Submitted by Representative Kathleen Cates (D-Rio Rancho) New Mexico’s arid climate means we naturally receive limited annual precipitation, but the effects of climate change have exacerbated these challenges. Rising temperatures have led to prolonged droughts, decreased snowpack, early melting, and reduced river flows, while higher evaporation rates have diminished our water storage in reservoirs. To […]
New Mexico
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico
New Mexico senators secure nearly $400 million for military bases, rural communities
New Mexico’s U.S. senators have secured nearly $400 million in federal funding for projects spanning from military base construction to rural fire departments, as the Senate passed its first fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills before the August recess. Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján announced a combined total of approximately $395 million for New […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico
Heinrich bill targets New Mexico’s wildfire insurance crisis
New Mexico homeowners facing skyrocketing insurance premiums and policy cancellations could benefit from federal legislation aimed at understanding how wildfires drive the insurance crisis affecting one in eight properties in the state. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., introduced the Wildfire Insurance Coverage Study Act on July 25, legislation requiring the […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico
Rep. Vasquez finds overcrowded ICE facility detaining mostly non-criminal immigrants
New Mexico’s largest immigration detention facility is over capacity and holding hundreds of people without criminal records, according to U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez. Vasquez found the Otero County Processing Center “bursting at the seams” with over 1,100 detainees in a facility designed for 1,089 people, with more than 80% having no criminal charges or convictions, […]
Posted inNew Mexico, NM State Gov.
Governor plans special session to shield New Mexicans from federal budget cuts
More than 760,000 New Mexicans who rely on Medicaid and food assistance could face benefit cuts or stricter requirements under federal legislation, prompting Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to consider calling lawmakers back to Santa Fe as early as late August. The governor is “likely to call a special session, possibly in late summer or early […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico
Sen. Luján leads Democratic push to reverse health care cuts affecting 89,000 New Mexicans
Up to 89,000 New Mexicans could lose their Medicaid coverage and six to eight rural hospitals could close within 18 months under Republican health care cuts that Sen. Ben Ray Luján and Senate Democrats are now trying to reverse through new legislation. Luján led Senate Democratic leadership Wednesday in introducing the “Protecting Health Care And […]
Posted inEducation, New Mexico
New Mexico schools receive $44 million in released federal funds
This report is supported by NM Political Report, a nonprofit newsroom working to increase New Mexicans’ engagement in politics and public policy. Reported by: Rodd Cayton This report is original reporting by a New Mexico-based independent journalist with support NMreports.org and its readers and sponsors. The Trump Administration’s decision to reinstate nearly $7 billion in […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico
Trade policy uncertainty stifles New Mexico manufacturing growth
New Mexico manufacturers are sounding the alarm about how federal trade policies and tariffs are damaging their bottom lines and threatening the state’s economic growth, according to discussions held Monday with U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez. During a July 28 roundtable meeting in Sunland Park, plant managers and business leaders from Santa Teresa’s manufacturing sector told […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico
New Mexico senators join broad Democratic push for Gaza humanitarian aid expansion
New Mexico’s U.S. senators joined the vast majority of their Democratic colleagues Tuesday in pressing the Trump Administration to dramatically expand humanitarian aid to Gaza and resume diplomatic efforts to end the war between Israel and Hamas. Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján signed onto a written letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico
New Mexico senators demand transparency on rural health fund as hospital closures loom
New Mexico’s senators are demanding answers about how a $50 billion federal fund will be distributed to rural hospitals, as up to eight facilities in the state could close within 18 months due to sweeping cuts to healthcare programs. Sens. Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich joined 14 other Democrats in a letter to Centers […]