YNMG

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.

Let’s Talk New Mexico 1/19 8am: Beyond the limits of the tight legislative calendar, lawmakers are faced with the challenge of understanding dozens of bills each session without having full-time staffers to help them. They often rely on industry insiders, lobbyists or activists for information on how proposed legislation will work. Furthermore, legislators do their work without a salary, earning only what they get for a per diem which is much too low to cover their stay in Santa Fe.

Recently the Legislative Finance Committee met to review the progress of spending New Mexico’s share of federal pandemic aid. There are a lot of projects either on-going or in the planning stages and lawmakers want to make sure those projects get funded before access to those federal dollars expires.

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.

This week the Santa Fe City Council unanimously passed the Midtown Master Plan, a framework for how the 64-acre city-owned property in the center of Santa Fe could be redeveloped after being largely vacant for more than four years.

A total of 23 New Mexico laws go into effect Friday, July 1. Most were passed in this year’s legislative session, though some were signed into law in 2020 and 2021. About 20% of the now-effective laws directly impact schools and those who work for and attend them.

Ten cities, towns and villages in New Mexico will have a new face in the mayor’s office next month after Tuesday’s municipal elections, with residents in four of those communities voting out their current executive. Nine mayors were reelected, according to unofficial results.

Rio Rancho voters are heading to the polls Tuesday, March 1, to weigh in on several city offices, including mayor, along with bond measures and charter amendments. The city says its absentee board has rejected a number of ballots.

Municipal elections are underway in 26 New Mexico cities, towns and villages, including all in Sandoval County. Most are electing a mayor among other local offices. Early voting wraps up Saturday, Feb. 26.

State legislators passed only a fraction of the bills and resolutions introduced in this year’s short, 30-day session. One of proposals that stalled in committee was a resolution to reform the way redistricting is conducted in New Mexico. Its sponsor, Democratic Rep. Natalie Figueroa, spoke with KUNM’s Nash Jones about what happened to the legislation and why she’ll continue to advocate for it.