Another NM House committee advances seven interstate health care compacts - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
The New Mexico House Judiciary Committee on Monday quickly passed legislation that would enter the state into seven health care worker compacts, part of lawmakers’ effort to pass as many compact bills as possible despite Senate opposition.
House legislators in both parties say the compacts are necessary to help reduce health care worker shortages in a variety of fields. Joining the compacts reduces licensure requirements and therefore barriers for health care workers to move to New Mexico and work here.
The House and Senate Republicans have pushed for the compacts for several years. Senate Democrats have opposed them, though they agreed this session under mounting pressure to advance legislation entering the state into compacts for doctors and social workers.
The seven compacts the House committee passed Monday afternoon include physicians assistants, audiologists, speech-language pathologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, dentists, dental hygienists and paramedics.
The committee did not hear two other pieces of compact legislation for counselors and psychologists. Rep. Marian Matthews (D-Albuquerque), who sponsored those bills, is still working on substitute versions of the bills that reflect the language preferences of the compacts she’s seeking to join.
House Democrats celebrated the passage of the bills, which are now headed to the House floor.
“By joining interstate compacts, New Mexico can expand access to vital healthcare services — from counseling and physical therapy to emergency medical services and dentistry — all across the state,” Rep. Liz Thomson (D-Albuquerque), chair of the Health and Human Services Committee and lead sponsor of five of the compact bills, said in a statement. Thomson’s committee passed the nine compacts last week.
Should the additional compact bills pass the House as expected, House leaders said in a statement Monday afternoon they are “hopeful” the bills have enough support in both chambers.
Senate Democratic leaders, however, have argued against passing more than the social worker and doctor compacts. They say state agencies including the Regulation and Licensing Department, lack capacity to handle a deluge of new compact requirements and that each compact is complex and needs to be negotiated individually.
Albuquerque Public Schools walking school bus programs will expand with $2.7M federal grant - Cathy Cook, Albuquerque Journal
A walking school bus is one Albuquerque neighborhood’s solution to the hazards children reported on their route to school. The Albuquerque Public School District was awarded a $2.7 million federal grant to add walking school buses across the district, aiming to include 56 new schools by 2031.
“We, the neighbors in the community, were getting information that the children walking to school were getting harassed,” said Sandra Perea, one of the adults who walks students to school in the International District as part of a walking school bus. “The girls were being cat-called. Gang members were trying to recruit the little kids.”
The area has changed a lot in the last three years, Perea said.
The walking school bus program at Wilson Middle School and Whittier Elementary School has also changed over the years. It’s grown from a group of neighborhood volunteers to a program in coordination with the school district and the city of Albuquerque, where bus "conductors" are given crossing-guard training and compensated for showing up in rain or shine, and hazards along the route are promptly reported to city officials. There is also a walking school bus at Inez Elementary School and a long-standing program at Kirtland Elementary School.
State regulations dictate that regular school bus routes do not include homes within 1 mile of an elementary school or 1.5 miles of a middle school.
Other walking school bus programs have atrophied over time, said Wilson Middle School Community Coordinator Kelly Davis, and compensating conductors helps ensure longevity. The program standard is at least three conductors per walking school bus and one school liaison, said Cordell Bock, a district planner and the Albuquerque Public School's Vision Zero for Youth project manager. The conductors are paid $30 per day, and community members can also volunteer to walk with students.
The Wilson and Whittier program has increased students’ sense of belonging, Davis said, and she’s seen parents receive direct services because of the walking school bus. The supervised walks help students who are new to the area feel included in the school and help students who have been suspended reintegrate, according to Davis.
With close to five pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people, New Mexico ranks No. 1 in pedestrian fatalities, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Bernalillo County easily takes the top spot for number of pedestrians killed in the state. In 2023, 52 of the 105 pedestrians killed in New Mexico died in Bernalillo County. The International District where Wilson Middle School and Whittier Elementary School are located is a problem area for pedestrian deaths, Bock said. Deaths tend to be clustered near arterial roads like Central or Coors.
