Dolores Huerta’s casket, built by New Mexico union carpenters, begins journey to California
– Tilly Robinson, Albuquerque Journal
When Dolores Huerta died, her family had a request for Carpenters Local Union 1319 in Albuquerque: Build a casket to lay the renowned labor organizer to rest.
On Tuesday, the heavy walnut casket began its journey to Huerta’s burial site in California after union leaders, top New Mexico Democrats and Huerta’s friends and family gathered in the atrium of the Local 1319 union hall for a send-off.
Though Huerta spent most of her life and organizing career in California — where she coordinated strikes, helmed contract negotiations, led boycotts and co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, a progenitor to the United Farm Workers — she returned regularly to New Mexico, where she was born. Her death in October at age 96 sparked an outpouring of tributes from political and union leaders across the state.
At Tuesday’s ceremony, Local 1319 President Rosendo Najar described Huerta as a longtime ally of his union.
For more information on this story, visit the Albuquerque Journal website.
Prediction market Kalshi registers as New Mexico lobbyist employer ahead of legislative session
– Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
Amid ongoing litigation with New Mexico pueblos, online prediction market Kalshi has registered as a lobbyist employer ahead of next year’s legislative session.
According to New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office filings, Kalshi officials registered in late August as a lobbyist employer, which state law requires for organizations or businesses that intend to lobby elected officials or lawmakers.
The company has not yet hired a New Mexico lobbyist, and its most-recent filings in early October show it has not yet spent any money on lobbying activities in the state.
The filing does not say which issues or legislation the company seeks to influence at the 60-day legislative session beginning Jan. 19. State law does not require lobbyists to disclose that information.
Blake Bee, Kalshi’s director of state relations, signed the form on the company’s behalf and listed an address that corresponds to a UPS store in Glendale, Ariz. Bee did not respond to Source NM’s phone call seeking comment Tuesday.
In May, the Pojoaque, Sandia and Isleta Pueblos, along with the Mescalero Apache Tribe, alleged in federal court that Kalshi violates tribal gaming compacts and federal law by providing anyone over age 18 access to sports gambling in New Mexico.
Under existing state gaming compacts and federal law, only people aged 21 and over in New Mexico can place bets on sports in person at tribally owned casinos. The plaintiffs argue that Kalshi is causing irreparable harm to tribal governments, which rely on gambling revenues to fund schools and other services.
Kalshi’s lawyers have countered that the federal Commodities Exchange Act trumps the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, as well as state gaming compacts, and contends the federal Commodities Futures Trading Commission has sole authority for regulating the platform.
Still, Kalshi has come under increasing scrutiny from state and tribal governments that allege the platform is undermining their gambling laws. Some states have sought to regulate the company’s activities and others have sued it in federal and state court.
In response, Kalshi, its competitor Polymarket and the Coalition for Prediction Markets have spent at least $3 million on lobbying and campaign contributions across the federal and state levels in recent months, according to an analysis by Open Secrets, a nonpartisan research organization tracking money in politics.
In a statement, Kalshi spokesperson Jacki McGavick did not respond to Source NM’s questions about which legislation or issues Kalshi might seek to influence in New Mexico, or whether it intended to hire a local lobbyist. Instead, she reiterated the company’s contention that New Mexico and other states have no legal authority to regulate it.
“As a national derivatives market overseen by the CFTC, Kalshi answers to federal law,” she said. “However, states like New Mexico can still play a part within the federal framework.”
New Mexico Rep. Derrick Lente (D-Sandia Pueblo) the chair of the state Legislature’s House Taxation and Finance Committee, attended closing arguments in federal court in September in the plaintiffs’ lawsuit against Kalshi and has been working closely with gaming tribes on the issue.
He said he’s meeting with the New Mexico Coalition of Gaming Tribes next week to discuss, among other issues, how the Legislature might address prediction markets’ operations.
Leaders of tribal governments in the gaming coalition could not be reached Tuesday. Their lawsuit remains pending in federal court.
Lente told Source NM on Tuesday that he was not aware Kalshi had registered as a lobbyist employer, but said the news was not unexpected given the proliferation of the markets and amount of revenue they generate.
“It does not surprise me that they would have some paid lobbyists come through now,” Lente said. “I think the move to online gaming is going to be much more pushed upon states that have withheld for the sake of supporting tribal gaming compacts.”
City reaches $950,000 settlement with man injured in crash with former APD chief
– Nakayla McClelland & Olivier Uyttebrouck, Albuquerque Journal
The city of Albuquerque has agreed to pay $950,000 to settle a lawsuit filed after former Albuquerque Police Department Chief Harold Medina in 2024 crashed into another vehicle while running a red light to avoid gunfire, leaving the driver with serious injuries.
The driver, Todd Perchert, sued the city in August 2024, seeking compensation for his injuries and property damage. Perchert was left with titanium plates across his rib cage, deformed bones in his upper arm and stitches in his ear, according to previous Journal reporting.
His vehicle, a classic gold 1966 Ford Mustang, was totaled.
"No amount of money can take away what happened to Mr. Perchert or undo the physical and emotional toll this crash has taken on him and his family," Perchert’s attorney, James Tawney, said in a statement.
For more information on this story, visit the Albuquerque Journal website.
All Pueblo Council of Governors condemns US Senate vote advancing permitting reform bill
– Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
Members of the All Pueblo Council of Governors, which represents 19 New Mexico Pueblos, on Tuesday reiterated their opposition to a federal permitting reform bill that advanced in the U.S. Senate on Monday evening.
