Shipments of uranium ore can resume under agreement reached with the Navajo Nation - By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
Shipments of uranium ore from a revived mining operation just south of the Grand Canyon are expected to resume in February after the Navajo Nation reached a settlement with the mining company, clearing the way for trucks to transport the ore across the largest Native American reservation in the U.S.
The agreement announced Wednesday settles a dispute that erupted last summer when Energy Fuels Inc. began trucking ore from the Pinyon Plain Mine to a mill site in Utah. Navajo authorities attempted to put up roadblocks but the trucks already had left tribal roadways.
The dust-up spurred negotiations with the company and led the Navajo Nation to adopt emergency legislation to strengthen regulations for transporting radioactive material across tribal lands. The Navajo Nation and tribes elsewhere in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah have a long, sordid history of disease, death and contamination linked to mining that took place during World War II and the Cold War.
Energy Fuels' President and CEO Mark Chalmers acknowledged those longstanding impacts in highlighting the importance of the settlement.
"This has understandably caused mistrust toward the U.S. government and energy companies," Chalmers said, adding that he was honored to be able to work with the tribe to address the concerns and ensure transportation will be done safely and respectfully.
Energy Fuels already must meet standards spelled out by federal agencies when transporting uranium ore. The measures outlined in the agreement with the Navajo Nation provide additional layers of protection, company officials said.
The agreement also includes a pledge by Energy Fuels to help transport up to 10,000 tons of waste material from abandoned mines that are relics of the federal government's past uranium programs.
In addition to allowing the Navajo Nation to monitor and inspect transport trucks, there are provisions for financial compensation for improving safety and protecting the environment, said Stephen B. Etsitty, head of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency.
Shipments from the mine are expected to resume in February. They will be limited to specific routes and times of day, and no shipments will happen when the tribe is participating in cultural celebrations or other public events.
The tribe also is requiring the company to have clear emergency response procedures in place, provide adequate notice and ensure drivers have additional qualifications and training.
The trucks will be covered to prevent any dust from escaping along the route, and there are provisions for escorts and blessings as the tribe sees fit.
Stansbury pledges to fight for neighbors - By Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ
U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, while addressing the New Mexico Legislature on Thursday, pledged to defend the most vulnerable New Mexicans as the second Trump administration pursues policies that target immigrants and put at risk gains made by marginalized communities.
Stansbury represents New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District, which includes much of Albuquerque.
“For those of you who are feeling scared and uncertain about the future in this country, know that we will fight to protect our communities and especially those who are most vulnerable,” Stansbury said. “We will work to ensure that New Mexico remains a safe haven for everyone across all of our communities, whether you are an immigrant or your people have lived here since time immemorial, whether your people came up the Camino Real, whether your people came here as homesteaders or as Buffalo Soldiers, or as members of the AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) community.”
Stansbury, now the ranking member of the DOGE subcommittee of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, said she expects the challenges ahead to be daunting and require the resolve of everyone who shares her goals.
“And so, I say to all of you, do not give up hope, because we have to continue to keep showing up, to keep doing the work,” Stansbury said. “Because justice will prevail, and we will continue to bend the arc of history towards justice.”
Without mentioning President Donald Trump or the Republican Party by name, Stansbury also urged them to consider the human impact those policies might have.
“For those of you who are embracing the changes you are seeing right now across our country, I ask of you, do not lose your humanity,” she implored. “Remember that we are your neighbors. Remember that there are people in our communities that need you. Remember that you took the oath of office to serve all New Mexicans, and we will continue to do this work together.”
She recalled taking her oath of office in 2021 and said her pledge is the same now as it was then.
“My promise to you is that I will work fiercely, relentlessly and with every ounce of grit, determination and heart to serve our people every single day in our nation’s capital and here in New Mexico,” Stansbury said. “And to fight for that big, bold and beautiful vision we have for New Mexico and our people.”
Vasquez says collaboration best path forward for NM - By Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez Thursday told the New Mexico Legislature that cooperation is key to the state’s future success.
Speaking during a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, Vasquez emphasized the importance of collaboration at state and federal levels to address New Mexico’s unique challenges and ensure a prosperous future for all who live here.
“In a time of deep division in our nation, New Mexico continues to be an example for the rest of the nation,” he said. “Here, our history runs deep, our people are proud, and even in disagreement, we work peacefully to find common ground, uplift all of our communities and work toward a future that benefits us all, because we have the same thing in common — we love this state.”
