Local Viewpoints

  Commentary – This week, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed Senate Bill 193 into law. The bill, sponsored by Senator Crystal Diamond (R-Hidalgo, Luna, Sierra, and Doña Ana) and Senator Siah Correa Hemphill (D-Catron, Grant, and Socorro) creates a “Rural Equity Ombud” charged with addressing issues of concern to rural and frontier communities. “The urban/rural divide in our state must be addressed and this bill is an important step in that direction,” said Senator Diamond. “The Rural Equity Ombud will help us identify the needs of the underserved and give rural New Mexicans another advocate at the seat of government. The staff person will be housed in the Department of Finance and Administration and will work full-time to ensure the needs of rural communities are met.”

  Commentary: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday signed The Patients’ Debt Collection Protection Act into law, ensuring that New Mexico patients can get the care they need without ending up buried in debt.

“Medical debt is the worst thing I’ve ever had to recover from,” said Anna Rondon, a McKinley County mother and grandmother who spent years trying to repair her credit after she was unable to pay unexpected hospital and ambulance bills related to emergency gallbladder surgery. “Under this law, New Mexicans like me can stay healthy without going bankrupt.”

Commentary: Today, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law a bill banning traps, snares, and poisons on public lands across New Mexico.

Called “Roxy’s Law” in honor of a cattle dog who was strangled to death in a neck snare on public lands in 2018, this new law will go into effect in 2022 and will save untold numbers of native wildlife—as well as recreationists and companion animals—from cruel and indiscriminate traps, snares, and poisons on public lands across the Land of Enchantment.

Commentary: Community leaders and nonprofit organizations are applauding New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for signing House Bill 200 into law today. The legislation,which was co-sponsored by Reps. Matthew McQueen and Nathan Small and Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart and Sen. Siah Correa Hemphill, ends the proposed Gila diversion project and fast-tracks the spending of the remaining approximately $80 million in the NM Unit Fund for priority water projects, creating long-term water security and jobs in southwest New Mexico (Catron, Grant, Hidalgo and Luna Counties).

Commentary: Presidents in any country tend to have criticism piled upon them the longer they are in office. Such is the case with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO).

People who are angered or surprised at AMLO’s policies should not be, as he fully revealed where he was coming from in the two previous presidential campaigns he unsuccessfully ran before winning the office in 2018. AMLO is a blend of quirkiness and populism. During his previous two campaigns in 2006 and 2012, AMLO clearly displayed this interesting combination.

Commentary: A year ago, as New Mexicans began staying at home to limit the spread of Covid-19, a disturbing fact came to light: some grocery stores, particularly large chains, were charging tax on the food they delivered to New Mexicans.

New Mexico was one of the last states to repeal its food tax, back in 2004. At that time, nine states still fully taxed the sale of groceries; today, the number has shrunk to just Mississippi and Alabama. States have moved away from food taxes because taxing food is bad policy. Food taxes are among the more regressive of taxes, since food is a necessity and since poor families spend a much larger share of their income on food – and thus on the food tax – than wealthier ones.

  Commentary: Today, legislation that would legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis sales for adults 21 and over in New Mexico — HB 2 — received final approval from state legislators. The bill now proceeds to the desk of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D), who has pledged to sign it into law. 

With the governor’s signature, New Mexico will become the 17th state to legalize cannabis for adult use and the fourth state to adopt a legalization policy by passing a bill through its state legislature, joining Illinois, Vermont, and — earlier today — New York. Thirteen additional states have legalized by voter initiative. 

Commentary:  U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) issued the following statement praising the American Jobs Plan:

“I am thrilled that President Biden has placed clean energy and bold investments in America’s infrastructure at the forefront of his plan to build back better. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to power our economic recovery and put Americans to work by solving our long-term climate challenge. Too many families in New Mexico are living without internet access, clean water, and reliable electricity. The American Jobs Plan is our opportunity to change that. We will make our grid more reliable and our homes more resilient. We will improve everyone's quality of life and create millions of good paying jobs in our communities.

Commentary: Government help is on the way, thanks to the passage of President Biden’s historic relief package. Soon, a typical family of four will receive a $5,600 check, our struggling restaurants will be thrown a lifeline, and child poverty will be cut in half.

However, though nearly 70% of Americans supported the bill, Representative Yvette Herrell voted to prevent this relief from reaching New Mexicans in dire need. Herrell and most other politicians in her party believe that government is the problem and that people should just take care of themselves. But what they seem to forget is that "we the people" are the government. And it’s only as good or bad as those we elect.

Commentary: I was talking to a friend from Mexico the other day about the scramble everybody seems to be doing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Here in the U.S., there are more vaccine sites opening up, and increased doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are now being shipped throughout the country. The pandemic has struck poorer communities, many of which are populated by minorities, particularly hard. The same can be said for developing and poorer countries that struggle to have access to the vaccine when the wealthier countries have already pre-purchased most of the supplies.

