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Indian Affairs Committee sets interim legislative agenda
The Indian Affairs Committee met on Friday to set its agenda and meeting schedule for the rest of 2023. Topics expected to be discussed by the committee are organized below by broad policy areas. The Secretary of State, the Native American Voters Alliance and other elections groups will discuss tribal election issues An update on […]
After vetoes, lawmakers want to bring back hundreds of millions in tax cuts
New Mexico’s governor vetoed most of the tax reforms passed by state lawmakers last session, and now a panel in charge of tax policy wants to bring them back in 2024. Senate Majority Floor Leader Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe) said Thursday some legislators are frustrated with the partial vetoes of the tax package by Gov. […]
School building agency has only one application for Pre-K
State lawmakers learned public school buildings in New Mexico have just one pending application for improvements to pre-Kindergarten buildings. New Mexico lawmakers who sit on the Public School Capital Outlay Oversight Task Force oversee the work of the Public School Capital Outlay Council. In late May, they heard the testimony during an interim legislative committee […]
NM public bank oversight panel sets agenda for the rest of 2023
A legislative panel overseeing New Mexico’s public bank set its agenda for the rest of the year. The 32-member New Mexico Finance Authority (NMFA) Oversight Committee voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve its 2023 Work Plan, which will guide the topics it discusses leading up to the next legislative session in January 2024. NMFA is […]
Failed NM House candidate facing federal election interference charges after shootings
A U.S. federal judge on Wednesday unsealed an indictment accusing a candidate for the New Mexico House of Representatives of orchestrating violent interference in the 2022 midterm election. A week earlier, a federal grand jury charged Solomon Peña, 40, with crimes related to a spree of shootings targeting four elected officials in the Albuquerque area […]
Here’s what your New Mexico lawmakers are doing for the rest of the year
Although New Mexico’s legislative session does not begin until January 2024, lawmakers and legislative staff will be working throughout the summer at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe and in places across the state to study and set agendas for the state moving forward. Below are some of the goals outlined in the Legislative Finance Committee’s […]
Rising rents, stagnant wages driving increase in homelessness, analysts say
There are almost 4,000 homeless people in New Mexico, an uptick from last year, after nearly a decade of declines in the homeless population in the state, according to a 32-page report by the Legislative Finance Committee. Rising housing prices coupled with a lack of affordable housing has increased the number of New Mexicans who […]
Medical care at largest jail in N.M. to go public
New Mexico’s flagship hospital is expected this summer to begin sending its staff to treat people incarcerated while awaiting trial in the state’s largest jail. An advisory panel for the Metropolitan Detention Center in Bernalillo County on Wednesday night endorsed a proposal to no longer rely on private companies to provide health care, and instead […]
Pojoaque school board prepares for local election
The Board of Education for the Pojoaque Valley School District on May 10 made preparations for the local election happening this fall. Board members approved a resolution notifying the Santa Fe County Clerk there will be three positions on the board which will come up for election this year. New Mexico’s local election will be […]
Asylum officers rushing migrants through screenings, advocates say
With the end of the federal migration policy known as Title 42 on Thursday night, advocates along the U.S.-Mexico border expect it to become even harder for migrants to seek protection from persecution, violence and torture in their home countries. What will take its place, advocates say, will still be like an asylum ban — […]
Transparency group urges CYFD panel to open all of its meetings
After news broke that an advisory panel created by New Mexico’s child welfare agency plans to hold some of its meetings behind closed doors, the most prominent government transparency organization in the state is pushing for more openness. In its first public meeting, the Children Youth and Families Department Policy Advisory Council indicated it will […]
How New Mexico’s early childhood agency fared in the most recent legislative session
New Mexico’s pre-kindergarten education and child care agency greatly benefited from the most recent legislative session, receiving hundreds of millions more in funding from state lawmakers than it initially requested. In the 2022 midterm elections before the recent 60-day legislative session, New Mexicans overwhelmingly voted to amend the state constitution to require the state to […]