Biden touts Arizona as America's 'future' as government invests $8.5 billion in chipmaker Intel - By Seung Min Kim And Josh Boak Associated Press
President Joe Biden on Wednesday celebrated an agreement to provide Intel with up to $8.5 billion in direct funding and $11 billion in loans for computer chip plants around the country, talking up the investment in the political battleground state of Arizona and calling it a way of "bringing the future back to America."
The Biden administration has predicted that the cash infusion should help the U.S. boost its global share of advanced chip production from zero to 20%. The Democratic president highlighted the investment while visiting Intel's Ocotillo campus in Chandler, Arizona, where he inspected silicon wafers and expressed amazement at how thin the chips were.
In remarks after the tour, Biden pivoted to the impact his policies could have on the U.S. economy as he tries to translate his policy wins into a political boost ahead of November's election. Intel plans to invest in facilities in Arizona, Ohio, Oregon and New Mexico, with some of the government money helping to support workforce development.
"This isn't just about investing in America," Biden said, "It's about investing in the American people as well."
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the deal reached through her department would put the United States in a position to produce 20% of the world's most advanced chips by 2030, up from zero. The United States designs advanced chips, but its inability to make them domestically has emerged as a national security and economic risk.
"Failure is not an option — leading-edge chips are the core of our innovation system, especially when it comes to advances in artificial intelligence and our military systems," Raimondo said on a call with reporters. "We can't just design chips. We have to make them in America."
The funding announcement came amid the heat of the 2024 presidential campaign. Biden has been telling voters that his policies have led to a resurgence in U.S. manufacturing and job growth. His message is a direct challenge to former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, who raised tariffs while in the White House and wants to do so again on the promise of protecting U.S. factory jobs from China.
Biden told Intel employees during his tour: "You're bringing the future back to America."
Biden narrowly beat Trump in Arizona in 2020 by a margin of 49.4% to 49.1%.
U.S. adults have dim views of Biden's economic leadership, with just 34% approving, according to a February poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. The lingering impact of inflation hitting a four-decade high in 2022 has hurt the Democrat, who had a 52% approval on the economy in July 2021.
Intel's projects would be funded in part through the bipartisan 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, which the Biden administration helped shepherd through Congress at a time of concerns after the pandemic that the loss of access to chips made in Asia could plunge the U.S. economy into recession.
When pushing for the investment, lawmakers expressed concern about efforts by China to control Taiwan, which accounts for more than 90% of advanced computer chip production.
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat up for reelection this year, stressed that his state would become "a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing" as Intel would be generating thousands of jobs. Ohio has voted for Trump in the past two presidential elections, and Brown in November will face Republican Bernie Moreno, a Trump-backed businessman from Cleveland.
Wednesday's announcement is the fourth and largest so far under the chips law, with the government support expected to help enable Intel Corp. to make $100 billion in capital investments over five years. About 25% of that total would involve building and land, while roughly 70% would go to equipment, said Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel.
"We think of this as a defining moment for the United States, the semiconductor industry and for Intel," said Gelsinger, who called the CHIPS Act "the most critical industrial policy legislation since World War II."
The Intel CEO said on a call with reporters that he would like to see a sequel to the 2022 law in order to provide additional funding for the industry.
Biden administration officials say that computer chip companies would not be investing domestically at their expected scale without government support. Intel funding would lead to a combined 30,000 manufacturing and construction jobs. The company also plans to claim tax credits from the Treasury Department worth up to 25% on qualified investments.
The Santa Clara, California-based company will use the funding in four different states. In Chandler, Arizona, the money will help to build two new chip plants and modernize an existing one. The funding will establish two advanced plants in New Albany, Ohio, which is just outside the state capital of Columbus.
The company will also turn two of its plants in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, into advanced packaging facilities. And Intel will also modernize facilities in Hillsboro, Oregon.
The Biden administration has also made workforce training and access to affordable child care a priority in agreements to support companies. Under the agreement with the Commerce Department, Intel will commit to local training programs as well as increase the reimbursement amount for its child care program, among other efforts.
FEMA outlines wildfire payments for smoke damage, hosting fire evacuees, flood insurance – By Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
The federal office overseeing compensation for those affected by the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire has announced two new categories of payments, plus a deadline for free flood insurance.
Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire claims office officials are encouraging those who suffered smoke or ash damage and those who faced additional costs by hosting fire evacuees in 2022 to file claims. The office is using standardized calculations for both payments, spokesperson Deborah Martinez said, to help quickly process the claims.
Also, the claims office is paying up to five years of flood insurance coverage, but the deadline to receive that is April 1.
As of Tuesday, the office had paid out $458 million of the $3.95 billion awarded by Congress to fully compensate those who suffered losses in the fire. That is 47% of the $958 million it has received in claims with documentation, according to the claims office.
The wildfire was the biggest fire in state history, burning through an area of more than 530 square miles and destroying hundreds of homes in northern New Mexico. The United States Forest Service started the fire in two botched prescribed burns.
As of March 13, the office had paid nearly $1.2 million for flood insurance policies for 326 recipients.
Below are more details about each of the types of losses the claims office is covering:
SMOKE AND ASH DAMAGE
Those whose properties had smoke or ash damage may be eligible for up-front payments to cover cleaning and repair costs. Personal property like homes, automobiles or structures are eligible.
Those who suffered medical issues due to the smoke and ash that filled the air for months during spring and summer in 2022 are also eligible, according to the claims office.
Smoke or ash damage eligible for compensation could be discoloration to walls, ceilings and floors, plus structural damage or corrosion to metal surfaces or electrical components. It could damage clothing, furniture or other home contents or leave an “unpleasant odor” that can only be removed with special cleaning, according to the claims office.
The office is using standard tools to estimate damages and costs, which means a site visit is not necessary “in most cases,” according to the claims office.
Those harmed can submit a claim with photos, estimates or invoices if available.
The claims office will then calculate damages based on the square footage of a home, an estimate that would include payments for replacing carpet, insulation, furnishing and cleaning costs. The distance a property is from the burn scar is a factor in the amount paid, according to the office.
Those with damage can file a notice of loss. There are details on how to do that here.
INCREASED COSTS FOR HOUSING EVACUEES
Authorities ordered more than 25,000 people to flee their homes as the fire tore through mountainsides and villages in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between April and late June of 2022.
Those who gave refuge to evacuees can get reimbursed for any additional costs they incurred until Nov. 14, 2022.
Payments eligible for reimbursement include increased costs for food, utilities, mileage, toiletries, clothing, air mattresses, pet foods and other supplies. Those who housed evacuees can be paid from the day those fleeing the fire moved in until the Nov. 14 deadline.
Claims office navigators will provide a “simple worksheet” to those seeking reimbursement, including the name, age, and gender of each person housed; the dates they were hosted; and details of the increased expenses, according to the claims office.
The claims office will then use “standard calculations” to estimate expenses, an effort to reduce paperwork, according to the claims office. Those who helped evacuees can also submit documentation with actual costs, if they feel they deserve more payment.
The claims office has a Facebook page with more information, and a website in English and Spanish.
FLOOD INSURANCE
The deadline is fast approaching for those seeking flood insurance.
The fire’s intensity led to changes in the soil and landscape that made flooding more likely and damaging, especially for those in rural, mountainous areas. To help residents pay for any ensuing flood damage, the claims office is paying up to five years of flood insurance premiums for free.
The deadline to file a claim for flood insurance is April 1. The deadline for all other claims is Nov. 14 of this year.
Those seeking the additional protection can get it by filing a claim for the up-front costs of the National Flood Insurance policy or by getting reimbursed for a flood insurance policy property owners purchased on their own after the fire.
Those who are eligible are those who were not required to buy flood insurance before April 6, 2022, those whose property is in a participating community in Mora and San Miguel counties, and those outside those counties who can demonstrate a post-fire flood risk.
Property owners are not eligible if they were required to buy flood insurance before the fire, including through a federally backed mortgage or if they are not in an “NFIP participating community.”
