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.
Yesterday we wrote about competing bills to create a State Ethics Commission. Well, there’s a third sponsored by Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque.
It’s different in that it would remove ethics enforcement from the Secretary of State’s office and…
U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday health care reform legislation scheduled for the U.S. Senate floor in coming weeks would contain a public health care option with an opt-out clause for states. But a public health care option wouldn’t be a slam dunk in New Mexico if the decision fell to state lawmakers.
A powerful Senate panel just killed the first tax bill before it this afternoon. By a vote of 7 to 4, the Senate Committee on Committees deemed legislation filed by Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, irrelevant to the Legislature’s mission…
What’s the old line? Be careful what you ask for.
That thought must have crossed Gov. Bill Richardson‘s mind Thursday. His staff called a news conference at the Capitol to showcase the governor signing two ethics reform bills. One…
The New Mexico Senate Rules Committee voted 3-2 to table a proposal to ban all campaign contributions from contractors that do business with the state.
State Sens. Tim Jennings, Stuart Ingle and Dianna Duran voted to table…
The Senate voted on Thursday 40-1 to pass legislation that caps the amount of money contributors could give to political candidates and elected officials.
There’s at least one ethics-reform proposal that isn’t getting any discussion this year. In fact, some legislators, when asked about it, thought it already was part of state law. The proposal: require a campaign contributor to list his or her employer.
Senate committee approves all six nominees to the state’s health policy commission after the governor’s office withdrew the nominees’ files from before the panel.
Tim Jennings may have retained his spot as Senate president pro tem Tuesday. But that doesn’t mean the factionalism vexing the Senate Democratic caucus is over. But questions remain how the fallout will play out in the Senate chamber during the 60-day legislative session.
Health care reform would seem to have fallen off the political map in New Mexico. Gov. Bill Richardson has barely mentioned the subject since he called a special session of the Legislature in the summer of 2007 to ostensibly consider reform. Now legislators face the prospect of opening their 2009 session next month with a projected budget shortfall of $400 million this year, as well as next fiscal year.
Sen. Tim Jennings of Roswell accused the governor Monday of orchestrating a putsch against him in his bid to keep his office as Senate President Pro Tem, despite Richardson’s pledge last month not to interfere in Roundhouse leadership fights.