The U.S. Department of Transportation grant will pay for conductors and program materials, which will include things like training materials, high visibility vests, whistles and stop sign paddles. The federal dollars will allow the school district to significantly boost its efforts to make streets safer for students, APS Superintendent Gabriella Blakey said in a statement.
On the Route
Early on a recent Friday morning, high-vis vests were passed around, and a box of doughnuts sat open on the table in the Whittier Elementary community hub room, a space stocked with extra coats and shoes for any children who might need them.
Davis checked the contents of a backpack: a metal grabber for picking up needles or other hazards and a disposal container for used needles. When picking up needles, Davis and her colleagues try to take the danger seriously, imagining the needle as a snake that could bite. Needles are not picked up when children are present.
The bag was packed in a cloth wagon along with child-sized jackets, mittens and hats, just in case a student needs some extra warmth. "Stop" signs in hand, the small team set out on their route to Wilson Middle School, stopping at apartments along the way for elementary and middle school kids to accompany them on their walk to school.
The route averages 20 to 30 students. On just over half of their walks this school year, they’ve encountered dangerous waste.
“Watch out for poop,” the adults called out more than once. An electric cord running from a car where someone was camping out crossed one sidewalk, presenting a tripping hazard. A broken needle was found along the route, discarded in the gutter. An overflowing dumpster blocked one sidewalk.
Whenever a hazard arose, one of the grown-ups would stand next to it as the rest of the gaggle walked by. At street corners, one of the adults enters the road first, holding up their stop sign. The team uses whistles to signal — one whistle for stop and two for go.
At Wilson Middle School, the route’s halfway point, Davis went inside to get a pair of socks for a girl who wasn’t wearing any.
As they waited, students joked with conductor Andrea Gonzalez. One gave her a hug. Motivated by an enjoyment for working with kids and a desire to help the community, Gonzalez has been with the program since its pilot, two days a week. She also works for the Boys and Girls Club and has two kids of her own.
“I love kids,” Gonzalez said. “I've been working with kids for a long time already. It's been 11 years, I want to say.”
At the end of their walk to school, the elementary students were offered a fist bump and a rice krispie treat. As children headed to class, the adults sat down to debrief, going through the hazards they spotted, and anything that stood out about the walk — positive or negative.
Students had to walk in the street because of the overflowing dumpster. They encountered people sleeping in a truck and someone living behind an upended mattress. A homeless encampment that was previously moved was closer to the route and quite a few children were at home sick, but there were no student behaviors that were a safety concern. The kids were well-behaved and in good spirits, some holding hands with friends or chatting with staff.
“The reason this program has been successful is because it’s what the community wanted,” Davis said.
New programs will begin in the fall semester with training at a handful of schools interested in having their own walking school buses. Every year, more walking school buses will be added along with more robust program support, Bock said.
Having a safe, consistent way to get to school improves student attendance, he said.
“This funding will help improve the life, health and safety for the APS students, and it also has the potential to be transformative for the community and improve community health,” Bock said.
Judge allows video streaming of Meta trial in Santa Fe - Olivier Uyttebrouck, Albuquerque Journal
A judge on Monday rejected a request by digital giant Meta to bar live streaming of a trial scheduled to begin next week in Santa Fe in which the social media company will defend itself from allegations that it fails to protect minors from sexual exploitation.
Meta argued that video and audio streaming would expose Meta employees to security threats "not just while they're here in New Mexico to testify, but also when they return home," attorney Melanie Stambaugh said Monday.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, in 2023 alleging the parent company of Facebook and Instagram failed to protect children from sexual abuse, online solicitation and human trafficking.
Jury selection is set to begin Monday in 1st Judicial District Court in Santa Fe before Judge Bryan Biedscheid.
