© 2024 KRWG
News that Matters.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

House leaders claim record participation

KUNM

LAS CRUCES – New Mexico House leadership issued a news release this week claiming that more people are participating in the virtual committee meetings this year than ever before. More than 2,400 residents from 31 counties participated in the first full week of the session, which leadership described as “record numbers.”

Since attendance figures were not taken in the past, it’s impossible to say what the record is, and if it has indeed been broken.

House Republican leaders have filed a lawsuit against Speaker Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, arguing that new restrictions put in place following the announcement last week of positive tests for COVID-19 among staff and a House member are overly restrictive. They have claimed that the Zoom process does not allow for full public participation.

Spaceport protection

Spaceport America would retain the liability protection first granted in 2013 under a bill passed Tuesday, Feb. 2, in the House Transportation, Public Works and Capital Improvements Committee.

House Bill 68 removes the sunset clause from the informed consent bill, which was first passed in 2013 in anticipation of Virgin Galactic beginning space tourism launches from the spaceport. It does not protect companies in cases of negligence or willful, wanton or reckless disregard for the safety of spaceflight participants, or from damage caused to nonparticipants on the ground.

The timeline for Virgin Galactic launches was set back for several years by a fatal crash during a 2014 test flight. The company announced this week that a crewed spaceflight could take off from the spaceport this month. HB 68 now goes to the House Judiciary Committee.

Trapping ban

A bill that would ban trapping on public lands cleared the Senate Conservation Committee on Tuesday.

Senate Bill 32 would make it illegal to use a trap, snare or wildlife poison on public lands. While much of the focus has been on pets caught in traps, Jessica Johnson of the advocacy group Animal Protection of New Mexico said that was only one reason why the bill is needed.

“The interface between the public and trapping is an important reason, but not the only reason for the ban,” she said. “There is also the cruelty of trapping. We tried to look holistically at all of the problems in trapping.” The bill now goes to the House Judiciary Committee.