New Mexico nursing shortage prompts call for more funding - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
New Mexico didn't have enough nurses even before the pandemic and nursing advocates renewed their push Thursday for lawmakers to boost funding to increase capacity at nursing schools around the state to remedy a situation made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.
Legislative analysts have estimated that New Mexico needs more than 6,200 nurses to meet demand.
Budget proposals by the Democrat-dominated Legislature and Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham include $15 million for the state Department of Higher Education to help nursing programs hire additional faculty, pay for student stipends and fund other efforts aimed at expanding nursing school programs.
Supporters have estimated that the additional funding could increase the number of nursing students by about 1,500 a year.
Linda Siegle, a lobbyist for the New Mexico Nurses Association, said New Mexico needs a consistent effort lasting years to work toward erasing its nursing deficit.
"So we're going to need this money and going to need more money every year if we're serious about addressing the crisis in our state," she told members of the Senate Finance Committee. "And there's no other way to do it, there's no other way out of this crisis other than growing our own nurses. Thousands of nurses are not going to move to New Mexico."
Siegle and others testified that the pipeline of nursing students has declined because some are often unprepared for the academic rigors involved or may have financial hardships that prevent them from completing training. Those who testified said having more instructors and better infrastructure to support nursing students could help alleviate those problems.
Separate legislation would provide an avenue for nursing students to pay off loans.
A survey conducted by the New Mexico Hospital Association in September showed that 12% of the state's nursing workforce consisted of traveling nurses. That included New Mexico nurses who travel to other parts of the state to work as higher paid contract nurses.
Lillian Montoya, president and CEO of St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe, said the challenges related to the pandemic are different this year as more people sought care for non-COVID-19-related health problems. Whether the hospital treats them in the intensive care unit or monitors them as part of a home health program, Montoya said nurses still are needed.
She said about 25% of her nursing workforce is made up of contract nurses as opposed to staff.
"What this pandemic did was reveal that we have so much more to do in terms in aggressively planning for workforce pipeline, both one that we grow locally and one that we're able to attract from out of state until we can grow our own to get to that place," Montoya said.
Officials from community colleges and universities that operate some of New Mexico's nursing education programs said most of their students end up staying in the communities in which they are educated.
Alexa Doig, the director of the School of Nursing at New Mexico State University, said the school several years ago recognized the need to address the shortage then and used university and private donor funding to grow the program by about 35%.
"We're really at a stage where we need recurring funding to be able to even just sustain this, let alone try to increase enrollment," she said, pointing to costs related to computer systems, training facilities and accreditation requirements.
Democratic Sen. Nancy Rodriguez of Santa Fe said building more partnerships between hospitals and the state's nursing schools will be key as New Mexico tries to fill the gap.
"The variants, the virus and so on, it's only a contributor but we've had this since way before," she said of the shortage. "We knew this problem was significant and we just let it go. We thought it was going to go away and so now we know what we're facing."
New Mexico: New director of infrastructure, implementation - Associated Press
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday announced the appointment of Bianca Ortiz-Wertheim as the director of infrastructure and implementation.
Ortiz-Wertheim comes into the role from the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management where she served as the cabinet secretary since May 2020.
While at DHS, Ortiz-Wertheim managed the distribution of more than $100 million in federal grants to New Mexico's communities, funding investments in irrigation systems, electrical grids, and other critical infrastructure.
In her new role, Ortiz-Wertheim will work directly with broadband and water advisors to organize and oversee major investments in New Mexico's infrastructure following the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law last year.
Lujan Grisham's deputy chief of staff Diego Arencón will serve as the acting secretary of DHSEM until a replacement is named by the governor.
Parker out as NMSU provost; search for replacement launched - Associated Press
Carol Parker is out as New Mexico State University provost two months after being placed on paid administrative leave.
NMSU Chancellor Dan Arvizu disclosed in an email to university employees this week that Parker was no longer a university employee as of lJan. 21, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported.
Arvizu thanked Parker for her service to NMSU and wished Parker "the very best in her future endeavors."
Arvizu said Vice President for Student Success Renay Scott will continue as acting provost during a search for a permanent replacement for Parker.
Parker was placed on leave Nov. 9 after faculty and student organizations passed no-confidence resolutions calling for the removals of Parker and President John Floros. The resolutions said NMSU overspent on administration and that administrators didn't listen to their concerns.
Floros earlier this month announced down he would step down, making Arvizu the sole top leader.
Parker's 2020 decision to merge several colleges prompted faculty discontent. The NMSU regents approved the merger last May.
