Deb Haaland announces run for NM governor - By Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
Former Interior Secretary and New Mexico congresswoman Deb Haaland made a long-rumored run for governor official early Tuesday morning, posting a two-minute video announcing her intent to be the first Indigenous woman governor of the state.
Haaland, a Democrat and member of the Laguna Pueblo, said in the video posted on social media Tuesday morning that she would soon begin a listening tour across the state.
“The problems we face now are bigger than ever, and we must be fierce to solve them,” Haaland said. “That’s why I am running for governor of the great state of New Mexico. New Mexico is rich in tradition and spirit, rich in natural resources. So why can’t our families pay our bills?”
She cited rising costs as major problems facing New Mexicans, along with crime, poverty, homelessness and addiction. She also touted her successes in Congress and the Interior Department, where she said she helped small businesses, boosted solar power use in the state, plugged old oil wells and partnered with rural communities to protect their water.
Haaland introduced herself in the video as the child of military parents who moved around a lot, and as a single mother with 35 years of sobriety who worked at a bakery and sold homemade salsa before getting into politics.
As the Interior Secretary under former president Joe Biden, she was the first Indigenous cabinet member in United States history.
The government’s role, she said in the video Tuesday morning, is to make success easier for small businesses, lower costs, prevent crime, strengthen schools and make rent and housing affordable. “The solutions are there if we are fierce enough to choose them,” she said.
Speculation had built for months that Haaland would run for governor and potentially face off against U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, also a Democrat, in a primary. But Heinrich late last month announced he would stay in the Senate.
Haaland is the only declared candidate for the election, which takes place Nov. 3, 2026.
House tax chair wants to renew tax relief on medical costs - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
The leader of the tax policy panel in the New Mexico House of Representatives says he wants to renew a tax deduction for out-of-pocket medical expenses that is set to expire before the next tax filing season.
Tax deductions allow people to subtract a portion of their income from what they have to pay the state government.
Hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans have used this part of the tax code to pay less in taxes on out-of-pocket medical expenses, and they will still be able to use it for the ongoing tax filing season, which ends April 15.
During a news conference on Monday morning, House Taxation and Revenue Committee Chair Rep. Derrick Lente (D-Sandia Pueblo) said the tax deduction is “a very important piece of legislation that we would hate to lose.”
“I think it serves New Mexicans very well, and so we’re looking forward to having that back in our tax package,” Lente said. “We have yet to hear it in our committee.”
More than 28% of the more than 1 million New Mexicans who filed a tax return in 2023 claimed out-of-pocket medical expenses to lower their taxes. The nearly 298,000 people who used this part of the law that year deducted a total of about $5.2 million from their taxable incomes, according to Taxation and Revenue Department data.
More people made these deductions than in the previous two years, and the total amount removed from their taxable incomes has increased, the data show.
During a special session in 2015, the Legislature amended the tax code to make this change for medical expenses not covered by health insurance plans. Lawmakers gave the deduction a 10-year end date, which expired on Jan. 1.
HOUSE DEMOCRATS PLAN MORE TAX CUTS FOR PEOPLE WITH LOW INCOMES
Lente commented on the tax cut during a news conference in Santa Fe organized by the Democratic majority in the House, during which they laid out their vision for keeping life affordable for working class New Mexicans amid President Donald Trump’s proposed sweeping policy and funding changes.
Lente and House Speaker Javier Martínez (D-Albuquerque) are carrying House Bill 14 which would expand the Working Families Tax Credit “to fully offset state income tax” for households without children earning up to $22,000 per year and households with children earning up to $50,000.
“This un-ties New Mexico from what the federal government is or isn’t doing for New Mexicans,” Lente said.
Martínez said as taxpayers in New Mexico prepare to file their taxes, they will save about $2,000 on their income taxes because of the Working Families Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit and the Low-Income Comprehensive Tax Rebate.
“The system that we’ve built over the last few years here in this Legislature is built to protect and work for New Mexico’s working families, not just the uber wealthy, not just out-of-state-corporations, but for the people who work for a living day in and day out,” Martínez said.