Members of the council attended the vote in Washington, D.C., in person and watched the vote unfold that advanced the bill toward a U.S. Senate floor vote. The Pueblos are opposed to provisions in the 494-page permitting reform bill leaders say will exclude tribal input on energy and other development projects on sacred lands.
They remain opposed despite changes that sponsors, including U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), made to the bill over the weekend. Heinrich has touted the bill as a way to unlock more renewable energy developments, thereby cutting emissions, but bill opponents say any climate benefits come at the cost of more fossil fuel projects and data centers.
Council Chairman Joey Sanchez, in a statement Tuesday, said the Pueblos delivered statements of opposition to the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act directly to senators in advance of the vote.
“The Senate went ahead anyway,” Sanchez said. “That is a government-to-government relationship running in one direction. Nobody consulted the Pueblos before this bill was written, and the changes made since don’t fix that.”
The U.S. Senate ultimately voted 73 to 25 to open additional amendments to the bill and take it a step closer to a floor vote, which will likely occur in the coming days. The bill, if passed, will also be voted on in the U.S. House, where its fate remains uncertain. U.S. Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández and Melanie Stansbury, both New Mexico Democrats, have said they oppose the bill as written. U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján voted against advancing the bill on Monday night.
The council members, in their Tuesday statement, said they remain committed to fighting the bill.
“It was hard to sit in that gallery watching this unfold, and now, we have to work harder to accomplish our goal,” Tesuque Pueblo Gov. Mark Mitchell, the Council’s vice chairman, said in a statement. “We are not giving up because we are doing this for our children and the entire world.”
New Mexico announces $7.8M to help students facing homelessness
– Matt Mondshein, Source New Mexico
New Mexico will spend $7.8 million during this school year on a program aimed at helping students facing housing instability.
The Family Stabilization Program, managed by the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, allows families to receive help through their children’s schools with rent and utilities assistance, as well as vehicle repairs and other emergencies.
The program was piloted last school year in the Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Santa Fe public school districts with $4.9 million and served 487 families and 1,240 students, according to a DWS news release.
The new funding will include four districts in San Juan County: Farmington Municipal Schools, Aztec Municipal Schools, Bloomfield School District and Central Consolidated School District, following data that showed 8% of San Juan County’s student population experience housing instability.
Farmington Municipal Schools and Central Consolidated School District will each receive $750,000; Bloomfield School District, will receive $400,000; and Aztec Municipal Schools will receive $300,000.
Last school year, Farmington Municipal Schools had 655 students identified as facing housing instability under the federal McKinney-Vento Act, which guarantees rights and services to pre K-12 students experiencing homelessness. Paul Pavlik, the McKinney-Vento homeless liaison for Farmington Municipal Schools, told Source NM the funding couldn’t have come at a better time after the devastating flooding that hit the area last month.
“I think the fact that this funding came when it did aligns so well with our need,” Pavlik said. Of the seven families the school district has helped so far, Pavlik said, three were directly impacted by flooding. “I have a feeling that the next 10 out of 12 families will be flood-related,” he added.
Melodee Velasquez, Bloomfield School District’s school and family liaison, told Source she is also seeing a rise in students needing help following the flooding, and called the allotted $300,000 program funds “life changing for some” of the 315 McKinney-Vento students identified in data from the last school year.
According to the state’s news release, Aztec Municipal Schools aims to use its allotted $300,000 to serve 30 students’ families. Source NM has a pending request to Aztec Municipal Schools for more information.
Central Consolidated School District had 516 McKinney-Vento students out of more than 4,000 enrolled last school year. In an emailed statement, the district’s spokesperson Jerrod Noble told Source NM that “remote infrastructure and economic hardship create daily challenges for many of our families.” The district intends to use its $750,000 to directly assist students’ families in covering basic living costs, utilities and emergency housing.
“When a family’s home is stable, students can attend school consistently and focus on learning,” Noble said.
Haaland names Tom Udall as honorary transition chairman, begins inauguration planning
– Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
With the election night excitement fading into the history books, Gov.-elect Deb Haaland is enlisting New Mexico Democratic Party stalwarts to help build the framework for her administration.
The governor-elect announced Tuesday that former U.S. Sen. Tom Udall will serve as honorary chairman for her transition team.
She also announced that former Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez and former New Mexico first lady Clara Apodaca will serve as chairs for planning her inauguration, which is set for New Year’s Day in Santa Fe.
Udall, who was U.S. ambassador to New Zealand under former President Joe Biden, served two terms in the U.S. Senate before deciding not to seek reelection in 2020. He previously represented a northern New Mexico-based seat in Congress and served as the state’s attorney general.
For more information on this story, visit the Albuquerque Journal website.
Universal child care in New Mexico may soon require co-pays for high-earning families
– KUNM News
To comply with a new state law, high-earning families enrolled in New Mexico’s state-paid childcare program may be required to pay up to about $150. But the fee only affects about 1 in 10 families – those who earn more than 600 percent of the federal poverty level.
For a family of three, that means zero fees unless the family earns more than $164,000 a year. A family of four pays zero child care fees unless it earns more than $198,000 a year.
The bill establishing universal childcare in New Mexico is officially called the “Child Care Assistance Program Act”.
It includes triggers that prompt copays. One of those triggers is national inflation, which was tripped a few months ago. That, in turn, prompted New Mexico’s Early Childhood Education and Care Department to begin the process of revising the copay chart.
A public hearing to discuss the revision will take place on December 3 -- both in person in Santa Fe, and online.
