Congress spending plan includes $2.5 billion for Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire victims – By Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
The new congressional spending plan announced overnight includes $2.5 billion for those affected by the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire, according to the bill text.
The spending package funds the U.S. government until Dec. 16 and includes a couple of other Democratic priorities, including $12 billion for Ukraine and $20 million to help Jackson, Miss. after its water crisis.
But northern New Mexicans will be most interested in the last provision in the 237-page bill, one regarding the biggest fire in the state’s history, ignited during a botched federal prescribed burn in April.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) hinted it would be rolled into the legislation during her visit to Albuquerque on Monday.
The inclusion of the “Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act” in the spending bill means New Mexicans affected by the fire will be able to file claims to potentially be fully compensated for losses.
Compensation for lost homes, for example, is now limited to $40,000 through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But the new bill aims to fully compensate victims for structure, business or other losses during the fire and ensuing floods.
It’s not clear how many New Mexicans would file a claim under the act, or how soon it will be possible to do so.
However, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said in a news release on the Senate side, some Republicans are not yet on board with making the fire compensation part of the spending bill. A spokesperson said the GOP could put up procedural hurdles to prevent its passage even though they don’t have a majority.
Still, some members of the delegation said in a news release they were hopeful the spending plan would continue to include fire compensation.
The federal government’s responsibility for starting the fire elicited increasing calls for the U.S. to pay victims compensation. U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, a Democrat representing the affected region, introduced the legislation that also makes the feds liable about a month after the fire began.
The Senate will begin procedural votes this week on the spending bill, known as a continuing resolution. The deadline to avoid a government shutdown is Oct. 1.
The fire compensation legislation was also sponsored by U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM).
The delegation, in a news release, applauded the inclusion of the act in the continuing resolution. It was previously slated to be rolled into the National Defense Authorization Act, which is still being deliberated.
Leger Fernandez, in a statement she hoped the budget proposal would pass without changes.
“We are hopeful the budget proposal will pass with the funding intact, but understand there are many uncertainties,” she said in a statement. “While we monitor final passage of the budget proposal, I will not let up my fight to get compensation for our fire victims signed into law.”
New Mexico's repeat child abuse rate among nation's worst - Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal
New state data shows New Mexico's repeat rate for child abuse is among the worst in the country, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
The Albuquerque Journal said more than 40% of children in New Mexico who had a substantiated serious injury from physical abuse or neglect in fiscal year 2022 came from families who had a prior involvement with the state's Children, Youth and Families Department in the preceding 12 months.
A report by the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee said the Families Department "continues to underperform on targets for repeat maltreatment, maltreatment of foster care children, and serious injuries after protective services involvement" and added that the state's rates for repeat maltreatment "are among the worst in the nation."
Barbara Vigil, a retired New Mexico Supreme Court judge who became the Families Department's secretary nearly a year ago, told the Journal that the agency is "incredibly proud of the ongoing improvements that are being made in our child welfare system … but we acknowledge that improvements must continue to be made."
Vigil said a key to reducing child maltreatment rates is strengthening the Families Department's workforce including hiring and retaining employees.
The state's legislative finance committee reported that 14% of children substantiated by the Families Department as having been maltreated were victims of another substantiated maltreatment allegation within a year.
Repeat maltreatment in New Mexico decreased from 17% in fiscal year 2019, but still remains higher than the U.S. average of about 8%, according to the Journal.
The newspaper said the rate of maltreatment victimizations per 1,000 days in foster care was 10.1, better than the 14.7 the prior year but higher than the target of 8.
The turnover rate for protective services workers was 37% in the fiscal year that ended June 30, the highest rate since 39.7% in fiscal 2019.
Vigil said the Families Department is increasing training of child protective workers and is examining their compensation.
She also said the agency is looking at ways to recognize earlier in its intervention with families those cases that might escalate into serious injuries for children such as burns, human bites, starvation, wounds, internal injuries or malnutrition.
Shelter-in-place order is lifted at Albuquerque High - By Nash Jones, KUNM News
Albuquerque Public Schools announced Tuesday afternoon that students and staff at Albuquerque High School and the nearby Early College Academy / Career Enrichment Center were ordered to shelter in place due to a “possible threat.” The order has since been lifted.