Parker's attorney, Kate Ferlic, in November said Parker denied the resolutions' allegations against her and said Parker put students' needs first.
Ferlic on Wednesday said Parker "looks forward to contributing to successful student outcomes ... at her next university."
Arvizu said Vice President for Student Success Renay Scott will continue as acting provost during a search for a permanent replacement for Parker.
Rio Rancho hospital workers seek the right to form a union - Austin Fisher, Source NM
Hospital workers in Rio Rancho are one step closer to overcoming their bosses’ objections to forming a union.
As Source New Mexico’s Austin Fisher reports, Senate Bill 41 introduced in the legislature would expand the definition of a “public-sector worker” to include 600 health care workers at the University of New Mexico Sandoval Regional Medical Center, who want to form a union but say they have no legal right to do so under state law.
They’re the only health care workers in the state who can’t form a union, according to Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, a co-sponsor of the measure.
Adrienne Enghouse, a registered nurse at the hospital, says that hospital officials have used a loophole in state law to deny health care workers there the right to unionize, even though they’ve cared for the sick during the pandemic.
Lawmakers found the bill to be germane on January 19th and the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee on Monday voted 5-1 along party lines to pass it.
Hospital workers in Rio Rancho are one step closer to overcoming their bosses’ objections to forming a union.
Senate Bill 41 would expand the definition of a public-sector worker to include 600 health care workers at the University of New Mexico Sandoval Regional Medical Center, who want to form a union but say they have no legal right to do so under state law.
They’re the only health care workers in the state who can’t form a union, according to Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque), a co-sponsor of the measure.
“Paradoxically, they’re also the only public health workers in the state who can strike, because they’re not being treated as public employees under the Public Employee Bargaining Act,” Stewart said.
Lawmakers found the bill to be germane on Jan. 19 and the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee on Monday voted 5-1 along party lines to pass it.
Adrienne Enghouse, a registered nurse at the hospital, told the committee that hospital officials have used a loophole in state law to deny health care workers there the right to unionize, even though they’ve cared for the sick during the pandemic.
“When we stand up and ask for our right to be recognized, the University of New Mexico once again is standing against the people of New Mexico,” Enghouse said.
Jamie Silva-Steele, president and CEO of Sandoval Regional Medical Center, told the Albuquerque Journal that the hospital opposes the formation of a union because state law treats it as a private company rather than a public entity.
Ashley Long, president of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 794, said she supports reinforcing that the workers at the hospital are public employees.
“Health care workers have been on the frontlines since day one during this pandemic and I think it’s just a small ask to support their right to unionize,” she said.
Whitney Holland, president of the American Federation of Teachers New Mexico, said all New Mexicans should have the right to unionize, and state statute should not stand in their way.
“As we’ve all experienced during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, our classrooms and health care settings have been placed under unprecedented pressures,” Holland said. “We believe Senate Bill 41 will help to alleviate some of those pressures for our health care professionals at Sandoval Regional Medical Center.”
‘Very unintended consequence’
The Legislature in 1989 passed the University Research Park and Economic Development Act, Stewart said. At the time, there was no Public Employee Bargaining Act, but the law anticipated public-sector workers.
However, the statute does not explicitly put “research park corporations” like the Rio Rancho hospital under the authority of the Public Employee Bargaining Act, which was passed three years later in 1992.
“I believe it was a very unintended consequence, to leave that out,” Stewart said.
Shane Youtz, a labor attorney, told the committee the workers are in a unique position because in the middle of a pandemic, at a very important public hospital in the state, they could strike.
“And that is contrary to the policy of the state of New Mexico, as set out in the Public Employees Bargaining Act,” he said. “This law simply fixes this historical error.”
New Mexico governor teaches amid school staffing crisis - By Cedar Attanasio Associated Press / Report For America
New Mexico's governor volunteered as a substitute teacher in a local public-school Wednesday after announcing a program last week that would allow state workers and soldiers to help cover for teachers amid a shortage worsened by a spike in coronavirus cases.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she spent several hours teaching a kindergarten class at Salazar Elementary School in Santa Fe with the help of a teaching assistant.
"I really wanted to make the point that I'm willing to do whatever a school needs," said Lujan Grisham, adding that she supports efforts by the Legislature to increase salaries for licensed teachers by as much as 20%.
Other workers like teaching assistants would get a 7% raise.
A teacher raise bill with similar provisions was approved unanimously earlier in the day in a vote by the state Senate Education Committee. It will now be considered by another committee.