However, the claims office provided a list of communities that are not participating but might still be eligible for reimbursement for insurance purchased on the private market. They are:
- Village of Eagle Nest (Colfax County)
- Village of Pecos (San Miguel County)
- Village of Mosquero (San Miguel/ Harding County)
- Village of Wagon Mound (Mora County)
- Picuris Pueblo (Taos County)
- Taos Pueblo (Taos County)
Homeowners can be insured up to $250,000 for the structure and up to $100,000 for belongings inside their homes. Renters can get insurance up to $100,00 for contents only.
Those who own non-residential properties can get $1 million in insurance, with $500,000 apiece for the structure and contents. Businesses who rent can also get $500,000 in insurance for their inventories.
Those who make a claim for insurance payments will still be on the hook for $2,000 deductibles, but the claims office said it could cover those payments if post-fire flooding occurs before November of this year.
To apply for the free flood insurance, property owners and renters can reach out to their navigators, if they’ve already filed a notice of loss. They can also call the claims office helpline at (505)995-7133 or email fema-hermits-peak@fema.dhs.gov.
County Commission begins process to create plan for Mountain View neighborhood - By Carolyn Carlson, City Desk ABQ
Bernalillo County Commissioners deferred setting a process to select a new county manager in order to give themselves time to “chew over” a proposal that was presented at Tuesday’s meeting.
CHEW WHAT?
Commissioner Steven Quezada sponsored a proposal to set up a selection policy and process for hiring a new county manager after Julie Morgas Baca retires at the end of June. She was appointed county manager in 2015.
Quezada’s proposed process would include securing a professional recruitment firm by the end of March, conducting a series of town hall meetings in each commission district to gather input and establishing an online stakeholder survey through the month of April. He proposed that all information be presented to the commissioners , so they can then select and interview finalists with the intent to announce a new county manager by June 14, 2024.
Commission Chair Barbara Baca asked for the deferral saying, “This is an important decision. We do not want to rush, we need to arrive at a consensus.”
Commissioner Eric Olivas said that there was not enough time to review the proposal properly. He said the commission got the proposed legislation last Friday and more time is needed to look it over and collaborate on the final proposal. Olivas said all the commissioners should be able to pitch in to form the process.
“It’s more important to get this right than to get this rushed, give us two weeks to chew over what has been submitted,” he said.
Quezada tried to rally commissioners to approve his proposal but the deferral was approved on a 3 to 2 vote. Commissioner Walt Benson voted with Quezada against the deferral.
“Delaying and deferring the selection process for a new county manager is disappointing, undermines transparency, and deprives the community of the opportunity for adequate discussion and consideration of candidates,” Quezada said after the meeting.
NEXT STEP
Commissioners took a unified stance on addressing the pollution issues in the Mountain View neighborhood by unanimously approving the development of a sector plan.
Commissioners Quezada and Olivas sponsored the legislation. Quezada said he wanted to make sure people know that this sector plan isn’t going to go in and down zone any properties or change zoning in any way.
“What we’re looking at is looking at how to put a plan together so we can attract other types of industry, other types of job opportunities,” he said. “When you look at the Journal Center it has some asphalt plants, and it has some other stuff in it. But mostly it has opportunities for small businesses, plumbing companies, things of that nature and it looks beautiful, and it looks great. When you fly into Albuquerque and you come down Sunport boulevard, you’re gonna be looking at a city that looks like it is growing and it doesn’t look like that right now.”
This area is located along Second Street and Broadway Boulevard, south of Rio Bravo Boulevard, on the east side of the river. The historic agricultural and residential neighborhood has been the center of heavy industry in Bernalillo County since the 1970s. The area has numerous heavy industries such as fuel storage facilities, cement plants, asphalt plants and auto salvages. It is also home to the Valle Del Oro Urban Wildlife Refuge and the Rio Grande bosque.
“This is the neighborhood that built Albuquerque, right? This is the neighborhood that built our community, and we don’t wanna lose sight of that,” Olivas said.
Commissioners approved a one time allocation of $1.25 million from the general fund to support the development of the sector plan. The funding will also be used for environmental improvements, land acquisition, design and construction of a public park in the Mountain View neighborhood.
Progress on the sector plan will be presented to the commission within 24 months.