Video and audio broadcasts "exponentially increase these security risks because it would provide bad actors with concrete knowledge about the name, physical appearance and real-time location of the Meta employees who may testify in this case," Stambaugh argued.
She also argued that live streaming the trial, and the potentially graphic images likely to emerge as evidence, also would hinder Meta's right to a fair trial in other pending civil cases.
Jury selection began this week in a related case in California Superior Court in Los Angeles in a lawsuit alleging that Meta Platforms TikTok and YouTube have fueled a youth mental health crisis.
Biedscheid responded Monday that concerns about security and future trials don't outweigh the public's right to observe judicial proceedings.
"It's just true the courtroom is of limited size and not every member of the public who might be interested in the trial is able to participate in person," Biedscheid said. "I do not see that we cannot conduct a fair trial in this matter with the media having full access to the proceeding."
Biedscheid said he could reconsider if witness intimidation or media distraction becomes an issue in the trial.
Chief Deputy Attorney General James Grayson argued Monday that removing video cameras from the courtroom wouldn't prevent any of the potential harms Meta raised in their arguments. Meta had not sought to remove print media or still photographers from the courtroom, which would reveal the names of witnesses and the substance of the evidence, Grayson said.
"So Meta's justification for limiting audio and video recording is not based on the security of its employees, because all of the information Meta wants to protect can be public without that limitation," he said.
The suit filed by the New Mexico Department of Justice alleges that the design of Instagram and Facebook have resulted in minors having access to child sexual abuse materials and child predator accounts in violations of New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act.
New Mexico Supreme Court allows Santa Fe 'mansion tax' to remain in effect - Santa Fe New Mexican
The New Mexico Supreme Court has upheld a City of Santa Fe tax referred to by some as the "mansion tax.”
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the state’s high court on Thursday rejected a request to reconsider a state Court of Appeals decision upholding the tax. The petition was filed by the Santa Fe Association of Realtors.
The tax imposes a 3% fee on the cost of home sales over $1 million within city limits. Santa Fe voters approved the tax in 2023.
The city began collecting the tax almost immediately, and within a month had received three payments totaling almost $59,000.
One of the payments came from a homebuyer named Ellen Cash.
Last December, Cash filed a complaint in state District Court claiming the tax was unlawful and asking the city to refund her payment.
Her case is ongoing; the city filed a motion to dismiss Jan. 8, but the court has not yet ruled on that motion.
The New Mexican reports that after the tax took effect, city officials added $1.5 million in revenue into their budget for the current fiscal year for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
However, the city then changed its policy regarding where to place the revenues from the tax. In December, city officials said they are holding payments from the tax without spending or allocating them until all litigation is resolved.
NM Democratic Party to issue ruling on Taos Dems’ conflict - Taos News
The New Mexico Democratic Party is reviewing the legitimacy of the Taos County party’s vote late last year to remove its chairman.
The Taos News reports that last year, a group of party members and volunteers called a meeting on Nov. 8 to vote on a petition to remove Daniel Cordova.
Cordova was invited and allotted time to speak but did not attend. The final vote was 62-2 in favor of recall.
Ward chair Linc Summers submitted a complaint to the state party Judicial Council asking it to review whether the meeting and vote followed party rules.
State party spokesperson Daniel Garcia told The Taos News Cordova remains chair until a vote happens in accordance with state party rules.
Tensions within the Taos County Democratic Party had been building for months before the recall meeting, according to current and former party leaders and members. Petitioners cited a breakdown in communication and organizing when Cordova took office last year, filling the chair position long held by Darien Fernandez.
Cordova has denied the petition’s claims and characterized the recall effort as divisive and harmful to party unity. State party officials asked that the meeting not occur until they could review it and, after it was held anyway, are reviewing its legitimacy.
Both supporters and critics of Cordova have expressed concern about the dispute’s impact on fundraising, organizing and preparedness for the upcoming June 2 primary election.