The New Mexico Department of Justice has released an interactive map showing some of the impacts of federal funding cuts. The map was added to the federal disruptions tracker the NMDOJ launched last month.
NMDOJ Chief of Staff Lauren Rodriguez said the map gives a visual representation of the effects of the federal funding cuts, how widespread and varied they are, and how they have affected everything from large organizations to elderly couples.
Rodriguez said the map also points out that many of the cuts have been at the National Institutes of Health, which has hit research work especially hard.
“Some of these cuts are affecting essential research in areas like Alzheimer's and cancer research, and so it's very critical funding, and we want to be able to have a place where people can voice their concerns and how they've been affected,” she said. “So, on the other end, we can work to help try to restore that.”
Rodriguez said Attorney General Raúl Torrez has been meeting weekly with Attorneys General from around the country to discuss ways to “combat the Trump administration and some of their unlawful actions.” She said the tracker was born out of those conversations and efforts to fight the cuts.
“It's sort of two-fold. We're allowing people to let us know how this is affecting them,” she said, “and then we're also providing support through what we're doing to combat some of these cuts and some of these layoffs and funding freezes.”
She said the AG is using litigation as the main tool to combat the cuts, and is participating in multiple lawsuits that seek to reestablish funding, or reverse executive orders.
“We are leading some. We are joining some,” she said. “We are active in up to 16 now, so we're in quite a few.”
The tracker itself was launched last month. The website includes a form where users can submit information about any “interruption, reduction, or delay in Social Security payments, disability benefits, or other federal support” including federal funding freezes, mass layoffs or discontinued program grants.
She says the next step is holding town halls and open meetings directly with the community, the first of which will be held in Española on May 21. Future meetings will be announced on the tracker in an events section that will be added soon
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
