Tim Keller

While a number of high-profile ethics and transparency measures died as the clock expired on the regular session last week, the New Mexico Legislature also sent a number of significant proposals to the governor for action.

The curious case of Senate bill 531 is heating up. The bill–which would force state agencies to share financial data, including Medicaid spending, with the Legislative Finance Committee–is on today’s agenda of the House Judiciary Committee, but it wasn’t heard during the committee’s Wednesday morning meeting.
“I was promised it would be heard last night, and [...]

State lawmakers should have judged Neri Holguin on her professional qualifications, not her past political work, Gov. Bill Richardson said Tuesday, after the Senate rejected his nominee to the state Environmental Improvement Board by a vote of 17 to 25. “I think there were some personal issues. She is a very dedicated environmentalist,” Richardson said [...]

A political battle over control of New Mexico’s dominant party played out on the Senate floor Tuesday over an unexpected issue: an Albuquerque woman’s nomination to a state board. Confirmations in the Senate are usually uneventful and state lawmakers usually speak glowingly of the nominee. But that wasn’t the case Tuesday, when the state Senate rejected the [...]

Annie got one step closer to being able to carry her concealed gun into a restaurant on Friday.
Senators voted 27-15 to approve Sen. George Muñoz‘ SB 40 that would allow those with concealed weapon permits to bring their guns into restaurants that serve beer and wine, unless a restaurant opts out of the program.

Gov. Bill Richardson will lose control of the State Investment Council while the State Investment Officer no longer could hire and fire fund managers under legislation that cleared the Senate on Friday evening. Senators voted unanimously after a short debate to dramatically re-structure how the Council (SIC) is governed.

The Senate voted Monday to overrideGov. Bill Richardson’s veto of a 2009 bill that would have required state agencies to share confidential data with the Legislative Finance Committee. The tension between the LFC and state agencies over lack of sharing data has simmered for years. But last month, The Independent revealed, in an exclusive story, that an Attorney General’s report shows the state had hindered Medicaid fraud investigations.

On Tuesday Sen. Tim Keller (D-Albuquerque) introduced a motion to revive a transparency bill that was unanimously passed by the Legislature last year only to be pocket-vetoed by Governor Bill Richardson. The bill, which would have forced state agencies to share Medicaid spending and other financial data with the Legislative Finance Committee, unanimously passed last year.

Members of the state Senate gloated today after Friday’s 43-42 victory in the House vs. Senate basketball game. The win broke a streak of nine straight victories by the House. The game, held in the St. Michael’s High School gym in Santa Fe, benefited the University of New Mexico Cancer Center.

On Thursday, Gov. Bill Richardson gave the nod to a bill that sponsor Sen. Tim Keller said would be “the most sweeping investment fund reform in state history.” The bill incorporates more than 20 recommendations made by an independent study of state practices, including those to address state investment office accountability, board member expertise, alternative [...]

While we at the New Mexico Independent are sending tweets on our Twitter account about the state Legislature, we aren’t the only ones. Legislators, media and even the House GOP are sending out updates on the 2009 special session.

The Legislative Investments Oversight Committee meets today, and state Sen. Tim Keller is announcing a sweeping reform proposal that a news release from the Albuquerque Democrat says would “preserve the sanctity of our state funds and work to restore public faith in our investment process.”

State Sen. Tim Keller, who represents a portion of Albuquerque’s southeast heights in the New Mexico Senate, announced today that $500,000 in capital outlay money previously allocated for a rugby concession stand would be reallocated to other district priorities.
“I have worked diligently with local elected officials, neighbor leaders and APS to re-allocate roughly $1,000,000 of funds [...]

Albuquerque’s new International District is official as of Thursday morning.
The area has often been denigrated as the “war zone” by the media and public at large due to a high crime rate in the past. But the area has made a turn-around in the past decade and residents want what they consider an outdated label [...]

Albuquerque City Councilor Rey Garduño, who represents District 6, is introducing a resolution at tonight’s City Council meeting to recognize the city’s Southeast Heights in and around Louisiana Boulevard between Central Avenue and Zuni Road avenues as the International District.