Page 25 - Quick Reads News Today

The state Senate on Wednesday unanimously confirmed the appointment of Jason Bowie, the former deputy chief of the Rio Rancho Police Department, as secretary of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety. During a morning committee hearing on his confirmation, Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said Bowie comes to the position “with a […]

Less than a month after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham held a news conference to say she was going to push a “tough on crime” agenda in this year’s legislative session, district attorneys, Republican lawmakers and crime victims held their own gathering Wednesday to deliver a very different message.  The governor’s crime reform platform, they said, is […]

A proposed study of publicly owned electric utilities seems to have shorted out in the Public Regulation Commission, but it might have some juice left in the Legislature. The Public Regulation Commission sent a letter late last week to legislative leaders, indicating overseeing the study should be the Legislature’s responsibility. “We do not believe that […]

A group of 330 undocumented and mixed status families living in 13 counties in New Mexico will participate in a pilot project starting in March that will study the impact of those families receiving a guaranteed basic income for 12 months. The families will receive $500 a month for 12 months and participate in online […]

By a vote of 7-0, the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee unanimously passed SB 197, which, if passed and signed by the governor, would provide the full $5 million request for sexual assault services across the state which advocates have said is crucial. State Sen. Siah Correa Hemphill, D-Silver City, is sponsoring SB 197. […]

A key “tough-on-crime” initiative supported by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham hit a roadblock Monday. Members of the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee voted 5-3 to table Senate Bill 189, which would make a major change to the state’s pretrial detention process for defendants suspected of certain violent crimes. Under the measure, a defendant […]

Conservation groups are unhappy with the revival of a controversial bill to make New Mexico a hub of “blue hydrogen” production. State Rep. Patty Lundstrom, D-Gallup, who introduced the initial hydrogen hub legislation, House Bill 4, has reintroduced the plan through a substitute measure, House Bill 227. Like HB 4, it would offer tax incentives for […]

Public school officials say the problem is becoming almost as prevalent as bullying on the playground: cyberattacks. In early January, a ransomware attack on Finalsite, an internet software company that runs websites for thousands of public schools across the nation, led to a computer system blackout for about 5,000 schools. Later that month, a cyberattack […]

A bill clearly aimed at blocking Holtec International from building an underground storage site for spent nuclear fuel in southeastern New Mexico is moving forward. The House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee voted 5-4 to advance a bill that would ban the storage or disposal of spent nuclear fuel in the state — and […]

A proposed constitutional amendment that would remove the New Mexico Legislature from the controversial process of drawing new election districts for legislative and congressional seats wasn’t quite ready for its first vote, lawmakers decided Wednesday. Some members of the House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee sought changes to House Joint Resolution 9 to strengthen […]