The district made the announcement shortly before 2:00 p.m. on Twitter and its website. About 35 minutes later, they announced that dismissal for the day would be delayed, as no one is allowed in or out of the campus during a shelter-in-place order.
Just before 3:30 p.m. APS announced the order had been lifted after police completed their investigation, finding no evidence of the threat in question. No details about the nature of the threat or the investigation were immediately released.
Bus service has been suspended for the day. Entrance and exit to the school was restricted for those picking students up, including those who usually ride the bus.
NM lawmakers delay voting on changes to Roundhouse harassment policies - Shaun Griswold, Source New Mexico
New Mexico legislators have two weeks to review proposals to change the Roundhouse anti-harassment policy to include an outside tie-breaker vote and clearer timelines to speed up investigations.
Sen. Linda Lopez (D-Albuquerque) and Rep. Daymon Ely (D-Corrales) introduced changes to the policy during a Legislative Council Committee hearing on Monday. While the committee did not directly address the recent allegations of harassment filed against Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto (D-Albuquerque), how the investigation unfolded was an elephant in the room.
“We have recently gone through this process, and it has problems,” Lopez told colleagues. “And I think for us to really have a better process or system, we do need to streamline or make some changes.”
Ivey-Soto was accused of sexual harassment and retaliation by a lobbyist he’s known for years. The matter was handled beyond the public’s view, but a leaked copy of the independent investigator’s report said there was sufficient evidence for two of three claims that he violated the Roundhouse’s anti-harassment policy.
While lawmakers said they want to open the process, that cannot happen until January, because it would require a change in statute.
The proposals from Ely and Lopez, on the other hand, could be adopted now by the committee.
But Ely’s call to approve the changes during Monday’s meeting was thwarted by concerns from Republicans that the policy was added to the agenda last week and that the proposed changes were only made public Monday morning.
The committee ultimately decided to postpone taking action until their next public meeting on Oct. 11.
Because the proposals do not require a change in law, the policy can be reformed immediately. That include setting a deadline of 45 days for an independent special counsel to complete an investigation. As the policy stands now, there are no specific deadlines for how long the investigative process can last.
If the investigation cannot be completed within 45 days, the investigator must give status updates to the legislative committee every 15 days until it is finished, according to the proposal.
Another substantial change would be the addition of a fifth voting member on the subcommittee, a licensed attorney who has “experience with harassment claims and is without any current or previous involvement with the matter.”
Currently the subcommittee is made up of four legislators, split between two parties. The independent voting member would come in to fix the issues that arise when the subcommittee deadlocks in a tie.
Although the public does not know if the complaint against Ivey-Soto stalled because of a split vote, legislators said it is obvious that came up in the most recent case.
Ely said he read an opinion article Ivey-Soto published in the Albuquerque Journal claiming the process was over, and he understood there was a tie in the proceeding even though that has not been explicitly stated by anyone involved in the matter.
“The language that he used in the discussion was very careful to where I could draw the conclusion there was a tie. And the public doesn’t know that,” Ely said. “The public doesn’t know what’s happening, and that is not sustainable because it shows the Legislature cannot police itself.”
Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque) co-chairs the Legislative Council Committee and said changes need to be made.
“I think most of us understand that we’re not doing right by victims right now. And we have to change our policy,” she said. “I think they’ve brought forward a really good idea. I hope we adopt it in two weeks or some variation.”
While Ivey-Soto’s name was not said during the meeting, the complaint against him was an unspoken presence in the room.
Over the weekend, Stewart announced that she removed the senator as chair of the New Mexico Finance Authority interim committee, which was also scheduled to meet Monday in Silver City but canceled because not enough legislators were present.
In a statement, Stewart said due to the allegations against Ivey-Soto it’s “inappropriate for him to remain in a position of authority until the allegations are fully, fairly and transparently resolved.”
Stewart said she cannot remove him from his chairman position on Senate Rules until the full Legislature meets to determine committee assignments.
As to Ivey-Soto’s announcement that the investigation into his alleged misconduct at the Roundhouse is over, Stewart would not elaborate on whether there is any other avenue for the investigation to continue or be refiled.
During Monday’s meeting, Ely and Lopez each said there are no active cases related to the anti-harassment policy referred to a committee right now, indicating the Ivey-Soto ordeal is likely done.