Martínez said President Donald Trump’s announced tariffs on steel is part of a “lack of consistency and chaos” that’s “driving up prices for everyday people across the country and here in New Mexico.”
House Majority Whip Reena Szczepanski (D-Santa Fe) said despite months of lip service about the cost of groceries and reducing inflation, Trump’s administration “has no plan to address these issues.”
“We are doubling down on the tax cuts and the efforts to reduce health care and child care costs that the Speaker mentioned,” Szczepanski said. “We’re also pushing forward a slate of legislation that will address the rising cost of living by raising pay and strengthening benefits for working people, protecting consumers from corporate greed and lowering the cost of essentials from housing, to health care, to groceries.”
She pointed to bills that would raise minimum pay for school staff and workers on publicly funded projects, stop bosses from taking credit card fees out of their tipped workers’ wages, prevent junk fees and eliminate unfair pricing by ticket resellers.
Szczepanski said lawmakers also will develop a new commission “to study how to reduce grocery prices for consumers;” prohibit grocery and retail stores from using so-called “dynamic pricing” to gouge consumers; and make it easier for people with imperfect credit to get car insurance.
She said they will protect tenants from discrimination and artificial rent increases, and improve health care price transparency.
“We may not know all that the next four years have in store for us, but we know that New Mexico is ready to stand up for our families and for our communities,” she said.
Fifteen cases of measles reported in small West Texas county with high rate of vaccine exemptions - By Sean Murphy and Devi Shastri, Associated Press
Fifteen measles cases — mostly in school-aged children — have been confirmed in a small county in West Texas with one of the highest rates of vaccine exemptions in the state.
South Plains Public Health District Director Zach Holbrooks said Monday that his department was first notified in late January about the first two cases in Gaines County, which he said were "two children who had seen a physician in Lubbock."
Some of the cases appear to be connected to private religious schools in the district, said Holbrooks, who cautioned that the investigation is ongoing.
"I wouldn't say they're all connected, but our teams are looking into exposure sites and the background of those cases," he said.
Local health officials set up a drive-through vaccination clinic last week and are offering screening services to residents.
The U.S. saw a rise in measles cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago that sickened more than 60. This month, health officials in metro Atlanta are working to contain a measles case that spread to two unvaccinated family members.
Texas law allows children to get an exemption from school vaccines for reasons of conscience, including religious beliefs. The percentage of kids with exemptions has risen over the last decade from .76% in 2014 to 2.32% last year, according to Texas Department of State Health Services data.
Gaines County has one of the highest rates in Texas of school-aged children who opt out of at least one required vaccine: Nearly 14% of children from kindergarten through grade 12 had an exemption in the 2023-24 school year, which is more than five times the state average of 2.32% and beyond the national rate of 3.3%.
But the number of unvaccinated kids in the county is likely significantly higher, DSHS spokeswoman Lara Anton said, because Gaines County has many children who are homeschooled and whose data would not be reported.
The measles, mumps and rubella vaccines is a two-shot series: The first is recommended at 12 to 15 months old and second between 4 to 6 years old. The vaccine is required to attend most public schools in the U.S.
But vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic and most states are below the 95% vaccination threshold for kindergartners — the level needed to protect communities against measles outbreaks. Lawmakers across the country have proposed various vaccine requirement changes at a time when anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is awaiting confirmation as the secretary of Health and Human Services.
One of the early Gaines County cases traveled to neighboring New Mexico while they were still infectious, Anton said, but there were no immediate reports of infection. New Mexico Department of Health spokesman Robert Nott said the agency has been in communication with Texas officials but there was no known exposure to measles in his state.
"We're going to watch this very closely," Nott said.
Two cases of measles were reported in early January in the Houston area, but Holbrooks said the West Texas cases don't appear to be connected.
Measles is a highly contagious virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours. Up to 9 out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Before the vaccine was introduced in 1963, the U.S. saw some 3 million to 4 million cases per year. Now, it's usually fewer than 200 in a normal year.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
County Commission considering cutting funds for Topgolf - Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ
Bernalillo County Commissioners Tuesday will consider changing the terms of a 2018 job-growth deal that has not put as many people to work as originally expected.
