Ashley Sanchez, a dancer with the Ballet Folklorico Orgullo from New Mexico State University, swirls her colorful skirt while performing with the group of dancers and Mariachi Orgullo to close the presentation made for New Mexico Higher Education Day in the Rotunda at the state Capitol Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. Photo by Gabriela Campos/The New Mexican
Rep. Michelle Paulene Abeyta, D-To’hajilee, kneels down to pet Oakley, an Albuquerque Police crisis dog who works with the Crisis Intervention Team who was touring the Capitol with Det. Josh Isler Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. Photo by Gabriela Campos/The New Mexican
The Santa Fe New Mexican Staff:
A ‘turning point’ for tribes: Legislation a longtime Native American senator said would be crucial for preserving New Mexico’s Indigenous languages won unanimous support Tuesday from the Senate.
Senate Bill 13 authorizes the Public Education Department to enter into state-tribal education compacts for language- and culture-based schools.
“We’re lucky that our languages are still spoken,” said sponsor Sen. Benny Shendo Jr., D-Jemez Pueblo.
“There [are] eight languages that are spoken with the various tribes,” he said, adding some have similar dialects.
“This will allow tribes to be able to, for the first time, define what’s important for our children because everybody else has been telling us how to educate our children for well over 100-plus years, and this will be a turning point in this state,” Shendo added before the 30-0 vote.
Shining a light on legal settlements: Transparency scored a win Tuesday on the Senate floor.
Senate Bill 220, which would require state agencies that settle claims without the assistance of the Risk Management Division to post the agreements on the state’s Sunshine Portal within 30 days of entering into the settlement, cleared the chamber 36-0.
The bill also calls for the division director to appoint a loss prevention review team to examine settlements and “recommend steps to reduce the risk of such incidents occurring in the future.”
The lead sponsor, Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview, said he kept asking state agencies why they were being sued so much.
“Once I got into that discussion, I found out that many of these suits, the settlements, were never brought forward,” he said. “We didn’t even know about it. They were — I can’t really say covered up — but the circumstances of why we were being sued was never brought forward, so how can HR train people if we don’t understand what’s going on?”
Utility relief, police battery bills pass House: A bill that would let utilities reduce rates for low-income customers passed the House on a 42-25 vote Tuesday.
“No one in our state should have to live without running water, electricity, or make impossible choices about which necessities to prioritize,” lead sponsor Rep. Kristina Ortez, D-Taos, said in a statement after the vote. “This legislation will help to ensure essential utilities are within reach for all of our friends and neighbors across New Mexico.”
The bill would let public utilities “implement additional rate structures intended to reduce utility costs for low-income customers,” according to a House Democratic news release that framed it as one of several bills Democrats are pushing to help people struggling with rising costs. “These rate changes could decrease or eliminate balances for customers and allow for them to pay lower amounts more frequently.”
A fiscal impact report on the bill noted the changes to rate structures could result in higher rates for non-low-income customers.
The House also voted 66-1 to pass House Bill 103. Sponsored by Rep. Andrea Reeb, R-Clovis, the bill would boost the penalty for aggravated battery on a peace officer to a second-degree felony.
Quote of the day: “We are bursting at the seams with gas — natural gas, let me just specify that.” —Sen. Jay Block, R-Rio Rancho, while debating a proposed amendment to Senate Bill 48, a clean energy measure.
A New Mexico State Police officer is reflected in the artwork on the second floor of the state Capitol while on duty Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. Photo by Gabriela Campos/The New Mexican