IN OTHER BUSINESS
- Commissioners approved using $410,000 from the New Mexico MainStreet grant fund to redevelop the Dolores Huerta Gateway Park at 100 Isleta Blvd. SW. Proposed improvements include a shaded picnic area, more shade structures, more trees, a stage and a new “gateway” structure among other improvements. The park is home to La Familia Growers Market, La Familia Growers Market Harvest Festival and I Love The South Valley Because Art Exhibit.
- On a unanimous vote, commissioners approved the county’s federal policy priorities and spending requests. Some of the funding requests include projects to design and plan a senior housing site and the I-40 TradePort Corridor, expand the “Keep NM Alive” campaign for substance use prevention among BernCo youth, and public works projects to complete Bridge Boulevard Phase 3 and the South Valley Street Tree and Green Stormwater Infrastructure project. Six of the 12 funding requests were from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and include vehicle acquisition and crime prevention technology.
- Commissioners approved moving $3 million in American Rescue Plan Act monies from a fund for the city’s Gateway Center expansion to be used instead for security improvements at the county’s Fire Prevention Division at the Atrium building on Second Street in the North Valley. In addition, $316,000 of the ARPA monies will be used for implementing a scrap tire program to help alleviate the enormous amount of scrap tires being dumped around the county.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Bernalillo County meetings are conducted at 5 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of the month in the Ken Sanchez Commission Chambers at 415 Silver Ave SW or via a hybrid manner through GOV-TV or online at the county’s website or on Bernalillo County’s YouTube channel. The next meeting is at 5 p.m. on April 9.
How NM will enforce the new deepfake disclosure law - By Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
About one week after early voting in New Mexico’s primary elections begins, a new law will go into effect requiring political campaigns and candidates to tell the public whenever they use false information generated by artificial intelligence in a campaign ad.
The New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office and the state Ethics Commission will investigate alleged violations of a new election law called House Bill 182.
The Ethics Commission is the state agency mainly responsible for enforcing the Campaign Reporting Act, according to the governor’s message signing the bill. The Ethics Commission has “more capacity for investigation” than the Secretary of State’s Office, said spokesperson Alex Curtas.
“We operate under the idea of trying to seek voluntary compliance from people,” Curtas said. “We don’t really have investigators, so we try to get people to come into compliance.”
While the Secretary of State’s Office will take complaints related to the new disclosure requirements in the law, often they will refer them to the Ethics Commission, Curtas said, because they fall under an agreement between the two agencies.
Since the bill doesn’t specify an effective date, spend money, or contain an emergency clause, it will go into effect on May 15, 90 days after the end of the 2024 legislative session.
Before then, the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office will launch a statewide public education campaign about AI’s influence, Curtas said.
The bill focuses on the content of political advertisements, while the education campaign will try to supplement that by informing the public about the potential for AI misuse in elections, Curtas said.
The public messaging will focus on rural communities and include radio, television, billboards and digital ads, Curtas said.
The agency hired Albuquerque-based Esparza Advertising, Curtas said. They met in the second week of March and were finalizing their strategy and content, he said.
GOVERNOR ASKS FOR AG OPINION
Curtas said the legislation could curb the potential misuse of AI in elections.
“I think it’s a really good step in the right direction, that you see a lot of other states taking,” Curtas said. “So we’re fairly out in front here on this issue in New Mexico.”
New Mexico is among eight states that have enacted similar legislation since October 2019, according to a bill tracker run by Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group that supported the bill. On Tuesday, 31 more states were considering related bills.
When Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the bill on March 5, she wrote, “With the rise in artificial intelligence, it is vital that we address and prevent its use to deceive voters and disrupt democracy — especially before the upcoming elections later this year.”
However, she also said after lawmakers passed the bill, the Ethics Commission “expressed concerns to my Office about this legislation’s enforceability” because the Legislative Finance Committee “failed to request the Commission’s input during the session.”
“I, too, am concerned that portions of this legislation are ambiguous and may pose legal issues,” Lujan Grisham wrote. “To that end, I will be requesting an official opinion from the Attorney General to address these issues.”
New Mexico Department of Justice spokesperson Lauren Rodriguez said Tuesday they had received Lujan Grisham’s opinion request. The agency assigned it to an attorney and will publish it on their website once it has been completed, she said.