Commentary: The recent national elections provided greater awareness of election processes, including a variety of changes implemented to facilitate voting during the pandemic.  Differences in voting processes among the states and counties provided opportunities to see how well different approaches worked.    

The proposed For the People Act (HR 1 and S1) currently before the Congress would take advantage of some of those state level experiences to improve the safety and security of voting processes and to strengthen our democracy by engaging more citizens and allowing more voices to be heard.  The League of Women Voters has supported this Act since it was introduced in 2019.

Commentary:  A very telling question to ask any legislator is “What is the cause of the increasingly large wealth gap between the average citizen and the millionaire/billionaire class?”

Regardless of their answer, I believe it is structured into our economy in too many ways. It’s not that “we don’t work hard enough”. There are numerous structured things that our legislators have allowed (or actually advocated for) such as the predatory “Payday” loans which the poorest of us falling on hard times have to use periodically.

Commentary: We are on a limited income and are mad as hell about the double taxation on our Social Security benefits. The most grievous betrayal of New Mexicans occurred in 1990 when the New Mexico state legislature passed and the then Governor Garrey Carruthers signed into law obnoxious legislation basically double-taxing all New Mexico residents 65 or older who receive Social Security. This tax is a form of double taxation, since New Mexicans pay income tax on the money that is deducted from their paychecks for Social Security, and then they are taxed again on the benefits they receive.

Commentary: The 60-day, 2021 legislative session closed at 12 p.m. today, marking the end of a unique session in which legislators and the public participated virtually and some of the most transformative legislation in New Mexico’s history passed through the legislature. 

House Democrats succeeded in passing long-held priorities and created a budget that sets an active role for the state in economic recovery and makes sustained investments in education, health care, infrastructure, workforce development, job creation, and more. Although health concerns prevented the public from gathering in the Roundhouse, public participation reached record levels with more than 19,000 members of the public testifying during committee hearings over the past 60 days. 

  Commentary: As this historic legislative session draws to a close, the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter issued the following statement:   

“This legislative session was defined by its highs and lows. Zoom offered unprecedented opportunities to speak out from home, but members of the public were too often refused the ability to comment or raise their voice, in some Senate committees in particular," said Camilla Feibelman, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter director. 

“This session also gave the public a window to the strength and determination displayed by the women and leaders of color in the Senate and House in the face of repeated bullying and abuse.

Commentary:  The right to earned sick leave for all New Mexican workers will now head to the governor’s desk to be signed into law, after the House voted 41-26 today to concur with amendments made in the Senate. 

House Bill 20: The Healthy Workplaces Act is sponsored by Rep. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos), Rep. Angelica Rubio (D-Las Cruces), Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque), Rep. Daymon Ely (D-Corrales), Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero (D-Albuquerque), and Rep. Linda Serrato (D-Santa Fe).  

Commentary: Rep. Debbie Armstrong, chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee, on Saturday called the 2021 legislative session a “win” for New Mexico patients and families.

“With bipartisan work and support, the Legislature came together this year to make healthcare more affordable, to ensure New Mexicans’ ability to make their own healthcare decisions and to continue to improve the delivery of services,” Armstrong said after the session ended at noon on Saturday. “These are big wins for New Mexico. In our state, we value community and taking care of one another. Expanding healthcare access reflects New Mexico values.”

Commentary: Following a letter sent from Senator Cliff Pirtle (District 32-Chaves, Eddy, and Otero) to Secretary of Health, Dr. Tracie Collins, the Department of Health has removed the ban on youth competitive play and scrimmage for club sports.

Senator Pirtle released the following statement applauding the Department’s decision:    

“I want to thank Dr. Collins and the Department of Health for making this reasonable and important modification to the state’s COVID-Safe Practices. Our young children have not been able to play since the spring of last year and were facing yet another lost season. With this change, they will now be able to safely return to competitive play.”

  Commentary: Senate Democrats today rejected an effort by Senator Mark Moores (District 21-Bernalillo) and Senate Republicans to repeal the state tax on social security. New Mexico is currently one of just 13 states to tax social security benefits, and of those states, New Mexico’s tax is the second harshest. 

“New Mexico’s tax on social security is a double tax on our citizens.” said Senator Moores. “This is particularly unfair for our seniors living on a fixed income. They were already disproportionately impacted by the pandemic this year, and this was one way for us to ease their burden. It is a shame that Senate and House Democrats continue to reject this reasonable effort to put more money back in the pockets of those who need it most.”

New Mexico’s heavy tax on social security is a major reason why Kiplinger’s, Money Magazine, Yahoo Finance, and Wallet Hub consistently rank the state as one of the worst to retire in.