Vasquez’s address covered issues that included infrastructure, public safety, health care and immigration.
Vasquez represents New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes parts of Albuquerque’s Westside and South Valley, plus the entirety of New Mexico’s border with Mexico. He told lawmakers he’s committed to achieving commonsense immigration reform.
He said that means policies that treat people humanely and modernizes border security. Vasquez said the approach being taken by President Donald Trump is wrongheaded.
“I want to make it clear — mass deportation operations and the proposed changes to birthright citizenship will harm our state’s economy, violate who we are as Americans, and violate the United States Constitution,” Vasquez said. “Hard-working immigrants contribute billions to our economy, from family farms to rural businesses and emerging industries, and I will continue to find solutions, not be part of this deeply divisive and political problem.”
He said policy should seek to stop crime and provide a fair shot at residency and citizenship to immigrants who contribute to American communities.
Vasquez concluded with a call for continued collaboration between state and federal lawmakers to tackle what he called New Mexico’s most pressing challenges, from health care and public safety to child poverty and workers’ rights.
“As we look ahead, I am inspired by the resilience and determination of New Mexicans,” Vasquez said. “Our shared values — family, community, and a commitment to justice — guide us in this work. Let’s continue to break down silos between federal and state governments, working hand in hand to address the challenges we face and seize the opportunities before us.”
Federal money reaches state accounts after funding freeze - Gillian Barkhurst, Albuquerque Journal
No New Mexicans were denied Medicaid or SNAP benefits during the federal funding freeze enacted by President Donald Trump’s administration, according to staff from the New Mexico House of Representatives — but millions in federal funds were missing from state accounts until Wednesday.
The Office of Management and Budget memo that instructed agencies to pause federal loan and grant distribution was rescinded Wednesday after being temporarily blocked by a federal judge. The memo sent agencies across the nation into a panic as portals for social services went down and funding for other programs was withheld.
Until Wednesday, $40 million in federal funds were missing from the accounts of the New Mexico Health Care Authority, the primary state agency that runs Medicaid, according to NMHCA spokesperson Marina Piña. The funding was expected Monday and ultimately secured by the state Wednesday afternoon.
New Mexico’s all-Democratic congressional delegation vocally opposed the Office of Management and Budget memo Tuesday, citing the wide-ranging effects freezing federal grants and loans could have on disaster recovery, infrastructure projects and homelessness services.
“Most people voted for cheaper eggs. They did not vote for this chaos,” Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said during a news conference criticizing the memo with Democratic Senate leadership Wednesday morning.
Medicaid portals that agencies use to access federal funding were locked down in all 50 states for part of Tuesday. The New Mexico High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, a law enforcement program meant to target the flow of fentanyl, also could not access its federal funds Tuesday, he said, and pueblos were locked out of federal housing funding. The Federal Emergency Management Agency could not confirm for him whether funds for disaster relief in New Mexico were still paused as of Wednesday morning, Heinrich said.
In Santa Fe, state lawmakers are preparing for what’s next.
“I think that it’s this body’s job and the Legislature’s job to protect institutions that are threatened,” said Rep. Sarah Silva, D-Las Cruces, in a House Appropriations and Finance Committee hearing about the funding freeze. “And (to) protect institutions that protect our people and make sure that they can live full and healthy lives as New Mexicans.”
In the event of another lapse in federal funding, Silva asked staff what the state’s options are.
In the short term, the state can front the costs usually paid for by the federal government to ensure New Mexicans still get the services they need, said Director of the Legislative Finance Committee Charles Sallee. But should another pause happen, the fate of New Mexico’s federally funded social services isn’t so certain.
“I don’t think over a long period of time, we could sustain fronting the federal funds for all of these different programs for a very long time with the General Fund,” Sallee said.
Proposal to protect public library funds moves forward - Leah Romero & Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
State lawmakers passed a bill through committee Tuesday night following an often heated debate over banning books from public libraries.
In recent years, hundreds of books have been pulled from the shelves across the country, as Republican lawmakers lead efforts to ban books in schools and public libraries for “obscene material.” Free speech advocates have pushed back and some states have offered protection to librarians.
According to the American Library Association, book banning attempts have risen in recent years with 2023 marking the highest number of challenged books – more than 4,000 – the association has recorded. While preliminary data for 2024 shows an overall decline, the ALA says in a news release “the number of documented attempts to censor books continues to far exceed the numbers prior to 2020.”