“It is my hope that this opinion will clarify any ambiguities and provide guidance to those who will enforce, or be subject to, this legislation,” Lujan Grisham wrote.
HOW TO SUBMIT A COMPLAINT TO THE ETHICS COMMISSION
Complaints can be handed in to the Ethics Commission in two ways, said spokesperson Jane Kirkpatrick: either as “administrative” complaints or informal ones.
The Commission investigates and resolves administrative complaints alleging violations of ethics laws through its administrative proceedings portal, Kirkpatrick said. Once someone submits a complaint, it goes to the executive director, she said.
The administrative process does not allow complainants to be anonymous, Kirkpatrick said, while informal complaints or “tips” do. Those can be submitted here.
These tips are the main way to submit complaints against local officials but the law is more limited when it comes to local elections, Kirkpatrick said.
When the Commission gets a tip, it will start an internal overview and investigation, and then the executive director decides whether to sue someone in state district court, Kirkpatrick said. That decision must be approved by a quorum of the commissioners, at least two Republicans and two Democrats, Kirkpatrick said.
Mexican president praises Pancho Villa for his 1916 attack on Columbus, New Mexico, that killed 18 - Associated Press
Mexico's president on Tuesday praised Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa for his 1916 attack on Columbus, New Mexico, a raid that killed 18 Americans, mostly civilians.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called the attack "daring" and said "we should thank" Villa for it.
"We should thank Villa for, among other things, the daring feat of having attacked Columbus, New Mexico, to prevent what he considered acts of treason," López Obrador said.
Mexico has long honored Villa in government textbooks and monuments, but that was for his domestic role in the 1910-17 Revolution that ousted dictator Porfirio Diaz. The Columbus attack was mostly related to Villa's personal disputes, not the Revolution, and previous Mexican administrations had remained mostly silent about it.
López Obrador quoted his favorite historian, Pedro Salmerón, as saying the attack was "a symbol of resistance against imperialism." It would not be the first time the president's fondness for Salmerón has caused problems.
In 2022, López Obrador tried to appoint Salmerón as Mexico's ambassador to Panama. But Panama refused to accept Salmerón after sexual harassment allegations against him surfaced. Obrador criticized Panama for that decision and called Salmerón "a great historian."
Villa's forces attacked Columbus in the early morning of March 6, 1916, looting and burning homes and businesses. Around a dozen or so Columbus residents and eight U.S. soldiers were killed before members of the U.S. 13th Cavalry Regiment drove the Villistas back across the border. Some 70 to 75 of the attackers also died.
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson ordered an 11-month military expedition into Mexico to chase down Villa, but they never managed to catch him.
Historians have long debated the reason for Villa's attack. University of Houston history professor José Ángel Hernández said it came as Mexico was locked in a violent civil war. Villa felt betrayed by President Woodrow Wilson, who Villa believed would recognize his rebel government, Hernández said.
Instead, Washington recognized the government of another Revolutionary leader, Venustiano Carranza. That enraged Villa, who was also reportedly angry at an arms dealer in the United States who had purportedly sold him defective ammunition.
Supreme Court opens new frontier for insurrection claims that could target state and local officials - By Morgan Lee and Nicholas Riccardi Associated Press
Two recent U.S. Supreme Court actions have opened the door to a new legal frontier in which local and state officials can be disqualified from office for life for engaging in "insurrection" or providing "aid and comfort" to enemies of the Constitution, based on a post-Civil War era addition to the nation's foundational legal document and how the courts interpret it.
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a former New Mexico county commissioner who was kicked out of office after he was convicted of trespassing during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The state judge who barred him from office did so on the grounds that his actions violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which was added to the Constitution in 1868 to prevent Confederates from returning to government.
The move came on the heels of an expedited high-court ruling that Section 3 can't be used against federal officials or candidates until Congress writes a law outlining procedures to do so. That includes former President Donald Trump, the target of a national campaign to end his bid to return to the White House via the 14th Amendment.
But the court's ruling in the Trump case explicitly said the provision could still be used against state and local officials.
Taken together, the actions herald a new legal landscape as the liberal groups that pushed the issue of Trump's disqualification to the Supreme Court reboot efforts to target state and local officials linked to Jan. 6.
