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Following the revelation in February that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham had given her inner circle pay raises as high as 21%, the Journal recently learned Environment Secretary James Kenney received an 8% raise this spring.
That’s 8% more than many state employees got.
Kenney’s raise from $156,000 annually to $168,480 makes him the highest-paid member of the governor’s Cabinet. It also shows the benefits of being in good stead with our governor.
The Governor’s Office didn’t announce Kenney’s pay raise, which it should have. Instead it was learned by gleaning New Mexico employee data.
The governor’s press secretary said Kenney’s hourly rate bump from $75 to $81 was intended to reflect his increased duties during the pandemic. Yes, Kenney’s agency coordinated the state’s rapid response program in the workplace. But it was Dr. David Scrase, secretary of the Human Services Dep
COVID-19 by the numbers New Mexico health officials yesterday reported 893 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 157,974. Of those, the health department has designated 80,580 as recovered. Bernalillo County had 231 new cases, followed by Doña Ana County with 105 and Sandoval County with 89. Santa Fe County had 37 new cases. The state also announced 30 additional deaths, including a hospitalized man in his 90s from Santa Fe County. There have now been 2,794 fatalities statewide. As of yesterday, 715 people were hospitalized with COVID-19. County-level daily case and test positivity rates will be updated today under the state s red-to-green framework, in which counties are put into green, yellow or red categories based on achievement of two public health criteria. Currently, all counties but one have been in the red and most restrictive category since the state implemented the new system at the beginning of December. In order to progress to the yellow and
The state s designation system also includes green and yellow tiers to note lower infection rates.
In addition to fines against the two churches, other remedies against the same conduct will be used, a health official said in a statement that didn t specify what they might be. The houses of worship may request a hearing to contest the penalties.
Legacy Church previously pushed back against the state s government and then-Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel in April, arguing that public health orders trampled religious freedoms. The argument proved unsuccessful in court.
U.S. District Judge James O. Browning found in July that the state s orders were unrelated to the suppression of speech or religion, serve a compelling state interest, and significantly less restrictive alternatives are not available.