I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Gov. Susana Martinez has promised to keep up the pressure on barring undocumented immigrants from receiving driver’s licenses despite the state House and Senate being unable to come to a compromise on legislation over the next two years.
The New Mexico House failed to concur on Senate amendment to the controversial immigrant driver’s license bill Tuesday evening, likely setting the table for a conference committee. This could be the death knell for any attempt to bar illegal immigrants from receiving driver’s licenses in this year’s session.
The bill to revoke driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants was changed substantially in a Senate committee Tuesday night. The amendments were enough to have the bill’s sponsor say that the bill was “eviscerated.”
A bill that would bar illegal immigrants from obtaining New Mexico driver’s licenses passed the state House today after hours of debate.
The bill passed on a 42-28 vote.
The House voted to “blast” a bill that would bar illegal immigrants from getting driver’s licenses from committees to the House floor on two 36-34 votes on Thursday. The votes came after hours of debate on parliamentary questions, concerns about precedent and other legislative wrangling that frayed nerves and led to some testy exchanges on the House floor.
An attempt to “blast” through controversial legislation led to Republicans crying foul and Gov. Susana Martinez and Speaker of the House Ben Luján issuing releases on the controversial end to a long Wednesday session that passed two important bills.
Former Democrat, and now independent, Andy Nuñez, I-Hatch, will carry Gov. Susana Martinez’s legislation that would revoke driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants. The bill will be a committee substitute of a bill that Nuñez was already sponsoring, one that would require a valid Social Security number to receive a driver’s license in New Mexico.
Rep. Andy Nuñez switched party affiliations from Democratic to “decline to state,” or independent, Tuesday, just days after being stripped of committee spots by Speaker of the House Ben Luján, D-Nambe. Nuñez was a key part of a failed attempt to replace Lujan as Speaker with Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces.
Andy Nuñez, D-Hatch, the most outspoken supporter of a bid to unseat Speaker of the House Ben Luján, D-Nambe, had his committee chairmanship taken away and is now considering switching parties to the Republicans.
Ben Luján, D-Nambe, remained Speaker of the House, defeating Tom Taylor, R-Farmington, in a Tuesday morning vote. An expected challenge from Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, based on a support of a coalition of Republicans and southern New Mexico Democrats, did not materialize.
A bill that would give New Mexico judges the option of sending defendants to treatment instead of jail for drug possession passed the House on Tuesday. This was the second time around for House bill 178, which failed…
House Speaker Ben Lujan’s bill to implement a temporary half-cent hike in the state’s gross receipts tax would presumably not have passed earlier today if two Republican members hadn’t missed the vote.