"This is a bit of returning to the course we expected to be following, which was holding individuals accountable, who are low-level officials, who still broke their oath by coming to D.C., engaging in insurrection," said Stuart McPhail, an attorney with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a left-leaning group whose lawsuit against Trump ended up at the Supreme Court.
Ron Fein, legal director of Free Speech For People, which brought several other actions seeking to disqualify Trump and Republican members of Congress for their role in the Capitol attack, wouldn't comment on his group's plans. But, he said, one legal fact remains clear.
"Section 3 continues to be a viable way of protecting against insurrectionists in state and local government," Fein said.
CREW, which brought the lawsuit against Trump's candidacy that landed at the Supreme Court, has identified state lawmakers it believes might be vulnerable to challenges under Section 3. It already has succeeded in one case, brought against the local official in New Mexico.
Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, a founder of the promotional group Cowboys for Trump, is the only elected official thus far to be banned from office in connection with the Capitol attack, which disrupted Congress as it was trying to certify Joe Biden's 2020 electoral victory over Trump.
The lawsuit against him cited his violation of Section 3, which prohibits anyone who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and then "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against it or gave "aid and comfort" to its enemies, from holding future office.
McPhail says there is a new sense of urgency to take action under that clause against state or local officials linked to Jan. 6 — before they run for federal office and can't be sidelined.
"It does create this incentive to bring cases from low-level officials now because then you can actually win them and get some kind of relief in judgments, whereas if you wait, you may have lost the opportunity," he said.
Based on the Supreme Court's ruling in the Trump disqualification case, a state or local official removed under Section 3 could still hold federal office, all the way up to president, unless Congress acted.
Griffin said his disqualification was politically motivated. He and his defense attorney said Monday's dismissal by the Supreme Court holds ominous implications, creating a pathway for partisan actors to harness Section 3 of the 14th Amendment in unpredictable ways in the future.
"All you have to do is go to a really friendly county, with a good friendly judge that's politically on your side, and then you get rid of your opposition," said Peter Ticktin, Griffin's attorney in the appeal to the Supreme Court.
Derek Muller, a Notre Dame law professor, said he wouldn't be surprised if Section 3 litigation eventually targets people for reasons well beyond Jan. 6.
"I don't know how widespread it's going to be," he said. "I'm sure people are going to start thinking creatively about what it means — if you're supporting, Hamas, the Taliban, (Black Lives Matter)."
Muller added that the court system is well-equipped to sort out frivolous uses of Section 3, just as it does in other cases of ballot challenges: "In most of these cases, I think it won't pass the initial motion to dismiss."
The bigger question, he said, is how do courts address issues that the Supreme Court dodged in its ruling on the Trump case: What constitutes an insurrection under Section 3? How do First Amendment rights and other constitutional guarantees interact with its provisions?
In Griffin's case, New Mexico Judge Francis Mathew found that Griffin aided an insurrection without engaging in violence, contributing to a delay in Congress' certification of the presidential election.
He ruled that Griffin spread lies about the 2020 election being stolen from Trump in a series of speeches during rallies held across the country, calling on crowds to go with him to Washington on Jan. 6 and join the "war" over the presidential election results.
"Knowledgeable 19th century Americans including Section 3's framers would have regarded the events of Jan. 6, and the surrounding planning, mobilization and incitement, as an insurrection," Mathew ruled. "Mr. Griffin also incited, encouraged, and helped normalize the violence on January 6."
Griffin, a Republican, was convicted separately in federal court of entering a restricted area on the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 and received a 14-day prison sentence. The sentence was offset by time served after his arrest in Washington, where he had returned to protest Biden's 2021 inauguration. That conviction is under appeal, but is unlikely to influence enforcement of Griffin's ban from office.
"Neither the courts nor Congress have ever required a criminal conviction for a person to be disqualified under Section 3," Judge Mathew wrote.
CREW brought the case against Griffin partly because New Mexico is one of several states that allow any citizen to bring a private right of action to establish that an elected official is not qualified to hold office. In states that lack such provisions, attorneys note, those who want to remove people under Section 3 may have other paths, such as ballot challenges filed with the secretary of state or an election board.
