Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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RIO ARRIBA COUNTY — John Villareal, an electrician whose family has owned ranchland in Alcalde for a century, pops into La Cocina New Mexican restaurant in downtown Española on a recent day to catch up with his cousin — a regular at the restaurant who always sits in the same corner table. Villareal isn’t shy about how he feels about the gun bills making their way through the Roundhouse. He said he has called his county commissioner and his state senator to express his worries that the bills would pave the way for the governme...
SANTA FE — Personal income tax cuts signed into law in 2003 by former Gov. Bill Richardson would be essentially wiped off the books under a sweeping tax package that’s headed to the House floor. Members of the House Taxation and Revenue Committee voted 8-5 along party lines Wednesday to approve the measure, which would increase some tax rates — including personal income taxes on higher-earning New Mexicans — while also broadening tax breaks for families. Backers of the bill, House Bill 6, said the state needs more stable...
SANTA FE — A bill that would make New Mexico the 11th state in the nation to legalize recreational marijuana use is headed to the full House for the first time in state history after passing its second committee hurdle Saturday. An alternative bill with bipartisan support is also advancing on the Senate side. Backers of both measures say it’s inevitable that New Mexico will eventually legalize recreational marijuana use, citing the trend of other states enacting such laws and polls that have shown broad public support for...
SANTA FE — Competing proposals to raise New Mexico’s statewide minimum wage for the first time in a decade are moving forward in the state Senate. And they’re becoming more alike as they move along, with the potential for still further negotiation. “Try to find some middle ground,” Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, urged the bills’ sponsors Saturday. Both measures passed the Senate Public Affairs Committee — of which Ortiz y Pino is chairman — and now head to another Senate committee, potentially their last stop befor...
SANTA FE — Democrats in the state House are moving forward with a complex proposal to overhaul New Mexico’s tax system and raise about $323 million a year for government operations and road projects. The legislation, House Bill 6, would raise taxes on cigarettes and motor vehicle sales, reshape the personal income tax system so higher earners would pay more, and impose taxes on all online retailers that sell to New Mexico residents. The bill would also reduce some taxes — doubling a tax credit for “working familie...
ALBUQUERQUE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Attorney General Hector Balderas announced Monday that they will take President Donald Trump to court “over his inappropriate and overreaching” declaration of a national emergency. Officials in other states, including California, have also said they plan to sue in an effort to block the order. Trump on Friday declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border calling it “a major entry point for criminals, gang members, and illicit narcotics” and one that threatens “core nat...
SANTA FE — A bill that would allow the use of medical cannabis at schools zoomed off the Senate floor Monday afternoon. Senate Bill 204, co-sponsored by Sens. Candace Gould, R-Albuquerque, and Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque, and Rep. Gail Armstrong, R-Socorro, would allow children who are qualified patients to use the medicine in school settings and permit school personnel to administer it. With little discussion, 35 senators voted to pass and two did not. Gould told Senators the bill addresses the problem of students choosi...
SANTA FE — Buoyed by an oil drilling boom, New Mexico spending levels would hit an all-time high under a $7 billion budget plan approved Monday by a key House committee. The spending plan passed the House Appropriations and Finance Committee on a party-line 12-6 vote, with majority Democrats voting in favor and Republicans in opposition. The budget bill, which will likely be voted on by the full House later this week, would ramp up overall state spending by $684 million — or 10.8 percent — over current levels, with the state...
On Jan. 17, with just over two weeks on the job, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that she needed around $1.2 million more from taxpayers to run her office. Specifically, to enable her to formulate and implement her “bold, aggressive agenda.” Granted, the funding increase — from about $3.3 million to roughly $4.5 million — is still below that of Gov. Bill Richardson’s $4.7 million office costs. And it’s only .063 percent of the proposed $7.1 billion state budget. And our governor has an ambitious to-do list aimed at bo...
SANTA FE - One new legislator was mistaken for a secretary. Another says she stopped the first time she saw her name on a sign in the Roundhouse. Nearly two dozen new lawmakers, including three from eastern New Mexico, are filling the Capitol this session - an influx that has pushed the number of female legislators to historic levels in New Mexico. The freshman class also includes the state's first Muslim member of the Legislature. The rookies are educators, lawyers and...
Once again, well-intentioned legislation in the Roundhouse is being touted as a way to protect the identities of sexual assault victims. In reality, it’s a way to circumvent due process and shield those who would make false accusations. Senate Bill 118, sponsored by Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque, is a reconstituted version of his SB 149, which was vetoed in 2017. This time around, it’s on Democratic lawmakers’ “rocket docket,” meaning along with 37 other bills it will be fast-tracked through committees while receiving...
SANTA FE — Public agencies in New Mexico would have the ability to block the release of public records in certain circumstances — and they could impose higher fees — under legislation proposed in the state Senate. The proposal, Senate Bill 232, sponsored by Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview, was introduced Thursday and referred to two committees for further consideration. Woods said his proposal is aimed at companies that request and resell records and at frivolous, time-consuming requests, not at the general public, journ...
