Politics

New Mexico GOP Headquarters Vandalized

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Surveillance video shows the man suspected of vandalizing the GOP Headquarters over the weekend in Albuquerque. Courtesy/RPNM
Surveillance video captures a photo showing property damage to the GOP Headquarters over the weekend in Albuquerque. Courtesy/RPNM

 

GOP News:

ALBUQUERQUE – Albuquerque Police are working with the Republican Party of New Mexico in investigating another case of vandalism at the Republican Party Headquarters at 5150A San Francisco Road NE in Albuquerque.

The vandalism occurred around 2:37 a.m. Saturday. Surveillance video picked up a vehicle parking in

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The Safer Communities Act Passes House Judiciary

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The Roundhouse in Santa Fe. File photo

STATE News:

  • Public safety package supports first responders and increases penalties for repeat offenders

SANTA FE – In response to communities around the state pushing for more to be done to curb violent crime in New Mexico, Saturday The Safer Communities Act, a bipartisan public safety package, passed the House Judiciary Committee.

House Judiciary Committee sub for House Bill 6, introduced by Rep. Marian Matthews (D-Albuquerque) and sponsored by Rep. Dayan Hochman-Vigil (D-Albuquerque) and Rep. Bill Rehm (R-Albuquerque), consists of four public Read More

League Of Women Voters Honored At State Legislature

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Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham reads a proclamation honoring the centennial of women’s suffrage and the founding of the League of Women Voters during League Day at the Roundhouse Thursday in Santa Fe.  Photo by Akkana Peck

League of Women Voters scarecrow mascot ‘Vicky the Voter’ sits on the League of Women Voters of Los Alamos table while League members assemble with Rep. Christine Chandler, center, Thursday at the Roundhouse. Photo by Dody Richardson

LWVLA News:

Members of the League of Women Voters of Los Alamos gathered for League Day at the New Mexico Legislature Thursday in Santa Fe.

Proclamations Read More

PRC Commissioners Vote To Oppose HB11

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STATE News:

SANTA FE — The Public Regulation Commissioners voted Wednesday to oppose HB11: Reorganizing the Operating Structure of the PRC during the Commissioners weekly open meeting.

“Staff shouldn’t be punished for the decisions we make as a commission as we do our job to protect the public interest and 3 commissioners voted to oppose the bill,” Commissioner Valerie Espinoza said.

The three commissioners who voted to oppose HB11 are Espinoza, Theresa Becenti-Aguilar and Jefferson Byrd.

PRC experts on the subject matter have been excluded from the deliberation process up to the drafting Read More

Educators Serving In The Legislature

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Rep. G. Andrés Romero

By DILLON MULLAN
New Mexican

G. Andrés Romero offered up granola bars he paid for out of his own pocket while his students compared after-school jobs tossing pizza dough and waiting tables. After asking a transfer student about where his last history class left off, Romero divided the class into groups to examine U.S. involvement in World War I.

“Mr. Romero, he’s chill,’ junior Jaiden Smith said. “He’s got snacks. When we work, he plays music.”

At Atrisco Heritage Academy, Albuquerque’s largest high school with nearly 2,500 students, Mr. Romero teaches American history Read More

The New Mexico Legislature … A Tangled Web Of Relationships And Potential Conflicts Of Interest

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Lobbyist Scott Scanland

By MICHAEL GERSTEIN
The New Mexican

 

Scott Scanland, one of the most influential lobbyists in the New Mexico Legislature, recently surveyed a Senate committee room during a hearing on a bill aimed at more stringently regulating electronic tobacco products.

Scanland represents Altria Client Services Inc., parent company of tobacco giant Phillip Morris USA and a variety of other tobacco and cigar brands. Altria also has a 35 percent ownership stake in JUUL Labs Inc., a leading e-vapor company.

The lobbyist happens to be married to state Rep. Doreen Gallegos, 

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Heinrich On Plans For Bears Ears; Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments

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U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) has issued the following statement after the Department of the Interior finalized resource management plans for the reduced Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah by releasing two Records of Decision:

“The Trump administration is steamrolling forward on the president’s unprecedented—and, I believe, illegal—order to drastically shrink the boundaries and weaken protections in two of America’s national monuments.

“The landscapes and significant cultural sites Read More

House Advances Bipartisan Public Safety Bill Package

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By CYNTHIA MILLER
New Mexican

New Mexico lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee advanced a bipartisan package of public safety measures Saturday that proponents said are aimed at reducing violent crime in communities across the state and aiding law enforcement officers who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Provisions in the omnibus package that would provide funding to train officers in “community-oriented policing” and ease access to treatment for officers with PTSD received broad support from the law enforcement community, advocacy groups and committee members. Read More

Bill To Radically Change PRC Moves Forward

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By ROBERT NOTT
The New Mexican

The House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee voted 8-5 along party lines to approve a bill that would significantly alter the structure of the state’s Public Regulation Commission.

House Bill 11, introduced by state Reps. Linda Trujillo, D-Santa Fe, and Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces, would move many of the divisions currently under the commission’s authority to a department within the governor’s administration.

It also would give the governor the right to appoint the PRC’s chief of staff for a term of six years, following an initial Read More

CIR Presents Former U.S. Ambassador At Large For War Crimes Issues David Scheffer Feb. 20

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David Scheffer

CIR News:

The Santa Fe Council on International Relations (CIR) has announced that the former U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues (1997-2001) David Scheffer will speak 5-7 p.m., Feb. 20 at Hotel Santa Fe, 1501 Paseo de Peralta in Santa Fe.

Ambassador Scheffer will discuss his latest book, The Sit Room: In the Theater of War and Peace (Oxford 2019), focusing on foreign policy under the Trump Administration. Generously supported by the Quezada Jacobs Family Agency: Allstate Insurance.

The Sit Room is a compelling story about the day by day decision-making that transpired Read More