Politics

Gessing: Stars Have Aligned For Needed Pension Reform

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By PAUL GESSING

and LEN GILROY

Over the last few weeks leading up to the 2020 legislative session, an all too rare alignment has occurred in New Mexico—the Governor, legislators from both parties, labor and taxpayer representatives, plan managers and other stakeholders in Santa Fe all agree that it is time to reform the state’s largest public pension system.

New Mexico’s Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) has amassed over $6 billion in unfunded pension liabilities and has become vulnerable to volatile investment markets. The Governor’s PERA Solvency Task Force recognized Read More

Legislative Roundup: 26 Days Remaining In Session

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Legislative Roundup
SFNM News:

Governor on guns: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham spoke on Friday about proposed gun legislation, saying it’s possible to protect Second Amendment rights as well as improve public safety. “My message is we have an opportunity to do both,” she told reporters. “Why wouldn’t we?”

Lujan Grisham has put on her agenda an initiative, filed as House Bill 7 and Senate Bill 5, that would allow for extreme-risk protection orders, letting law enforcement obtain a court order to remove guns from people considered dangerous.

Best of both worlds? Lujan Grisham also spoke about Read More

Optimism Marks Opening Of 2020 Legislative Session

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Members of the New Mexico National Guard present the colors as the 2020 Legislative Session gets underway Tuesday in Santa Fe. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard and Dist. 43 Rep. Christine Chandler, both of Los Alamos gather for a photo at the opening of the legislative session Tuesday at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

 

By CAROL A. CLARK
Los Alamos Daily Post
caclark@ladailypost.com

SANTA FE – The 30-Day Session of the 54th New Mexico Legislature got underway Tuesday at the Roundhouse. Read More

U.S. Supreme Court Action On Abortion Could Prompt Special Session Of New Mexico Legislature

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

By DANIELLE PROKOP
The New Mexican

Democrats in the state Senate say they still don’t have enough votes to repeal an old, unenforceable abortion ban that remains in New Mexico law.

They believe a failed effort in the 2019 legislative session — when a handful of conservative Democrats joined Republicans to block it — could see the same results in this year’s 30-day session.

But with the U.S. Supreme Court poised to hear a Louisiana case that is expected to test the landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, Senate Democrats and Read More

Tesuque Pueblo Eyes Film Production Facility To Meet What State Says Is Rising Demand

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By JENS ERIK GOULD
New Mexican

Tesuque Pueblo is actively pursuing plans to turn its old Camel Rock Casino into a film production facility after the space was used last year for the movie production of News of the World, starring Tom Hanks. 

The Pueblo of Tesuque Development Corp. is in talks with scouts for film and television companies about using the location for future productions, said Timothy Brown, the entity’s president and CEO. The former casino, located off U.S. 84/285, could be used on a short- or long-term basis or rented to a major production company, he said. 

“We feel it’s a Read More

Legislative Roundup: Days Remaining In Session 29

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Legislative Roundup

New Mexican

Days remaining in session: 29

Bring out the guillotines: Climate activists rallied outside the Roundhouse prior to the governor’s address Tuesday, demanding action on global warming and an end to fracking. Amid a crowd of around 100 people, there was drumming, and one protester, Bobbe Besold of Santa Fe, danced while holding a giant skeleton and a sign that read “Extraction is Extinction.”

At one point, activists placed three young people’s heads in three fake guillotines, with angled blades held up by ropes attached to blocks of Read More

House Speaker Brian Egolf Shares Priorities For 2020 Legislative Session In Opening Remarks Tuesday

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Speaker of the House Brian Egolf opens the 30-Day Session of the 54th New Mexico Legislature Tuesday at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com.

NMDP News:

SANTA FE — Speaker of the House Brian Egolf (D-Santa Fe) opened the 30-Day Session of the 54th New Mexico Legislature Tuesday with remarks asserting House priorities for the 2020 Legislative Session.

Focused on passing a responsible budget that continues investing and uplifting a generation from poverty through education, House Democrats are also committed to securing a better future through economic diversification Read More

Governor Issues Second State Of State Address

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Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham enters the House Chamber this afternoon at the Roundhouse to deliver her State of the State Address. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham delivers her State of the State Address this afternoon before a joint session of the House and Senate at the State Capitol. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

From the Office of the Governor:

SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued her second annual State of the State address today at the Roundhouse.

The governor launched the second session of the 54th New Mexico Legislature with a speech

Read More

New Mexico Counties Push For Jail, Sheriff Funding

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By AMANDA MARTINEZ

New Mexican

An organization that represents New Mexico county governments is pushing the state Legislature to increase reimbursements to counties for the rising costs of transporting state prisoners and providing behavioral health care to state inmates housed in county jails and youth centers.

The Santa Fe-based nonprofit New Mexico Counties is seeking a more than $6 million increase to the County Detention Facility Reimbursement Fund, which now stands at $2.3 million a year.

State law allows county sheriff’s offices to charge the state per diem and mileage expenses Read More

Governor, Staff Gear Up For State Of State Address

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Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham

By MICHAEL GERSTEIN

New Mexican

On the roughly eight-hour flight from Chicago to Dublin, Ireland, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s speechwriter and top communications staffer started a draft of what will be her second annual address to the Legislature.

Six hours and 6,000 words later, Tripp Stelnicki closed his laptop and braced himself to meet his sister’s fiancé in Ireland.

Since then, Stelnicki said, the document has run the gantlet, viewed and honed by the governor’s chief of staff, John Bingaman, senior adviser Dominic Gabello and the governor Read More