Advocates that have been calling for Ivey-Soto’s resignation and greater accountability in the process that investigates lawmakers accused of harassment said the proposed changes are a necessary step. However, their calls to give more authority to an independent body, such as the state Ethics Commission, may go unresolved with the reform proposals on the table.
“We have been saying that this process has been flawed. We have been saying that the Legislature, the Roundhouse, the people’s house, is not safe,” said Lan Sena, director of the Center for Civic Policy. “It has not been safe, it is not safe, and will continue to not be safe, unless they push for this independent process.”
Sena said she was pleased to know Ivey-Soto was removed from one chairman position but wants more.
“The nine women that have come forward shows that he does not deserve to be in this house,” Sena said. “He does not deserve to be in the position of a senator, and it’s shown that he has abused that power.”
During NM visit, Pelosi hints aid to fire victims will come sooner than expected - By Patrick Lohmann,Source New Mexico
Those who suffered damage or injury due to the biggest fire in state history could be in line to receive substantial compensation sooner than expected, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said during a visit to Albuquerque on Monday.
The Hermits Peak Fire Assistance Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-Las Vegas, N.M.), requires the federal government to pay damages for the 500-square-mile wildfire a U.S. Forest Service crew accidentally caused in April. The fire north of Las Vegas destroyed about 1,000 structures, including more than 500 homes, charred the landscape, imperiled the watershed and forced thousands to flee.
Pelosi came to Albuquerque on Monday to hear from victims of the fire and elected officials from the area. She also touted the possibility of including the act in Congress’ continuing resolution. That’s the spending deal that keeps the government funded and other priorities, so long as lawmakers agree to it before Oct. 1, the beginning of the federal fiscal year.
Speaking to reporters after the roundtable, she hinted that the legislation would be part of the spending bill but would not say how much money it would contain.
“Stay tuned,” she said at the news conference at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.
Putting the legislation in the budget deal means the aid could arrive earlier than anticipated, though it remains to be seen how quickly victims will be able to file claims under the act and then receive compensation.
In July, the legislation was slated to be part of the National Defense Authorization Act, which may not be passed until February 2023, according to a recent report by a defense industry trade publication.
Meanwhile, thousands are still recovering from the massive fire and the complications it caused. Destructive floods coursed through the burn scar during the monsoon season, adding further damage to landscape and communities, and threatening Las Vegas’ water supply. Many people suffered losses, including farmers and ranchers, who are still displaced while trying to navigate an alphabet soup of federal relief programs, often with limited success.
FEMA, for example, issued denials to about 30% of individual applicants so far, according to the last figures from July. (FEMA has declined repeated requests from Source New Mexico in recent months for updated denial numbers).
The legislation that is included in the spending bill would go much further than other programs. It’s an effort to pay back lost revenue, fully rebuild homes or structures lost and restore the environment.
“This is an extraordinary assault on the environment that is the clear responsibility of the government,” Pelosi told members of the roundtable. “When something happens like a natural disaster, there is a compact between the people and the government that we will be there. But we have to be there in a timely fashion, in a way that facilitates benefits coming forward.”
WHAT THE BILL WOULD DO
However much Congress allocates would be divided among claimants and administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It would establish a designated FEMA office to pay out claims. That’s a similar structure to the last time the federal government accidentally let a prescribed burn escape in New Mexico. In 2000, the National Park Service ignited the Cerro Grande Fire near Los Alamos.
The bill would allow those with fire or flood losses to file an application within two years, and then the government will have up to six months afterward to determine if a claim is valid. The total will be reduced by any insurance payments an applicant would have received up to that point.
Individual applicants can file claims for loss of property, a decrease in property value, damage to infrastructure “including irrigation infrastructure such as acequia systems” and any costs that result from lost subsistence through hunting, fishing, gathering firewood, timber, grazing or agriculture.
Businesses can also seek damages under the act, including for damage to inventory, business interruptions, lost wages and more.
As written, the legislation would also cover new flood insurance payments, flood or fire mitigation, debris removal, increased mortgage interest or loans provided by the Small Business Administration.
There is no cap on the amount a person or business can receive, unlike the individual FEMA payouts so far, which are capped at $40,000.
‘EVERY DISASTER HAS ITS OWN PERSONALITY’
Pelosi and Leger Fernandez spoke to various elected officials and local forestry experts during the roundtable, which reporters could not attend most of. Attendees described the toll of the past five months and shortfalls in the federal response.
