By Lauren Lifke A detention facility in Estancia for Immigration and Customs Enforcement is still operating without a contract after its contract expired in October. Torrance County Manager Jordan Barela told The Independent that the county had an intergovernmental agreement with ICE that expired Oct. 31. The facility has since been operating without a new […]
Author Archives: NM Political Report
Posted inCommentary
Opinion: Getting capital outlay moving
Opinions Pete Campos is a state senator from Las Vegas representing State Senate District 8 including parts of Colfax, Guadalupe, Harding, Mora, Quay, San Miguel & Taos Counties. For decades, New Mexico policymakers have been talked about reforming the capital outlay process. And some progress has been made, but the reality remains frustrating: billions of […]
Posted inPolitics & Elections
Same-day voter registration boosts turnout for local elections
By Noah Gollin, NM Political Report — Almost 6,000 voters used New Mexico’s same day voting process to participate in local elections statewide on Tuesday. About half of those exercised that option in Bernalillo County where a competitive mayor’s race and contested council and school board races drew higher-than-normal turnout for local elections. Voters who […]
Posted inNM State Gov.
New Mexico’s permanent fund managers vote against Elon Musk’s $1 trillion Tesla pay package
Elon Musk is asking Tesla shareholders to approve a $1 trillion pay package for himself this Thursday, but he won’t get any help from New Mexico in doing it. The New Mexico State Investment Council (SIC), which manages state permanent funds from oil and gas royalties and tobacco litigation settlements, officially directed its proxy to […]
Posted inJobs, Workers & Economy
New Mexicans to see insurance rate hikes 35% – 52% on exchange plans in January, but state subsidies help some buyers
By Jesse Jones, with research assistance from Noah Gollin – About 75,000 New Mexicans who buy coverage through the state’s health insurance exchange will see health insurance rates increase between 35% and 52% starting in January, though state subsidies could help mitigate those increases for lower income families. Earlier this year, the State’s Superintendent of […]
Posted inCommentary
Opinion: Protecting the Freedom to Read: A Call to Action for New Mexico
By Senator Antoinette Sedillo-Lopez, Senator Harold Pope, and Representative Kathleen Cates
Posted inHealthcare
NMDOH moves to make COVID-19 vaccines more available to children after CDC changes fed rules, again
The New Mexico Department of Health is responding after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday that it would begin to allow individual-based decision-making to COVID-19 vaccination, allowing for anybody to get the vaccination, covered by insurance, without a prescription. Individual-based decision-making means the clinical decision to vaccinate is based on patient characteristics […]
Posted inNM Legislature
New Mexico allocates $5.9 million to public broadcasting after federal funding cuts
New Mexico lawmakers have allocated $5.9 million to support in-state public television and radio stations statewide after Congress eliminated federal funding for public broadcasting. The state funding includes $1.7 million specifically for New Mexico PBS, which faced an 18% budget cut totaling $1.7 million for fiscal year 2026 due to the congressional rescission vote, according […]
Reader-supported
Anti-Exxon protestors removed from Balloon Fiesta after daring visitors to drink fake ‘produced water’
Visitors to opening weekend of the ExxonMobil Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta were greeted by an unexpected protest against the event’s main sponsor. Satirical protestors supported by WildEarth Guardians and the The Yes Men dressed as sales representatives of a fake oil and gas company, Exxtreme Energy, and offered samples of the company’s “new hydration and […]
Reader-supported
New Mexico’s Congressional leaders on the shutdown: Speaker “doesn’t give a f*ck about working people” and more
The federal government officially shutdown at 12:01 Eastern time on Wednesday, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers without a paycheck and closing or delaying many essential federal services. Both sides blamed each other. Republicans claimed Democrats refused to vote on a clean extension of funding for a few more weeks while Democrats stood their […]