., and doors close promptly at 7:00 p.m.

The Central Read More

New Mexico Receives $1.6 Million for Road Repairs

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CONGRESSIONAL News:

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Reps. Steve Pearce, Ben Ray Luján, and Michelle Lujan Grisham have announced that the New Mexico Department of Transportation will receive a $1.6 million grant for repair and reconstruction of roads around the state damaged in last year’s floods.

The grant funds will be used to restore major highways and roads on federal lands that were damaged by the severe flooding in September. The record-breaking rain and storms caused damage in about two-thirds of the state.

 In October, at the urging Read More