Lujan Grisham is the first volunteer in Santa Fe Public Schools under the new program, said school district spokesperson Cody Dynarski. Seven more volunteers are waiting to clear paperwork.
National Guard soldiers are also volunteering as part of the program, with soldiers beginning to substitute this week in Hobbs and other cities around the state.
New Mexico officials expect to omicron surge will peak soon - Associated Press
New Mexico health officials said Wednesday that modeling suggests the surge in COVID-19 infections is expected to peak within the coming week.
State Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. David Scrase said during a virtual meeting with health care organizations that the omicron variant was running out of people in New Mexico to infect.
Still, he told the group that New Mexico is not at a point where public health orders or the statewide mask mandate can be lifted.
So, when will that be?
"When case counts are down and when we feel the pandemic is under control," he answered. "We really want to transition New Mexico into learning to live with COVID."
Confirmed infections have been reported in more than 21% of New Mexicans since the pandemic began, while just over 5% of cases have resulted in hospitalizations and 1.4% of cases in death.
State data also shows that more than 46% of the COVID-19 infections reported over the last four weeks were among those who are vaccinated.
Democratic Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury of Albuquerque announced that she tested positive despite being vaccinated and receiving her booster.
She said in a statement late Tuesday that she sought medical guidance "after experiencing respiratory symptoms" and was quarantining at home.
She reiterated that people should get vaccinated.
"I am deeply grateful to all of our health care workers who are working on the front lines every day to save lives and care for our communities, and to the scientists and researchers who have developed safe, effective vaccines to meet this unprecedented challenge," she said.
More than 60% of eligible New Mexicans have received boosters, according to the state Health Department.
New Mexico Democrats seek sweeping voting access changes - By Morgan Lee Associated Press
A statewide holiday on Election Day to encourage voting. Automated restoration of voting rights for ex-convicts. More time to distribute and count absentee ballots.
Democratic lawmakers have a lengthy wish list in New Mexico as they seek to expand access to voting.
New Mexico's first and only Black state senator, Harold Pope of Albuquerque, is cosponsoring the legislation with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth of Santa Fe, during the fast-paced legislative session that started Jan. 18 and ends on Feb. 17.
Here are the key changes sought by Democrats and counterpoints from opponents.
NEW HOLIDAY
More ballots were cast than ever before across New Mexico in the 2020 general election as voters backed President Joe Biden and a Republican challenger flipped a congressional seat in southern New Mexico.
State Democrats including Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver want to increase voter access by turning Election Day into a state holiday, closing public schools and nonessential government offices for the day.
A month-long period for early, in-person voting would be extended to the Sunday before elections, when many people are free of work and chores. Early voting currently begins at county clerks' offices four weeks ahead of elections, and is expanded three Saturdays before those elections to large-scale voting centers.
And proposed changes would allow 16-year-olds to cast ballots in local elections for mayor and local boards, councils and commissions.
If the measures are approved, high school juniors and seniors would help elect public school board members amid debates about gun safety, vaccination requirements, transgender rights and budgeting.
MAIL-IN VOTING
The state Supreme Court in early 2020 rejected a petition by county clerks to send absentee, mail-in ballots that have not been requested by residents to nearly all registered voters.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Republican Party lawyers convinced justices that absentee ballots should only be available to people who request them.
But the law could change this year as Democratic legislators advocate for the creation of a permanent absentee voter list, allowing voters to receive absentee ballots for each election without repeatedly requesting them.
The Republican Party questions the effort, raising doubts about how the state will properly maintain the absentee voter list and know when people die or move.
SPECIAL POPULATIONS
Proposed legislation would give Native American communities more time to request additional voting sites to ensure access in remote rural areas.
Native Americans experienced new obstacles to reaching voting sites in 2020 amid aggressive pandemic lockdowns by tribal communities that included curfews and police roadblocks aimed at saving lives.
Separately, proposed election changes would simplify the voter registration process for people convicted of felonies who are not incarcerated.
The bill would drop prohibitions on voting by felons while they are on probation or parole and provide an automated opportunity for felons to register to vote from prison as they prepare for being released.
COUNTING BALLOTS
The voting rights bill seeks to extend the deadline for accepting marked ballots to 7 p.m. on the Friday after an election, adding three days to allow for postal delays for mailed-in ballots.
State election officials also want to provide more time for county clerks to distribute absentee ballots to voters ahead of elections, giving them 35 days instead of the current 28.
Voter registration opportunities would be expanded for people without driver's licenses or state ID cards through online registration where voters must list their social security numbers. Republican Party leaders say that would increase opportunities for deceitful voting.
