Posted inNew Mexico Statewide News

New Mexico awards $26M in grants for brackish water treatment projects

New Mexico officials announced Thursday the state will invest $25.9 million in seven projects designed to turn salty underground water into usable supplies, marking the first major funding under a new program aimed at stretching the state’s limited freshwater resources. The grants represent the initial phase of a $40 million legislative appropriation for the Strategic […]

Posted inNew Mexico Statewide News

Leger Fernández: GOPers who back extending tax credits need to step up 

Editor’s note: As a part of the deal to reopen the federal government, Republican leaders agreed to schedule a vote on, but not guarantee, extending federal healthcare subsidies, aka “Obamacare subsidies”, by mid-December. All 5 of New Mexico’s members of Congress voted against that deal, preferring to hold out for a permanent extension. With just […]

Posted inNew Mexico Statewide News, Sandoval County

In Dem. primary for governor, former Las Cruces mayor talks pro-oil, anti-minimum wage agenda

Ken Miyagishima is hoping to be the next governor, but many of the voters he needs do not know which party’s nomination he is trying to capture. For Miyagishima, the former five-term Las Cruces mayor, that dilemma was on display at a Nov. 6 campaign event in Roswell organized by the local non-profit group Many […]

Posted inNew Mexico Legislature #nmleg

Legislators OK $162,500,000 for state SNAP aid in quick 4-hour session

Lt. Gov. Howie Morales, in his capacity as acting governor, has signed legislation that will provide full benefits for 459,500 New Mexicans who depend on SNAP for food assistance, even if the federal government does not supply the funding.  Morales signed House Bill 1 on Monday evening after the Legislature adjourned following a four-hour-long special […]

Posted inNew Mexico Legislature #nmleg

Counties nominate state rep., current and former county commisioners to fill vacant senate seat in Southeast NM

Mark Fischer, chair of the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners, has been recommended by his colleagues to fill an open New Mexico Senate seat.  During a special meeting on Monday, Lincoln County Commissioners Samantha Serna, Timothy Prather, and MP Chavez voted to send Fisher’s name to the governor for consideration as their choice to fill […]

Posted inHousing & Homelessness, New Mexico Statewide News

Heinrich, Luján stand firm for health insurance cost fix as Senate moves forward with deal to reopen government

New Mexicans anxious about missing SNAP benefits or federal paychecks may get soon get some relief after a handful of Senate Democrats joined Republicans over the weekend in a deal to reopen the government, though New Mexico’s two U.S. senators did not go along, saying the deal abandons hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans facing […]

Posted inNew Mexico Legislature #nmleg

State DOT will seek 25-35% hikes on vehicle registration, new EV car fee to fund road repairs

New Mexico motorists could pay more to keep their vehicles registered and on the road under a proposal from the state Transportation Department, part of a plan to boost its revenue amid rising construction costs and projected declines in annual revenue.  Ricky Serna, the New Mexico Transportation Secretary, told lawmakers on the Transportation Revenue and […]