Nathan Small

The 60-day state legislative session has just begun and already there are surprises. As the Speaker’s gavel changes hands, the longtime chair of an influential budgeting committee is out in the House of Representatives, replaced by a more progressive Democrat. Dan Boyd, capitol bureau chief for the Albuquerque Journal, reported on the day-one shake-up and spoke with KUNM about what it could mean.

Enrollments are up at New Mexico’s higher education institutions, with an increase of more than 4% that’s second only to New Hampshire. And even though the higher education budget this year was more than $1 billion, the Higher Education Department Wednesday asked the Legislative Finance Committee for more.