A proposed change to the county’s economic development agreement with Topgolf International Inc. would lower both job goals and the payout to the company for achieving them.
Under the terms of the revised agreement, the county would pay Topgolf $168,670, provided it maintains 167 or more jobs at its Albuquerque location for five years, with at least 89 of those positions being full-time.
The agreement previously established targets of 132 full-time jobs and 200 positions in total, with the county agreeing to pay Topgolf $250,000.
Marcos Gonzales, the county’s executive development officer, wrote in the agenda that the COVID-19 pandemic and a national business model restructuring have kept the company from meeting the original terms, but the project offers a reasonable return on investment.
Topgolf in 2022 asked to amend the agreement and lower the job target. Negotiations since then brought the revised agreement to the table.
Commissioners will also consider supporting a proposed change in state law that aims to raise wages for employees who work for companies that receive state economic development money.
House Bill 6 would require companies that benefit from industrial revenue bonds issued by local governments to pay prevailing wages as determined by local collective bargaining agreements.
If the bill passes the Legislature, the rules would mirror those related to workers employed in constructing public buildings, public works or public roads.
Sponsors of the legislation include House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque and Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
WHEN: 5 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 11
WHERE: Ken Sanchez Commission Chambers in BernalilloCounty@Alvarado Square, 415 Silver Ave SW VIRTUAL: GOV-TV, on the county’s website or on Bernalillo County’s YouTube channel.
Nearly two dozen states sue the Trump administration to halt cuts in medical research funding - By Michael Casey, Associated Press, KUNM News
Attorneys general from 22 states, including New Mexico, filed a lawsuit Monday against the Trump administration for slashing funding for medical and public health research at universities nationwide.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston challenges the Trump administration, the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health over efforts to reduce funding that goes to so-called indirect costs — including lab, faculty, infrastructure, and utility costs.
The states argue that research into treating and curing human disease "will grind to a halt" and people would lose access to "modern gene editing, vaccines such as flu vaccines, and cures for diseases like cancer, infectious diseases, and addiction."
"We will not allow the Trump Administration to unlawfully undermine our economy, hamstring our competitiveness, or play politics with our public health," Massachusetts Attorney Andrea Campbell said in a statement.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, whose state has several significant research institutions including Brown University and the University of Rhode Island, said the Trump administration seemed "hell-bent on upending advancement in this country."
"This reduction in funding would seriously threaten the future of this research," Neronha said in a statement. "If you've ever wished for a cure, for better treatment options, for yourself or a loved one, this should feel personal."
In a release, Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the University of New Mexico would see impacts on research into Alzheimer’s, cancer, and substance use disorder if NIH funding is cut. There would also be impacts on potential doctoral fellows and students.
Torrez wrote in statement that New Mexico is proud to join the other states on the lawsuit.
“These NIH grants fuel groundbreaking innovations, lifesaving treatments, and the scientific advancements that have made the United States a global leader in biomedical research,” he wrote. The Trump Administration’s attempt to undermine this funding threatens the very foundation of public health progress, and we stand with our fellow attorneys general in fighting to ensure that universities and research institutions receive the resources they need to continue their vital work.”
Last week, the NIH announced it was cutting payments toward overhead costs for research institutions that receive its grants, a policy that could leave universities with major budget gaps. Currently, some universities receive 50% or more of the amount of a grant to put toward support staff and other needs, but that would be capped at 15%.
The states want the court to declare that rate change unlawful.
The lawsuit detailed how some research institutions would suffer. For example, the University of Michigan stands to lose $181 million in funding. which would impact "425 NIH-funded trials currently underway, including 161 trials aimed at saving lives," according to the suit.
And that, the suit said, would cost jobs. "Implementing this 15% cap will mean the abrupt loss of hundreds of millions of dollars that are already committed to employing tens of thousands of researchers and other workers, putting a halt to countless life-saving health research and cutting-edge technology initiatives," the lawsuit said.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.