The New Mexican:
Water overhaul heads to Senate: A bill giving New Mexico control of regulation of its own waters is headed to the Senate floor.
Senate Bill 2 cleared the Senate Finance Committee on a 6-4 vote Friday morning. It already went through the Senate Conservation and Judiciary committees.
The measure is being sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, Sen. Bobby Gonzales, D-Ranchos de Taos and Rep. Kristina Ortez, D-Taos. It would let the state Environment Department take over an Environmental Protection Agency permitting system for pollutants discharged into surface water.
New Mexico is one of just a few states that does not administer its own program. It was amended in committee to combine it with SB 22, a related measure letting the state regulate streams that may not run year-round that are no longer federally protected due to a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
The bill is supported by a variety of conservation groups, which put out a statement Friday celebrating its advance.
“Waters across New Mexico are at risk like never before,” said Tricia Snyder, Rivers and Waters Program director for New Mexico Wild. “This important effort will ensure they are permitted as they have been in the past, preventing pollution events before they occur and protecting our most precious resource for future generations.”
Block, Lord take another run at impeachment: Reps. John Block and Stefani Lord have introduced a resolution to impeach Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham over a 2023 executive order banning carrying guns in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County.
Block, R-Alamogordo, and Lord, R-Sandia Park, tried to call an extraordinary session at the time to impeach the governor over the order, which she said was necessary to combat gun crime in Albuquerque. The sweeping gun restrictions were only in force briefly before being blocked by a federal judge, and the governor modified her order to only apply to parks and playgrounds. The impeachment push fizzled.
House Joint Resolution 2, which was introduced Friday and referred to House Judiciary and Government, Elections and Indian Affairs committees, argues Lujan Grisham’s order violated both the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and similar provisions in the state constitution.
CYFD oversight clears first committee: A measure to establish a new oversight mechanism for the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department cleared its first hurdle, the House Health and Human Services Committee, on Friday.
House Bill 5, a measure that would create a new Office of Child Advocate in the state Department of Justice to monitor the services CYFD provides to children and receive complaints about issues at the agency, passed the panel 9-1.
“We have a serious problem when it comes to the care of children in state custody,” said Anjana Samant of the Department of Justice. “… The existing mechanisms within CYFD are simply insufficient to provide accountability for or transparency around the department’s actions.”
CYFD Cabinet Secretary Teresa Casados told lawmakers the agency “welcomes accountability, oversight and partnership in improving CYFD to better serve New Mexicans, but an Office of Child Advocate … just doesn’t achieve this.”
She raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest if the office finds issues at CYFD that lead to lawsuits, noting the Department of Justice can represent state agencies in litigation.
Samant said the department already has a process in place to address potential conflicts of interest, using a commission to hire attorneys that would then represent an agency.
Committee advances bill to help drug-exposed newborns: The Senate Rules Committee unanimously approved a bill Friday making major changes to the state’s implementation of the federal Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act.
Senate Bill 42 “creates a comprehensive framework to prevent vulnerable children from falling through gaps in the current system,” according to a news release from CYFD. It would shift administration of the act, which is meant to help drug-exposed newborns, from CYFD to the state Department of Health. It is being sponsored by Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, and House Minority Leader Gail Armstrong, R-Magdalena, and now heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“This isn’t simply about moving programs between departments, it’s about fundamentally improving how we protect New Mexico’s children,” Casados said in a statement. “We’ve identified where children are most at risk of being missed by our current system, and we’re creating real solutions through enhanced collaboration between agencies.”
Quote of the day: “I ask, if there’s a libertarian caucus still around amongst our friends, if there’s a less government caucus still around, if there’s a ‘Don’t tread on me’ caucus still around, then you should not be supporting the ability for the government to suck someone’s blood like a vampire on a petty misdemeanor charge that’s only going to drain scarce resources away from violent crime.” —Sen. Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, speaking against a provision of House Bill 8 that would make it easier for police to get blood draws in misdemeanor drunken-driving cases.