The Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Post file photo
The Santa Fe New Mexican:
Special ed office clears committee: A bill to formally create an Office of Special Education under the Public Education Department made it out of the Senate Education Committee with two “no” votes Wednesday.
The office had existed prior, thanks to a 2023 executive order from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, but Senate Bill 38, which is being sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, would codify it within state law and expand its duties.
While no funding request is included in the bill, the expansion comes alongside a $2.8 million Public Education Department request to fund 15 full-time positions to staff the office.
The bill would also move the position of the Office of the Special Education Ombud, currently part of the Developmental Disabilities Council, into the Public Education Department. Stewart said this would make them “more fully able to use the powers of the PED to fix issues with special education.”
Michelle Tregembo, the current ombud, voiced support for the bill and its mission to “continue to elevate special education in New Mexico.”
James Jackson, executive director of Disability Rights New Mexico, said his organization supports the bill’s proposed bolster of special education but opposed moving the ombud into the education department.
“It’s a pretty independent agency now, and we feel it’s important for parents of kids in special education to have an independent way of addressing the concerns that they may have,” he said. “And we have a little bit of concern that moving it into the PED might limit the effectiveness of that.”
Senate Ed rejects seizure bill: A bill aiming to improve seizure disorder management in New Mexico schools through mandated in-school supports failed in the Senate Education Committee Wednesday.
Sen. Harold Pope, D-Albuquerque, the sponsor of Senate Bill 246, said he was approached about the issue by advocates from the New Mexico Epilepsy Foundation. The bill would call for all bus drivers and two school employees trained for every school with a student diagnosed with seizure disorders.
Pope said Albuquerque schools are following through on training personnel, but “I don’t know if every district is doing it to this level,” adding the advocates pushing for the bill are from rural counties.
Sen. Martin Hickey, D-Albuquerque, said the bill would be doable given the relative ease of seizure training, comparing it to CPR training. However, Stan Rounds, executive director of the New Mexico Superintendents Association, said districts would need money to implement it.
“Seated with me is the superintendent of Loving, New Mexico,” Rounds said. “He has one school nurse for all of his schools. That is the individual in his school district. … Passing this law is not going to fix it unless it’s followed with the resources.”
‘Cool our schools’ leaves committee cold: The Senate Education Committee also voted Wednesday to table a bill to fund school upgrades to deal with climate change.
Senate Majority Whip Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, the sponsor of Senate Bill 125, cited the increasing impacts of climate change, including on classrooms.
“Seventy percent of our roughly around 25,000 cooling units are evaporative coolers,” said Albuquerque Public Schools Deputy Superintendent Gabe Hawkins. “And with the extreme heat and humidity, it has been quite challenging for us to do as far as maintenance and upkeep.”
Padilla’s bill aims to remove barriers for projects to get considered by the Public School Capital Outlay Council, which matches funding for schools aiming to build upon or renovate school facilities.
“We have seen many requests for HVAC projects — the need is great out there,” said Joe Guillen, chair of the outlay council.
However, committee Chair Sen. Bill Soules, D-Las Cruces, said the council can already fund air conditioning projects.
“ I’m still not hearing answers as to why we have to pass something else in order to get this done,” he said.
Solar savings for low-income customers: The Senate Conservation Committee voted Thursday to advance Senate Bill 156, which would create a designation for “low-income customers” in New Mexico public utility law and exempt them from some charges on energy bills.
The committee approved the bill by a party-line vote of 5-3, with the Republicans opposed.
The bill would define “low-income customers” as people with an income 80% or below the area median income of their county, as designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It would also provide for such customers to be exempt from some “rate riders” in electricity bills related to interconnection costs. A Public Regulation Commission attorney told legislators the bill could save up to about $30 per month for about 5,000 low-income customers throughout the state.
Utility attorney Stephanie Dzur spoke in support of the bill during the meeting, pointing out large commercial utility customers like Facebook have “long enjoyed” savings in Public Service Company of New Mexico’s voluntary renewable energy programs.
“If we can serve the biggest corporations with low-cost renewable energy, we can also do the same for the poorest amongst us and protect those savings,” Dzur said.
Lobbyists from both PNM and Xcel Energy — which owns the electric utility Southwestern Public Service Company — spoke against the bill, saying “other customers will pick up that cost.”
The state’s utility regulators will ultimately decide how costs are allowed to be recovered by the state’s investor-owned utilities, the agency’s attorney said.
Hooray for Santa Fe: Lawmakers from both houses celebrated Santa Fe Day at the Legislature on Thursday, recognizing Mayor Alan Webber and all eight members of the City Council.
“It takes all of us working together to improve all the wonderful things that we do in our city, in our capital city,” said Rep. Tara Lujan, D-Santa Fe.
Quote of the day: “If you miss roll call, I take your bag of chips.” —House Speaker Javier Martínez. Representatives arrived in the House Wednesday — many of them after the set start time of 10:30 a.m. — to find a bag of red chile chips at each of their seats. Carrying on a tradition once held by the late Rep. Eliseo Lee Alcon, Rep. Patricia “Patty” Lundstrom, D-Gallup, provided the chips and jokingly reminded lawmakers not to swap votes for the “major trading articles.”
“When I was in high school, I had an uncanny ability to catch a football. I mean, I could catch any football. The coach started talking with me about joining the team. I didn’t do it for social pressures because the quarterback was also my boyfriend.” —Rep. Liz Thomson, D-Albuquerque, during a discussion on a bill to ban transgender female athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports. The bill was tabled on a 4-2 party-line vote.