DISRUPTION
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has said that voting rights are under attack across the country, making it important to safeguard access to ballot boxes. The state Republican Party has said the proposed changes open the door to confusion and potential fraud.
At least 19 states — including Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Texas — have enacted new voting restrictions since the 2020 election, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a group that promotes wider ballot access.
The national GOP campaign to tighten voting laws has been partly driven by former President Donald Trump's false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
In Washington, Republican opposition has left a bill that aims to set federal standards for state elections stalled in the 50-50 Senate. Democrats lack the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster, a longstanding delaying tactic that can stop a bill in its tracks.
New Mexico county seeking help with jail staffing shortage -Associated Press
New Mexico's most populous county is looking for help with staffing shortages at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Bernalillo County commissioners on Tuesday approved an emergency resolution outlining several potential ways to boost ranks at the jail, from improving recruitment efforts to requesting outside manpower. That might include seeking assistance from the New Mexico National Guard and exploring the use of medical school interns.
Hiring enough correctional officers to fully staff the jail has been a long-term problem for the county that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
County officials said the staffing shortage has "impacted some operations" at the jail but they did not provide details. They also did not say how many positions are currently vacant.
Under the resolution, the jail will not hold out-of-county inmates unless they are being detained related to a Bernalillo County case. The jail also will require other jurisdictions to retrieve inmates, which officials said will help reduce the number of virtual hearings the staff has to coordinate for outside counties.
Man gets 10 years in prison for 11th, 12th DWI convictions - Gallup Independent, Associated Press
A 44-year-old Gallup man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to DWI and other charges in two cases that resulted in his 11th and 12th DWI convictions.
Under a plea agreement with prosecutors, Maynard Miller pleaded guilty to DWI in each of the two latest cases and to one count each of driving while revoked (DWI related) and possession of a firearm by a felon.
As part of the pleas, Miller on Monday admitted in state District Court to having 10 prior DWI convictions in McKinley County dating back 24 years, the Gallup Independent reported.
Judge Robert Aragon said he felt both sympathy for Miller and relief that Miller would be off the street. "You're lucky to be alive" Aragon told Miller. "Please try to deal with your disease."
Due to his intoxication, Miller said he could not remember what happened during his two most recent drunken driving instances, both of which involved one-vehicle crashes, but he acknowledged that a jury could have found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt based on the evidence in both cases.
Labor authority tries again to end immigration judges union -Associated Press
A federal labor authority has sought for a second time to strip the collective bargaining powers of a national union for U.S. immigration judges, even though the agency that employs the judges isn't opposing their right to organize.
In a ruling late last week, the Federal Labor Relations Authority determined that the country's more than 500 immigration judges cannot belong to an employee union because they are akin to management.
The move sparked outcry from the immigration judges because their employer, the Justice Department, under President Joe Biden stopped seeking to try to end the union, in a marked contrast to the Trump administration.
"This is a poorly reasoned decision and overrules the will of the parties," Immigration Judge Mimi Tsankov, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, said in a statement. "It is rooted in the majority FLRA board members' anti-union bent and reflects a deep desire to silence immigration judges."
The union said it planned a legal challenge but did not immediately provide details.
A message seeking comment with the Justice Department Wednesday was not immediately returned.
It's the second time the authority — which governs labor relations between the U.S. government and its employees — has ruled against the immigration judges since the Trump administration sought to put an end to their union.
The decision was written by two members of the three-member authority, while a third dissented, saying it made no sense to issue a ruling in response to a petition that the administration was seeking to withdraw.
In 2020, the authority ruled that immigration judges shouldn't be in a union. The union asked for reconsideration of that decision, and in the meantime, the Justice Department said it no longer opposed the judges' position.
Immigration judges are Justice Department employees and answer to the attorney general, who sets policies and criteria on how they should rule on cases. The union has long advocated for independent immigration courts, which are tasked with deciding whether immigrants should be deported or allowed to remain in the country.
The Trump administration imposed measures on the immigration courts that it said were aimed at increasing efficiency, such as case completion quotas.
Since then, the immigration docket has ballooned further. There are nearly 1.6 million cases pending before the courts, more than double the number reported five years earlier, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
According to the union, this means each judge on average has more than 2,700 cases. As a result, immigrants can wait years for a court hearing, let alone a decision on their cases.
The delays mean immigrants with weaker cases sometimes wind up staying in the country much longer than they would have been allowed to, while those with strong claims for asylum or green cards must wait to be able to access vital benefits.
*This story has been corrected to show the authority's prior ruling was in 2020, not 2000.
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