Politics

Legislative Roundup: 17 Days Remaining In Session

Legislative Roundup
SFNM News:

Show and tell: Rarely do lawmakers provide demonstrations to support a bill they’re sponsoring. But State Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, who has introduced a proposal to fund hands-on physics education for middle school students, brought in Anatoliy Glushchenko, a physics professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, to do just that.

Gluschhenko on Monday used a physics kit in a wooden box to demonstrate weights, balances and math equations to attentive members of the Senate Education Committee.

His performance helped Papen’s cause. Committee Read More

State Budget Passes House Appropriations Committee

STATE News:

SANTA FE – Today, the House Appropriations and Finance Committee passed House Bill 2.

The General Appropriations Act of 2020 appropriates $7.614 billion for Fiscal Year 2021, an increase of 7.5 percent, or $529 million over FY 2020.

“This budget is a statement on our priorities and values as a state,” said Chairwoman of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, Rep. Patricia Lundstrom (D-Gallup). “I am proud that we’ve passed a budget which responsibly invests in our state’s employees, children, teachers, businesses, infrastructure, courts and in our future. At the end Read More

HB-138 Expanding New Mexico Tribal Control Over Educational Programs Advances House Committee

Regis Pecos, left, co-director of the Leadership Institute at the Santa Fe Indian School, shares notes with Gail Evans during a presentation about improving education for indigenous communities at the Santa Ana Casino ballroom in July. Photo by Anthony Jackson/Searchlight New Mexico

By Dillon Mullan
The New Mexican

A measure that would give tribes in New Mexico more control over education initiatives in their communities advanced Friday in the House.

The House Education Committee unanimously endorsed House Bill 138, which would send $16 million over the next two fiscal years to tribal Read More

NM Transportation Secretary: $989 Million For Rest Stops

La Bajada rest stop about 20 miles south of Santa Fe. Photo by Robert Stivers

By ROBERT NOTT

New Mexican

 

Lynne Uhring said rest stops are much more than a place to stop to stretch your legs or use the bathroom. 

Surveying a series of historical plaques honoring women who contributed to New Mexico’s history at the La Bajada rest stop about 20 miles south of Santa Fe, the Albuquerque resident said the quality of these facilities says a lot about the state.

“We’re telling ourselves that tourism is a really important part of New Mexico’s economy,” she said. 

Michael

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Udall: ‘It’s Past Time We Confront The Climate And Nature Crises’

By TOM UDALL
U.S. Senator

For our survival, we can look to my father’s vision as an alternative to our current path.

In his 1963 book The Quiet Crisis, my father, former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall, sounded the alarm about the creeping destruction of nature. “Each generation has its own rendezvous with the land, for despite our fee titles and claims of ownership, we are all brief tenants on this planet,” he wrote. “By choice, or by default, we will carve out a land legacy for our heirs.”

Interior Secretary Stewart Udall

Today would have been Stewart Udall’s 100th birthday. And 57 years after

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Scenes From Veteran Pinning Ceremony At Northern

During the United States 50th Anniversary Commemorative Vietnam War Pinning Ceremony led by Assistant Speaker Ben R. Lujan Friday evening at Northern New Mexico College, a Moment of Silence is held for the POW ‘empty chair’ recognition led by American Legion Post 17 Commander Dave Piñeda with local leadership from left, Rio Arriba County Commissioner Leo Jaramillo, Joe Garcia of Ohkay Owingeh, Española Mayor Javier Sanchez, Northern New Mexico College President Dr. Rick Bailey and Assistant Speaker Lujan. Photo by James R. Mountain/valleydailypost.com

Assistant Speaker Ben R. Lujan Read More

Bill To Incentivize Purchase Of Electric Motor Vehicles Advances

HOUSE DEMOCRATS News:

SANTA FE – House Bill 217, Electric Vehicle Income Tax Credit, has passed the House Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee.

House Bill 217, sponsored by Rep. Jim Trujillo (D-Santa Fe), Rep. Micaela Lara Cadena (D-Mesilla), Rep. Pat Woods (R-Broadview), Rep. Javier Martinez (D-Albuquerque), and Rep. Marian Matthews (D-Albuquerque), provides incentives to New Mexican consumers to purchase electric vehicles and to install at-home charging units.

House Bill 217 also includes a double credit amount for low income consumers and a price cap for these credits Read More

Republican Party Of New Mexico Releases Recent Accomplishments As Election Season Heats Up

STATE GOP News:

The Republican Party of New Mexico is passionate about its work and its mission. Republicans are on the move, and in the last few months, the Party has launched bold initiatives, gained enormous strength in the state and has successfully achieved many monumental goals.

Here are some of RPNM’s recent accomplishments:

  • President Trump campaigned in Rio Rancho, a sign that the RNC is committed to devoting resources to help re-elect the president. The President’s visit was historic.
  • Since Steve Pearce became chairman, the Party has raised nearly $800,000 for RPNM.
  • Purchased conservative
Read More

Lawmakers Say Capital Outlay Process Often A Crazy Mess

By JENS GOULD
The New Mexican

 

Friday morning, three Santa Fe firefighters in uniform walked up to state Sen. Peter Wirth in a Roundhouse hallway.

They came bearing a form, and if the majority leader would sign on the dotted line, they’d be one step closer to getting new equipment. 

They weren’t the only ones to seek Wirth’s help. The Palace of the Governors wanted interior renovation. The yet-to-be-constructed Vladem Contemporary art museum needed solar. Tesuque Pueblo was after remote monitoring for a drinking water system.

An Albuquerque science center wanted something, too. Not

Read More

Benson: Gus, The Glow-In-The-Dark Gopher

By JODY BENSON
Chair, Pajarito Group of the Sierra Club

Sunday, Feb. 2, demarcates the point in the calendar halfway between the winter solstice and spring equinox.

In simpler times, (prior to anthropogenic green-house gases causing climate change with the resulting predictability of drought, fires, floods, and species extinction, but the rarely predictable weather) on this day—Groundhog Day—it would be up to the groundhog to partner with his shadow to determine the weather for the next six weeks.

Here in New Mexico, as many of you already know, we do not have groundhogs. Rather we have gophers. Read More