SANTA FE — A key New Mexico legislative budget panel has unveiled a $7 billion spending plan for next year that would utilize tax dollars from a spike in oil production to increase teachers salaries, send more money to classrooms with high numbers of at-risk students and add 10 days to the state’s current school year in response to a landmark court ruling on education funding. In all, the Legislative Finance Committee budget plan would increase year-over-year state spending by $670.8 million — or 10.6 percent — and would e...
SANTA FE — After several years of tight budgets, political barbs and bottled-up bills, this year’s New Mexico legislative session has all the trappings of a Roundhouse geyser that’s set to explode. Consider the following: There’s a new governor in town, Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has vowed to pursue an aggressive policy agenda; an expanded Democratic majority in the state House; and a court-ordered mandate to improve the state’s public education system for at-risk students, including Native Americans and English-l...
The partial federal government shutdown has been the main focus in Washington over the past few weeks. President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats have struggled to reach an agreement over the president’s campaign promise to build a wall on the border with Mexico. Too bad more of the focus isn’t on a campaign promise made by Trump and members of both parties in Congress — to reduce the cost of prescription drugs. Trump and Democrats agree people in the U.S. shouldn’t have to pay more for their medications than those i...
As the stalemate and partial government shutdown over $5 billion for a border wall/fence/barrier grinds on, the tragedies associated with illegal immigration continue to mount. Unfortunately, both sides are focused on photo ops and talking points for political leverage rather than dealing with the facts. That’s unfortunate, because in addition to the human tragedy there is the question of whether the United States can defend its borders — even in cases that tear at the heartstrings. Members of the Congressional Hispanic Cau...
SANTA FE — On her third day as governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that New Mexico will drop the oft-maligned PARCC exam after the current school year — if not sooner. In its place, a new assessment system will be created. While it’s unclear exactly what the replacement system will look like, Lujan Grisham said she’s confident it can be in place by August and will meet federal requirements. “I know that PARCC isn’t working,” Lujan Grisham said after announcing the two executive orders at a news conference at...
Out with the old, in with the new is the theme each New Year’s. Nowhere is that more true than in New Mexico as 2018 ends and 2019 begins. With the beginning of the new year, New Mexico will be getting a new government, fresh with a new governor, new state office holders and new legislators. Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham took office on Tuesday, taking over for Republican Susana Martinez, who completed her second term on New Year’s Eve. New Mexico could see more change in the coming year than it has in the past eight yea...
The 60-day legislative session in Santa Fe is still a few weeks away, but lawmakers are already crafting laws New Mexico residents will need to keep an eye on. Among the proposed bills is a massive “omnibus” crime package being crafted by Democratic state Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas and Republican Sen. Sander Rue. Their proposal would touch on a host of crime initiatives. The bills are still in development and, as with all legislation, the devil will be in the details. And it bears noting that although pieces passed both ch...
Wouldn’t it be great, now that the state Motor Vehicle Division has eased up on the requirements for a driver authorization card (DAC), if all New Mexicans showed up at the neighborhood MVD office with the documents they need, and all state and contract MVD clerks knew exactly what was required? Sure it would. But considering many drivers and clerks still don’t understand what’s required under the federal Real ID Act, which the state adopted two years ago, that’s overly optimistic. (A Real ID driver’s license is accepted...
In announcing that the Archdiocese of Santa Fe would seek bankruptcy protection, Archbishop John Wester said the action would help ensure fair compensation for sex-abuse victims. His office went on to proclaim in a diocesan letter distributed to the faithful at Mass on Dec. 2 that “for over 25 years, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe has been a leader among its peers in addressing sexual abuse of children by clergy.” Wester is correct on the first point, given the number of potential cases pending and others not yet filed. Victims...
New Mexico voters helped the state take an important first step last month toward reducing/punishing government corruption when they approved a constitutional amendment creating an independent state ethics commission. New Mexico is one of just six states that doesn’t have one, and it’s a good-government reform a long time coming — our last Tax and Revenue secretary just pleaded not guilty to state charges of embezzling money from an ex-client and abusing her Cabinet post; our last secretary of state pleaded guilty to state...
In New Mexico you can register to vote up to 28 days before an election. You can register in person or online. You can request the form by mail, telephone or in person. You can fill one out at your county clerk’s office or any motor vehicle office, or at any third-party group’s card table sign up outside events or busy stores. In other words, it’s not hard. And when interest is high in an election, as it was with the recent midterms, the 28-day registration deadline doesn’t seem to suppress turnout. There were record-...
Just when you thought sports parents couldn’t get worse, late last month in Santa Fe, obnoxious adults at — of all things — an elementary school basketball game took it to a new low. And that’s saying something. It’s apparently never too early to start showing kids how NOT to behave. The girls team from Acequia Madre was facing off against the team from Turquoise Trail Charter School. The brawl erupted as the game ended in an Acequia Madre victory. A deputy reported that one woman had a scrape on the left side of her chin tha...
Whether you lean red or blue when it comes to politics, everyone should demand clarity when it comes to costs. And a draft rule now working its way through the halls of our federal government promises to bring a little clarity to the opaque subject of health care. Sure, it’s coming from the Trump administration, but critics should keep in mind their local pharmacy doesn’t take voter registration into account when it rings up prescriptions. Then the only color that matters is green. Health and Human Services Secretary Ale...
