Agreement on a legislative package for local projects funded by New Mexico Industrial Revenue Bonds—the so-called “pork” funds legislators and the Governor divvy-up—didn’t survive a divisive legislative session that adjourned Saturday. Lawmakers sparred over what should be cut from the 260 million-dollar proposal to fund road work, school improvements and other projects statewide. The pork bill had been the subject of last-minute debate and amendment. The Senate didn’t vote on it, and the measure died. House Minority Leader Brian Egolf of Santa Fe says what happened to that proposal was just one that shows the problems that flow from Republican control of the House throughout the 2015 60-day session. *****032315-Egolf-3 :25***** Republicans blamed Democrats for the session’s shortcomings. Among high-priority issues that died in the Democrat-controlled Senate were a bill to hold back third-grade students who can't read at grade level and a ban on driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants - something Governor Susana Martinez has wanted for years. Republican House Majority Whip Alonzo Baldonado wasn’t surprised with those outcomes or the partisanship that saw the session close with so much unfinished business. *****Baldonado-2 :19***** Among other bills that died were a compromise proposal for a two-tier driver’s license to satisfy the Martinez administration’s goal of compliance with federal identification guidelines never made it to the House floor. And the bill that would have put New Mexico on Daylight Saving Time year-round--perhaps the most talked about bill of the year—also didn’t make it.
The state Game Commission is expected to discuss a plan to reintroduce desert bighorn sheep in the Sacramento Mountains of southern New Mexico. The commission will meet Thursday in Alamogordo. The daylong agenda includes the sheep proposal. The Game and Fish Department first proposed expanding the desert bighorn population in the area in May 2013. The commission amended the rules later that year to help with the reduction of Barbary sheep as part of the reintroduction plan. Department officials are expected to update the commission on their progress. Biologists estimate there were at least 745 desert bighorn throughout six mountain ranges in 2013. That's more than double the number just a decade before. Desert bighorn were removed from the state's threatened and endangered species list in 2011.
Meteorologists say a warming trend in the Pacific Ocean indicates New Mexico could be in for a wet spring. National Weather Service officials tell the Santa Fe New Mexican that they observed this month a rare set of temperature conditions along the West Coast that point to signs of rain for central and northern New Mexico. Meteorologist Andrew Church says any precipitation would help alleviate the state as it endures a five-year drought. He says the state also needs to prepare for possible flash flooding if the warming temperatures make for a strong monsoon season.
Santa Fe Weather: Mostly sunny today through tomorrow, with highs in the mid-60s. Tonight: mostly clear with the overnight low, 36.
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