"There is no one-size-fits-all solution for enforcing Section 3 in states," McPhail said.
Longtime state Senator sues over campaign reporting law - Albuquerque Journal, KUNM News
Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino has filed a federal lawsuit to prevent fellow Democrat Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver from enforcing part of the state’s Campaign Reporting Act.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the suit focuses on a provision that limits the charitable contributions candidates can make using campaign funds to tax-exempt organizations. Ortiz y Pino says it is unconstitutional.
The court challenge stems from a $200 donation the senator made to a high school student to help her attend a health career workshop.
Toulouse Oliver has referred the case to the State Ethics Commission and Attorney General after she says Ortiz y Pino failed to voluntarily comply.
A spokesperson for the secretary of state says her office will change its stance on the matter if a judge rules in the senator’s favor.
Ortiz y Pino is retiring from the Legislature, but says he’s seeking clarity through the courts on behalf of “the whole legislative body.”
Council approves additional funding to help with increasing number of migrants - By Carolyn Carlson,City Desk ABQ
This story was originally published by City Desk ABQ.
Helping asylum seekers and migrants and recognizing the impact of the atomic industry on downwinders topped the short Albuquerque City Council meeting held on March 18.
MIGRANT HELP
An increasing number of migrants arriving in Albuquerque — “due to unforeseen circumstances at the southern U.S. border” — since early fall has stretched thin the nonprofit tasked with providing services, according to a memo requesting emergency funding from the council.
With that in mind, councilors unanimously approved an interoffice memorandum modifying the contract with United Voices for Newcomer Rights to give the organization an additional $50,000 — bringing the total contract to $150,000 since April 2023.
The city administration said it will seek reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the funding it already spent, adding that this is common practice when dealing with federal government grants.
The modification to the contract was first introduced at the March 5 meeting, where some councilors questioned the expenditure and asked for a deferral until Monday’s meeting.
During questioning, Michelle Melendez, director of the Department of Equity and Inclusion, said the grant has helped 1,061 migrants. She said many of the migrants are traveling with small children which makes most homeless shelters unavailable to families and the funding is used to help pay for transportation and other costs for migrants to go on to their target destinations.
“It just seems like a very small price to pay to make sure that we are greeting people when they arrive in our country, helping them to their destination,” Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn said at the meeting.
If the funding was not provided, the city administration warned in its memo that there was “the potential of having hundreds of migrants sleeping outdoors or presenting at homeless shelters that are at or exceeding capacity.”
Fiebelkorn added that the money is necessary to help people get where they’re going.
“They will not get the assistance they need, and we might see more of them staying in Albuquerque because they literally might not be able to find their way beyond Albuquerque,” she said.
Public comment at Monday’s meeting was in favor of the funding. A representative from the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center said, “The City of Albuquerque must demonstrate solidarity and support for our immigration communities. We urge the city council to pass this request to humanize further and support the immigrant community that makes up a huge portion of our population.”
WE ARE ALL DOWNWINDERS
After the award-winning Oppenheimer movie thrust New Mexico into the atomic spotlight, City Councilors issued a proclamation in support of extending and expanding the nation’s Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). This act pays restitution and medical care to people who were exposed to radiation from the U.S. nuclear weapons testing program.
Councilor Fiebelkorn sponsored the proclamation in support of extending the act which is scheduled to expire this year on June 7. She said she believes that the compensation should be extended and should expand to cover New Mexicans. The U.S. Congress has approved budgeting $50 billion per year to compensate downwinders for the past 33 years under the act.
“It has been nearly 80 years since the first nuclear bomb was detonated in New Mexico and since then over one thousand atomic tests have been conducted in the southwest of the U.S.,” Councilor Fiebelkorn stated in a press release. “Hundreds of thousands of those exposed to nuclear radioactivity have received some form of compensation, and yet thousands of “Downwinders” in our own state have never been included in the RECA act compensation.”
“Everyone in New Mexico is a downwinder and many people in Albuquerque have been affected by New Mexico’s nuclear industry,” Tina Cordova, cancer survivor and co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium said.
