State

State House Panel Unanimously Passes Bill To Extend Statute Of Limitations On Child Sexual Abuse Cases

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STATE News:

A House panel unanimously approved legislation that makes changes to the civil statute of limitations on child sexual abuse cases.

House Bill 302 — legislation meant to allow more time to file lawsuits against sexual abusers when the perpetrator was in a position of authority over children — will now move on to the full House floor.

A survivor of childhood sexual assault currently has three years after disclosing the incident to a health care provider to file a lawsuit. The legislation would change that and instead grant three years after the survivor “knew or had reason to know” Read More

Governor Signs Senate Bill 4, Delivering Additional $8 Million To New Mexico Census Efforts

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Monday at the Roundhouse Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signs SB 4 that delivers $8 million to ensure an accurate New Mexico count in the 2020 Census. Courtesy photo

STATE News:

SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday signed Senate Bill 4, an essential bipartisan measure that delivers $8 million to ensure an accurate New Mexico count in the 2020 Census, which is essential for securing federal funds over the next decade.

This emergency appropriation bolsters the $3.5 million in Census funding secured by the Legislature and governor last year.

“We all have to pull together on the Census,” Read More

Native American Activist Whose Politically Charged Prayer In House Sparked Ire Is Disinvited From Senate

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Native American activist Lee Moquino

By DANIEL J. CHACON
The New Mexican

A Native American activist who delivered a politically charged invocation in the state House of Representatives has been uninvited from giving the opening prayer Friday in the Senate.

Lee Moquino kicked off the floor session in the House Jan. 23 by telling state representatives they were standing in “occupied indigenous space” and that Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico should be protected from oil and gas drilling — a major revenue source for the state of New Mexico.

His invocation reportedly upset some lawmakers. Read More

Los Alamos Company To Pitch At ABQid Ski Lift Pitch Competition

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By NICHOLAS SEET

Local entrepreneurs Nicholas Seet and Gary Xie will be pitching investors as they ride the Taos Ski Valley ski lift in the annual ABQid Ski Lift Pitch Contest, Feb. 20 in Taos.

The entrepreneurs will pitch investors from around the country for a chance to win $10,000 in non-dilutive capital.  

They will pitch Seet’s company Ener.com, a technology company that places cooling tubes behind solar PV panels in order to improve the performance of the panels, extend their operating life, and simultaneously generate perfectly clean water.

“Our company, Ener.com, solves three problems,” Read More

Legislative Roundup: 16 Days Remaining In Session

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Legislative Roundup
SFNM News:

Bear and grin it: A character portraying one of New Mexico’s more famous residents — Smokey Bear — showed up Tuesday at the state Capitol. Lawmakers honored him for his efforts in preventing wildfires.

Last year marked Smokey’s 75th birthday. Many people know the story of a cub rescued from a wildfire in the Capitan Mountain in 1950s, which was made a symbol of forest fire prevention by officials of the U.S. Forest Service.

But the Forest Service actually decided in August 1944 to use a fictional bear named Smokey to represent efforts to prevent wildfires. Read More

Senate Unanimously Approves Bill To Cut Prescription Drug Costs

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Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham

From the Office of the Governor:

SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday issued the following statement after Senate Bill 1, authorizing the state’s pursuit of the importation of lower-cost wholesale prescription drugs from Canada, passed the Senate unanimously:

“Too many New Mexico families can’t afford medication. Too many families either skip filling their prescriptions or ration the medicine they have. This is unacceptable. And so I am thrilled that we are one step closer to meaningfully cutting prescription drug costs for New Mexico families. 

Read More

Ringside Seat: Public Money No Longer Pays Clergy To Deliver Prayer At Daily Opening Of House Floor Session

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By MILAN SIMONICH
Santa Fe New Mexican

Brian Egolf, speaker of the state House of Representatives, has done something that might be politically incorrect but is sure to be popular with his members.

Egolf, D-Santa Fe, no longer is using public money to pay bishops, rabbis, priests and preachers to deliver a prayer in the House as it begins its daily floor session.

Now, House members themselves will give the invocation. All of them will offer the same message, give or take several useless adverbs.

Whether Democrat or Republican, the politician in solemn tones will ask for wisdom, divine guidance Read More

Bill To Create Middle And High School ‘Soft Skills’ Career Training Curriculum Passes House Education Committee

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The Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

STATE News:

SANTA Fe — House Bill 63, a bill to create a statewide, comprehensive, standards-based ‘soft skills’ program for high school and middle school students has passed the House Education Committee.

Sponsored by House Majority Leader Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton (D-Albuquerque), the bill makes a $4 million appropriation from the general fund to develop a curriculum and implement online courses tailored to meet the needs of New Mexico’s students and evolving job market. 

“We want an education system that prepares Read More

Legislative Roundup: 17 Days Remaining In Session

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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