“I have concern about our public librarians throughout our state and I believe this is a bill that will help protect them,” Rep. Kathleen Cates (D-Rio Rancho) told the members of the House Consumer and Public Affairs on Tuesday night.
House Bill 27, the Librarian Protection Act, proposes requiring public libraries to follow their current written processes for challenging books for removal from the shelves, or adopt such policies if they don’t have them. A library that fails to follow a written policy could lose state funding.
“You cannot decide to usurp your own written process and determine what is offered to the public by any pressure outside this process,” Cates said.
The law also prevents cities and counties from removing public funding for following its removal policy. The bill was passed through committee by a 4-2 party line vote. It heads to the House Education Committee next.
The approximately hour-and a-half-long debate was taken up largely by Rep. John Block (R-Alamogordo) and Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park), with committee members visibly frustrated. Chair Rep. Joanne Ferrary (D-Las Cruces) made frequent comments asking Block and Lord to stay on topic and stop repeating the same questions.
Those questions frequently involved setups lasting minutes regarding the contours of individual challenges to books that might contain “horrific” or “pornographic materials, without naming specific books. They asked repeated questions existing policies in public libraries across the state concerning removing books from shelves, which Cates said differs from library to library.
One exchange, late in the debate, led to an apology from Block. He began by asking a lengthy hypothetical question about the provision to remove books based on partisan ideals or identity of the author. He used a book about Adolf Hitler or the Nazi Party as an example.
“I’m so sorry, Rep. Block, this hypothetical is also difficult for me to follow,” Cates said in response.
“Madame Chair, representative I’ll be really – I will try to dumb it down,” Block said, prompting gaps from attendees, and an audible “wow.” Block then apologized for his “careless words.”
At the end, another lawmaker apologized to Cates and her expert, State Librarian Eli Guinnee, for the “horrible treatment,” and repeated questions.
“I am embarrassed about what happened today,” Rep. Elizabeth “Liz” Thomson (D-Albuquerque) said to attendees, “and I want you all to know that this is not how we have to work. And I would request that there be decorum in our committee.”
After the two bills passed, Cates told Source NM that she expected the relentless questioning she received from Lord and Block.
“I am very familiar with both the representatives and they’re always about theater,” Cates told Source NM. “I’m ready for the next committee. I want to get these bills passed.”
No public commenters spoke against the bill. Groups such as the League of Women Voters, and Equality New Mexico, an LGBTQ+ nonprofit, and library volunteers championed the bill’s protections.
Equality New Mexico Program Manager Nathan Saavadra said during public comment that while growing up in Belen, the public library offered him the chance to explore his identity.
“We have to trust individuals to make their own decisions on what they choose to read and believe, and this bill puts us in a place where no district’s public libraries across state will be able to remove books based on their content or authors,” Saavadra said. “For these reasons, and on behalf of LGBTQ folks across New Mexico, we are urging the committee to vote yes.”
Child protection experts: Pay foster families more - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
New laws or more money for New Mexico’s beleaguered child protection agency will not improve the lives of foster children, two experts told a powerful legislative panel on Wednesday.
They did however, seem to agree that money for foster families could be one part of the solution.
Mike Hart, the attorney who initially took the state government to court over its failed foster care system, and George Davis, a child psychiatrist, spent two hours with the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday afternoon discussing what they called “the hardest job in state government”: being a caseworker for foster children.
There are 2,067 children in custody of the state Children, Youth and Families Department, said Davis, who is also a former department employee.
Davis said what stands in the way of a properly functioning agency are three interrelated problems: inadequate staffing, a lack of foster families where children can be placed and a lack of services for those foster families.
“We know what has to be done. It’s not a new law,” Hart said. “The department needs to be supported.”
In her State of the State address on Jan. 21, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she will back exempting foster families and grandparents raising grandchildren from personal income tax and push to double their stipends up to $900 more dollars monthly.
Davis said the governor’s idea would make it easier to inspire and recruit more foster families. Hart suggested public service announcements encouraging New Mexicans to become foster parents.
Davis also pointed to a model in Utah where the state government created a nonprofit for the sole purpose of recruiting and supporting foster families.
Committee Chair Sen. Joseph Cervantes (D-Las Cruces) said when he heard the governor’s address, he spoke with her staff who told him on Tuesday they are in the process of writing legislation to reform CYFD.
Cervantes said he is expecting CYFD Cabinet Secretary Theresa Casados to return to the committee soon with draft legislation. Sitting in the audience, Casados nodded in agreement.