Page 4 - Robert Nott News Today

By Robert Nott, The Santa Fe New Mexican Lawmakers on a House committee unanimously approved a plan to leverage state funds to draw matching federal money to work on wildlife corridor projects around the state. Senate Bill 72, which has $5 million committed to it in the state budget proposal, could bring in $20 million […]

By Robert Nott, The Santa Fe New Mexican Lawmakers on Monday unveiled an omnibus tax policy bill that offers a number of credits and relief for most taxpayers across the state. But it falls short of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s efforts to offer hefty rebate checks to state residents battling inflation and the after-effects of […]

By Robert Nott, The Santa Fe New Mexican When it comes to school lunches, Alejandro Najera laid it out straight for the lawmakers. Senate Bill 4, the fifth grader from East San Jose Elementary School in Albuquerque told the Senate Finance Committee Thursday morning, might mean school kids “have better lunches that taste fresher, better.” […]

By Robert Nott and Daniel J. Chacón, The Santa Fe New Mexican James Mountain, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s controversial pick to head the state Indian Affairs Department, could spend most of his first year in office as Cabinet secretary-designate. State Sen. Katy Duhigg, an Albuquerque Democrat who chairs the Senate Rules Committee — the first […]

By Robert Nott, The Santa Fe New Mexican New Mexico lawmakers are still hoping to end their status as the only unpaid Legislature in the country before they adjourn for the year later this month. While a resolution that would do this hasn’t passed either the House or Senate yet, supporters of a paid Legislature […]

By Robert Nott, The Santa Fe New Mexican Looking for a way to deter what law enforcement officials call organized retail crimes, members of the House of Representatives voted 62-3 Wednesday to approve a bill imposing new and harsher penalties for such offenses. House Bill 234 is “a very focused response to the disturbing and […]

By Robert Nott, The Santa Fe New Mexican One of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s key public safety initiatives may be in trouble, and she hinted the battle over such legislation may force a special session. In her State of the State address, the governor called for legislative and public support to ban automatic weapons, saying they […]

By Daniel J. Chacón and Robert Nott, The Santa Fe New Mexican Just as the state Human Services Department was getting ready to announce which insurers had been selected to receive contracts worth billions of dollars to administer its Medicaid program, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham stepped in with a last-minute surprise. She ordered a do-over — […]

By Robert Nott, The Santa Fe New Mexican Nearly a year after two federal prescribed burns ignited a historic wildfire northwest of Las Vegas, N.M., devastating communities in more than 530 square miles of Northern New Mexico, the House Labor, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee has approved a bill that aims to help attract and […]

By Robert Nott, The Santa Fe New Mexican The initiatives look promising on paper. One bill would create a $10 million fund to fill vacant behavioral health provider positions. Another calls for $20 million to provide substance abuse treatment for homeless people. A third would give law enforcement the right to take people displaying signs […]