“FEMA is scary,” San Miguel County Chair Harold Garcia said during the end of the discussion. “I’m thinking that the guidelines FEMA has, that maybe they need to change those guidelines.”
Pelosi later said she understood concerns about FEMA.
“I hear what you’re saying about FEMA,” she said. “Every disaster has its own personality. And so we have to make sure that they understand that.”
Pelosi and Leger Fernandez both struck a hopeful tone in describing the region’s future, saying that recovery could take years but that, eventually, water will again be safe to drink again, and the forest renewed.
“We hope to bring healing and payment for the loss of income in homes and business,” Leger Fernandez said. “…That is important not just in terms of looking at it as rebuilding a home or rebuilding a barn, but it is also rebuilding a future for these children.”
New Mexico legislators weigh changes to harassment policies - By Morgan Lee Associated Press
State legislators in New Mexico are reconsidering how they evaluate complaints of sexual misconduct against colleagues, amid outrage about the handling of a complaint against an influential senator.
A panel of leading legislators met Monday to discuss possible changes to ground rules for harassment investigations at the Legislature.
"It has become clear that our anti-harassment policy is not working," said Democratic state Rep. Daymon Ely of Corrales, co-chairman of a legislative ethics committee. "This is intended to start a discussion."
Harassment complaints against lawmakers are often assigned for an initial investigation to a panel of four legislators, which may deadlock on a 2-2 vote. Ely proposed the changes that would assign an outside expert to break any tie vote, with public notice of the outcome.
Ely outlined proposals that would remove secrecy provisions that currently prevent people who complain of harassment by legislators from publicly discussing any investigation that has been dismissed without a finding of probable cause.
"How do we fix that so that we have closure for those people?" said Democratic Sen. George Muñoz of Gallup. "It can't come out in a tie. There has to be closure for both sides."
Also Monday, a coalition of advocacy groups held a news conference in Santa Fe to describe a "toxic culture" that favors perpetrators over victims of harassment at the Legislature.
Some said an independent authority such as New Mexico's State Ethics Commission would be better suited to review harassment complaints against legislators — rather than a panel of legislators.
"The current system only supports the perpetrators," said Lan Sena, policy director for the Center for Civic Policy. "This is a classic case of the fox guarding the hen house."
Sena reiterated calls for the resignation of Democratic state Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto of Albuquerque in response to harassment accusations.
Ivey-Soto, a gatekeeper on election legislation, recently announced that a Senate investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against him had been "indefinitely suspended, with no further action to be taken."
But a leaked report also shows that a special counsel to the investigation concluded there was probable cause to indicate that Ivey-Soto violated anti-harassment policies. And the female lobbyist who leveled accusations of harassment against Ivey-Soto has filed a lawsuit challenging secrecy provisions at the Legislature that prevent her from saying more.
Marianna Anaya's harassment complaint to the Legislature in February was accompanied by an open letter to the public that accused Ivey-Soto of groping her at a hotel reception in 2015 and of more recent aggressive and disrespectful behavior while discussing proposed legislation over drinks. She called on the lawmaker to resign, as other women say they were harassed by Ivey-Soto.
Ivey-Soto said he has no recollection of touching Anaya during the encounter and that their encounters over the years were never sexual. The Associated Press generally does not identify people alleging sexual assault, but Anaya has been openly public about her allegations and prior advocacy against harassment.
On Saturday, Ivey-Soto was removed from one of his leadership positions on an interim committee in response to harassment allegations.
Arizona abortion clinics send women to other states - By Jonathan J. Cooper And Terry Tang Associated Press
When an Arizona judge ruled last week that prosecutors can resume enforcing a near-total ban on abortion that dates to the Civil War, it fell to the staff at Camelback Family Planning to break the news to the women scheduled for appointments in the coming weeks.
The staff faced "crying, a lot of very, very angry people, denial," nurse Ashleigh Feiring said Monday. One woman argued, "But I'm only five weeks (along)."
Women seeking abortions across Arizona were forced to find alternatives beyond the state's borders after the ruling, which clears the way for prosecutors to charge doctors and others who help a woman end a pregnancy unless her life is in danger. The state's major abortion providers immediately halted procedures and canceled appointments.
Providers in neighboring states, already seeing an increase in traffic from other conservative states that have banned abortion, were preparing to treat some of the 13,000 Arizona patients who get an abortion each year.