Advocates travel to D.C. to push for additional protections for the Gila River - By Hannah Grover,New Mexico Political Report
New Mexico advocates seeking to have the Gila River designated as a Wild and Scenic River will travel to Washington D.C. this week to urge the U.S. Congress to pass the M.H. Dutch Salmon Greater Gila Wild and Scenic River Act.
This legislation is sponsored by U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich and U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, both Democrats from New Mexico. The other members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation have signed on as co-sponsors.
Grant County Commissioner Harry Browne said he is hopeful that the fact that Vasquez, who represents the region that would be impacted by the designation, has signed onto the bill will encourage Congress to pass it.
Browne described the Gila River as the cornerstone of the area.
“Families have fished and camped and hunted and just enjoyed the river,” he said.
The Gila River also draws people to the region. Browne said it was the reason he moved to Grant County.
“For the folks who’ve lived here for generations, it’s the lifeblood,” he said. “It supplies the water for 2,500 acres of farming.”
One message that Browne said he hopes to convey during their time in D.C. is that the advocates will keep showing up and that the Gila River is an amazing place that warrants additional protection.
The legislation would designate 450 miles of river under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created in 1968 in an effort to preserve certain waterways in their free-flowing condition.
Some of the wild and scenic rivers in New Mexico include a 56- mile stretch of the Rio Grande in northern New Mexico and a section of the Pecos River in the Pecos Wilderness.
The advocates who are pushing to designate the Gila River say that it would prevent dams and diversions.
For many of them, the Gila River is a special place. It runs through the Gila Wilderness, which was the first wilderness area designated in the United States.
After he retired from the military, former Navy SEAL Brett Myrick, found himself frequently visiting the Gila River and its surrounding public lands.
“I love this wilderness, and I actually worked on wilderness trails running trail crews for the Forest Service here in the Gila as well,” he said.
The recreational opportunities in the Gila area are what draws Myrick back. He said he enjoys hiking, backpacking and fishing in the million acres of Gila Wilderness and national forest.
“It’s definitely special. Gila country is wild and rugged,” Myrick said. “So it’s an amazing place. You can just get lost out there and all the wilderness and I don’t mean lost in a bad way, but in a good way with all the tranquility and serenity.”
But threats keep emerging, such as proposals to dam or divert the river.
Browne said the river has been threatened with diversions or dams four different times.
Myrick said advocates so far have prevented those proposals from becoming reality, but that doesn’t mean other efforts to divert or dam the river won’t emerge in the future.
The most recent diversion project came to an end in 2020, but not before millions of taxpayer dollars were spent on the effort.
If the river is designated wild and scenic, Myrick said advocates won’t have to fight diversion proposals again.
“It benefits the whole valley as far as the farming and ranching and the acequias. The waterways that come off with the Gila River that have been supplying water to the farmland and the cattle and horses, all the livestock in the Gila River valley will still continue. Those acequias will still flow just as they have. And it will just prevent dams and pipelines that would just devastate this high desert environment.”
Browne said overall the people who live in his district in Grant County support the wild and scenic river designation, but he acknowledged that not everyone in the region does.
That is in part due to misinformation, he said.
Some of the concerns he has heard include that the designation would infringe on property rights.
“I think the folks who’ve drafted this bill have done a great job of ensuring that doesn’t happen,” Browne said.
Another concern is the impact that it might have on mining.
While it won’t impact existing mining operations, Browne said the designation could impact expanded mining. That is another reason why some advocates are pushing for the designation.
Browne acknowledged that if a company was looking to start a mining operation in the river corridor, the designation would make that very difficult to accomplish due to permitting.
“But as far as existing activities, this bill won’t compare anybody’s property rights,” he said.
Browne said the designation would help the economy.
“It will help attract tourists by getting the word out about what an amazing gem the river is,” he said. “And that in turn will help small businesses both providing direct outfitting and hunting sort of experiences and also providing lodging and hospitality services.”
And, ultimately, the designation would ensure that the river is thriving for future generations to enjoy, he said.
“We’ve got zillions of dams all over the country and pipelines providing water from the Colorado River to Arizona and California,” Myrick said. “This little itty bitty waterway definitely doesn’t need a pipeline on it.”