Halfway through the 2015 New Mexico legislative session, Lieutenant Governor John Sanchez says the new Republican majority in the House and the Democratic leadership in the State Senate are still learning to work with one another. *****021915-Sanchez-1 :24***** The House, under Republican leadership for the first time in six decades, has approved bills reflecting GOP Governor Susana Martinez’s priorities. Those include contentious measures on third-grade student retention, the future of driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants and so-called “right to work” legislation. Sanchez says he’s hoping those priorities will make it through the Senate committee process and be heard on the Senate floor. *****021915-Sanchez-2 :18***** Sanchez adds he’s optimistic about the fate of those bills, pointing to this week’s Senate floor vote confirming Hanna Skandera as Education Secretary after being held up for years in the Senate Rules Committee. Sanchez, a former State Representative and 2002 Republican Gubernatorial Candidate, in his role as the Senate’s President, could serve as the tiebreaker should there be any deadlocked ballots in the coming 30-days. We’ll hear tomorrow from Democratic Senate President Pro-Tem May Kay Papen regarding her take on the first half of the session in tomorrow’s KSFR First News Podcast.
New Mexico’s Senate Democratic leaders have announced their "Ready to Work" package that includes increased funding for job training through community colleges and 300 million dollars in road funding paid for by a gas-tax hike. The Democrats say the package of more than 40 bills they’ve introduced this session address the need for increased employment and economic activity in the state. The overall bundle promises 73-thousand new jobs in New Mexico in the next four-to-five-years. Republican Governor Susana Martinez has also proposed increasing job training- funds and spending on highway projects paid for by severance bond funds.
Senate Majority Whip Michael Padilla has introduced a package of legislation to address the high number of people losing their homes while there is a job shortage in New Mexico. Included in the seven foreclosure-related bills proposed by the Albuquerque Democrat, is a measure that requires lenders to seek settlement facilitation before they proceed with foreclosures. Another bill establishes funds to implement a pre-purchase homebuyer education program. *****021915-Padilla-3 :21***** Padilla says the American Dream should not be shattered because people are ill-equipped or uninformed about what is needed to be successful.
House Majority Leader Nate Gentry wants to clear the way for mandatory life sentences for offenders who are convicted of three violent crimes. Gentry telling the New Mexican that New Mexico is the second most dangerous state in the nation when it comes to violent crime. Democrats argue that the majority's motive for the anti-crime bills is political.
A proposal by a New Mexico lawmaker would tighten rules that currently allow parents to seek vaccine exemptions for their children over religious beliefs. Democratic Representative Deborah Armstrong tells the Albuquerque Journal her bill would allow a religious exemption only if it is affirmed by a member of the clergy.
Former Albuquerque Public Schools superintendent Winston Brooks is suing APS over allegations that the current school chief violated an agreement. Lawyers for Brooks filed a lawsuit Tuesday following comments made by interim superintendent Brad Winter. According to the lawsuit, Winter told the Albuquerque Journal in September that Brooks refused to work with the community and business leaders. The lawsuit says those remarks violated a settlement- agreement that no district officials would disparage Brooks. Brooks resigned from the post in August after the board bought-out the last two years of his contract. Both sides declined to elaborate, but records show an attorney was hired to look into accusations of intimidation and retaliation involving Brooks. Winter said Wednesday he had not seen the lawsuit and couldn't comment.
Snowpack in the mountain valleys where the Colorado River originates is only a little below normal, marking one of the few bright spots in an increasingly grim drought gripping much of the West. Measurement stations in western Colorado showed the snowpack at 90 percent of the long-term average. The Colorado River and its tributaries supply water to millions of people in seven states and Mexico.
Santa Fe Weather: Expect mostly sunny skies today through tomorrow with the high both days reaching 60-degrees. Tonight, it’ll be partly cloudy with the overnight low down to 32.