Economy
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 […]
Japan won’t accept fresh Idaho potatoes, so U.S. lawmakers are pushing for change
If there’s one thing that can get bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress, it’s potatoes. On May 11, Idaho’s entire congressional delegation — Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo and Congressmen Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher — sent a letter along with 31 other U.S. House and Senate members to the U.S. Department of Agriculture […]
New Mexico trying to build and train new workforce for broadband expansion
Tamara Rosenberg successfully wrote a grant to get Luna County $75,000 to help set up high-speed internet for rural New Mexicans. The problem? There isn’t much of a workforce to pay to get broadband going. “We don’t have enough people with skill sets to make the materials, to install the materials, to know how to […]
Federal grants no longer enough to fully connect Native communities to high-speed internet
SANTA CLARA PUEBLO — While the sun beamed down on old adobe houses outside on Wednesday, a group of tribal and federal officials gathered inside to analyze a mostly red map detailing a lack of good internet access across Santa Clara Pueblo. Work is in progress to change that. Last year, Santa Clara Pueblo was […]
States see record low unemployment across the US
Across much of the country, the jobs market is as strong as it’s ever been, and Black women, young people and people with disabilities are among the workers benefiting, recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. Twenty states reported an unemployment rate under 3% in April, while 15 states saw record lows, led by South […]
After years of bipartisan spending boosts, U.S. House GOP won’t lift debt ceiling without cuts
WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats in Congress together brokered dozens of debt limit agreements, including several during the past decade, marked by a desire in both political parties to increase federal spending. But U.S. House Republicans now are pushing for the federal government to spend less next year than it will this year in order […]
PRC orders utility to give credits to New Mexicans after undercharging large customers
State officials want to make sure New Mexicans are not missing out on what could be more than $1 million because a Texas utility company was found charging incorrect rates on electric bills. Last week, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission ruled that El Paso Electric had been undercharging some of its largest customers a […]
Progressives try to persuade Biden to use the 14th Amendment to resolve debt crisis
WASHINGTON — Progressives are pushing hard for President Joe Biden to take the unprecedented step of invoking the 14th Amendment as a way to avoid financial calamity if the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy do not strike a deal on the debt ceiling in the coming days. The lawmakers and legal scholars argue […]
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 […]
Community solar moves forward; developers chosen to set up renewable energy facilities
After weeks of delay, New Mexico’s push to get solar energy to communities like apartment renters and low-income households is progressing again. InClime, a renewable energy-affiliated company, chose 45 solar facility projects out of over 400 proposals, giving companies the green light to start the process to set up farms they’ll soon operate for New […]
GOP’s desired work requirements for federal aid would kick roughly 21M from anti-poverty programs
Congressional Republicans’ efforts to slash federal spending by tying work requirements to Medicaid and SNAP would have far-reaching consequences for people with mental health issues, chronic health problems, and some people with disabilities if enacted, policy experts on anti-poverty programs say. They say the work requirements as laid out by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s Limit, […]
Biden and McCarthy strike positive tone after debt limit talks, but no deal yet
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy left their closely watched meeting Monday without an agreement on government spending or the debt limit, prolonging a stalemate that could soon disrupt Americans’ everyday lives as well as the global economy. Both struck a positive tone Monday, though neither divulged details about what remains unresolved […]