New Mexico Reverses Course On Medicaid Charges For Patients – Associated Press
New Mexico is reversing course on its plans to charge some patients covered by Medicaid a monthly insurance premium of $10 and co-payments of $8 on certain brand-name drugs and visits to the emergency room for routine medical care.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the decision Wednesday to seek a reversal of provisions instituted by her Republican predecessor that were designed to conserve state spending on Medicaid.
Lujan Grisham says the new federally approved charges and limitations on eligibility threaten to limit access to emergency services and disrupt health coverage for hundreds of thousands of state residents covered by Medicaid insurance for the poor and disabled.
A letter requesting a reversal has been sent to the health care regulators at the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
New Mexico Democrats Push Minimum Wage, Gun-Control Bills – Associated Press
The New Mexico House of Representatives is poised to vote on a proposal to raise the state's minimum wage for the first time in a decade and another that would make it easier to take guns away from people who may be suicidal or bent on violence.
Deliberation in the bills arrives as Democrats test the Legislature's appetite for signature proposals on climate change, gun control, the minimum wage and abortion.
The minimum wage would rise from $7.50 an hour to $12 by July 2021 and eliminate an exemption for tipped workers at restaurants under a Democrat-sponsored bill.
House Speaker Brian Egolf says voters want to see results after giving Democrats a mandate for change with the election of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and an expanded Democratic House majority.
States Weigh Bills Addressing Native Deaths, Disappearances – Associated Press
Lawmakers in at least seven states have introduced legislation to address the unsolved deaths and disappearances of numerous Native American women and girls.
The legislation calls for state-funded task forces and other actions amid deepening concerns that law enforcement agencies lack the data and resources to understand the scope of the crisis.
On some reservations, federal studies have shown women are killed at more than 10 times the national average.
An Associated Press review of the bills found that lawmakers in Minnesota, the Dakotas, Montana, Washington, New Mexico and Arizona have sponsored measures on the issue.
In Montana, a bill named for Hanna Harris — a 21-year-old found slain on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in 2013 — proposes that state authorities hire a specialist to enter cases into databases and serve as a liaison between authorities and families.
Charges Filed In High-Profile New Mexico Trapping Case – Associated Press
New Mexico wildlife authorities say charges have been filed in a trapping case that is fueling this year's debate among lawmakers over whether the practice should be banned on public lands.
The state Game and Fish Department announced Wednesday that while Marty Cordova had a valid license, he's accused of running illegal trap lines that resulted in the unlawful harvest of wildlife and the death of a dog named Roxy.
The legislation named after Roxy is pending in the House. It's sponsored by three Democrats from northern New Mexico.
Conservation officers served a search warrant at Cordova's home in January and seized snares and foot-hold traps that weren't properly marked. They also found bobcat pelts and skulls as well as fox, badger and ringtail pelts.
It wasn't immediately clear if the 42-year-old Chimayo man had a lawyer.
New Mexico Bill Offers $6,000 Tax Credit On Rooftop Solar – Associated Press
New Mexico would provide a $6,000 credit against taxes for households, small business and farms that install rooftop solar energy systems under a bill introduced Tuesday.
The proposal from Democratic Sen. Mimi Stewart of Albuquerque would set aside up to $10 million a year for the credits.
The credit can be carried over the course of up to five years for applicants with small annual tax liabilities.
In a statement, Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham endorsed the tax break as a way to create more jobs in the clean-power sector and addressing climate change concerns.
The governor's Republican predecessor blocked a similar measure approved by the Legislature last year. Republican legislators derided that bill as a tax break for the affluent.
Police Identify Man Who Killed Himself With Homemade Bomb – Associated Press
Police have identified a man they say killed himself with a homemade bomb behind an Albuquerque shopping center.
Albuquerque police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said Tuesday that 32-year-old Gregory Shewmake set off the explosive last week next to a dumpster in the loading area behind the center.
Gallegos says police believe Shewmake's death was a suicide.
No one else was injured in the explosion.
Shewmake's wife declined an interview and other family members could not be reached.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Sandoval County, Shewmake's wife told police he was addicted to heroin, was using when he was supposed to be caring for their child and was possibly hanging out at a "drug house" in Albuquerque.
Police are investigating the incident.
Governor Says Troops Withdrawal Is Popular - Associated Press
A spokeswoman for New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is calling an impeachment petition against the governor's decision to withdraw border troops a sham effort by President Trump supporters mostly outside the state.
Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Nora Sackett said Tuesday that the governor has encountered strong public support within New Mexico for her decision last week to withdraw most of the state's National Guard troops from the border with Mexico.
The petition seeking Lujan Grisham's impeachment garnered more than 35,000 signatures by Tuesday afternoon as federal border authorities announced another group of more than 300 migrants had been apprehended at Sunland Park.
Sackett says the "silly" petition is a diversion from Trump's efforts to build an unpopular border wall. Sacket said the federal government should be focused on filling vacant Border Patrol jobs.
New Mexico Nets Record Revenues From Oil Production - By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
Oil production in New Mexico has surged, resulting in record revenues for government coffers and public education.
Figures released Tuesday by an industry group show revenues and taxes from the oil and natural gas sector reached a high of $2.2 billion for the 2018 fiscal year.
The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association says that represents an increase of $465 million over the previous fiscal year.
The association's executive director, Ryan Flynn, says the revenue boost is providing New Mexico lawmakers with more flexibility as they chart out their spending priorities for the upcoming year.
The boom has been driven by production in the Permian Basin, which straddles southeastern New Mexico and West Texas. Flynn says New Mexico's status as one of the top producers in the U.S. will depend on maintaining regulatory certainty.
Grant Awarded For Redevelopment Of De Anza Motor Lodge - Associated Press
An ongoing effort to redevelop another old motel along historic Route 66 is getting an infusion of cash from Bernalillo County.
County Commissioners unanimously approved a local economic development agreement with Anthea @ Nob Hill LLC for the De Anza Motor Lodge project.
The company had requested a $350,000 grant to help with new infrastructure for a 40-unit boutique hotel at the site.
Purchased by the City of Albuquerque in 2003, it took three attempts to secure Anthea as a development partner. The company will use some of the gross receipt taxes it collects to repay the grant awarded by the county.
As part of the project, some of the historic elements including the neon De Anza sign, the Zuni murals and the café's turquoise-studded floor will be preserved.
311 Migrants Arrested At New Mexico Border Crossing - Associated Press
Federal border authorities say more migrants have been arrested after illegally crossing into the United States, marking the second wave of 300 people or more to arrive in New Mexico in less than 24 hours.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Tuesday that the latest group of 311 people made their way around the pedestrian fence at Sunland Park late Monday.
The other group of 330 Central Americans was detained early Monday at the more remote Antelope Wells port of entry to the west.
While more than two dozen large groups of 100 migrants or more have been apprehended in the region since Oct. 1, authorities say this marks the first large group encountered at Sunland Park.
Like the previous instances, this group also included Central American families and unaccompanied juveniles.
Mexican Wolves Caught In Traps In New Mexico - By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
Environmentalists are raising concerns about trapping on public lands after four Mexican gray wolves were caught in traps on national forest land in southwestern New Mexico over the last two months.
Defenders of Wildlife said Tuesday one of the endangered predators died and another was placed in captivity and had its leg amputated. The two others were re-released into the wild.
The group says more than 40 have been caught in traps in the Southwest since 2002.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not immediately return a message seeking comment. The wolf management team this week is conducting an annual survey of the wild population in New Mexico and Arizona.
While licensed trapping of other furbearing animals is legal, some New Mexico Democrats are pushing this legislative session to ban the practice on public lands.