Planned Parenthood Arizona on Monday asked Pima County Superior Court Judge Kellie Johnson to put her ruling on hold pending an appeal, saying it created confusion about the status of the law in Arizona. Lawyers cited conflicts created by the abortion ban dating to 1864, a more recent law banning abortions after 15 weeks, and a variety of other laws regulating the processes and paperwork when terminating pregnancies.
Johnson's ruling lifted an injunction that was imposed after the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision guaranteed a right to abortion in 1973.
At the Camelback Family Planning clinic in central Phoenix, a young woman took off from work Monday afternoon for an appointment to get medicine to help with an abortion. The 20-year-old is afraid she is prone to miscarriage and already miscarried two years ago.
"I don't want to experience this. I don't have the time and energy to go through that again," said the woman, who declined to give her name.
But she never made it past the check-in window. Instead, she got a slip of paper with a website to order medicine by mail and left visibly upset.
She says she never got a call that the ruling by a Tucson judge last Friday effectively voided her ability to get an abortion in Arizona.
"I can guarantee I would not have wasted my time leaving work early and losing money to come here," the woman said. "I need to get it done —regardless if that's going to a different state or going across the border. It just sucks that this is the last resort for people."
The doctors and nurses at Camelback Family Planning had an inkling last week that a court decision on abortion could come down. But they thought it would be a ban on abortions after 15 weeks into pregnancy. So, several of the abortions performed last week were for patients over 20 weeks along.
"We cleared our schedule to do as many of those later-term ones," said Feiring, the nurse. So they postponed some patients less farther along until this week.
Feiring and other staff at the Phoenix clinic are letting patients know the clinic is still available to do follow-up abortion care. They refer them to websites and organizations that help with abortion access.
Planned Parenthood has patient navigators who work with women seeking abortions to find an affiliate in a state where abortion is legal, and to help with money and logistics, said Brittany Fonteno, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Arizona. Many Arizona patients are getting abortions in California, Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado.
"This is really a traumatic experience, to be told that one day a basic health care procedure is available to you and then out of the blue the next day it's been stripped away from you and has the potential to completely alter the course of your life," Fonteno said.
In California, the second-largest Planned Parenthood affiliate in the country says it is considering opening a new health center in part because of an expected increase in patients from Arizona and other states.
Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino counties operates nine health centers in Southern California that catered to 250,000 medical visits last year – largely for services other than abortion, like cancer screenings and birth control, according to Nichole Ramirez, the group's senior vice president for communications.
The group started preparing for an influx of patients from other states last year by hiring more providers, offering more abortion appointment slots and helping patients pay for things like gas, hotel rooms and plane tickets.
"We knew this was going to happen slowly, in a way, as state by state has been banning abortion," Ramirez said. "The number is going to continue to increase."
California is already seeing evidence of an increase in abortion patients coming from other states. Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new website – abortion.ca.gov – that promotes all of the state's abortion services, including a list of clinics and information about state laws.
On Monday, the Governor's Office said the website – while not tracking and storing people's personal information -- had seen an increase in out-of-state page views, with about 58% of traffic coming from people in other states. That increase comes after Newsom used some of his campaign money to pay for billboards in seven conservative states to promote the website.
Meanwhile, a California Access Reproductive Justice – a nonprofit that helps people pay for the logistics of getting an abortion – said 10 of the 63 people it helped in August were from Arizona.
Shannon Brewer, director of Las Cruces Women's Health Organization that operates an abortion clinic in southern New Mexico, says she anticipates a surge in inquiries about abortion services from residents of Arizona, a two-hour drive away at minimum. The clinic already received nearly a dozen queries Monday from people in Arizona.
Brewer previously operated the abortion clinic in Jackson, Mississippi, that was at the center of the Dodds v Jackson Women's Health decision that took away women's constitutional protection for access to abortions nationwide. The Mississippi clinic has closed, while the like-named clinic in New Mexico has treated about 100 abortion patients during its first six weeks in operation.
"The majority of our calls are from out-of-state, mostly Texas. The majority of our patients are from Texas," Brewer said Monday. "I expect the same thing" from Arizona.
Most abortion procedures remain legal in New Mexico, where state lawmakers in 2021 repealed a dormant 1969 statute that outlawed most abortion procedures as felonies to ensure access to abortion.