WED: NM U.S. Sen. Luján signs letter urging audit of Epstein file redactions, + More
By KUNM News
March 11, 2026 at 5:48 AM MDT
NM U.S. Sen. Luján signs letter urging audit of Epstein file redactions
—Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) signed onto a letter with a bipartisan coalition of senators calling for an independent audit of how U.S. Department of Justice officials have redacted information in the public releases of documents related to infamous sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Luján joined U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in the Wednesday letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. In it, the four write that the DOJ has not complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act’s requirements to only redact information that would violate victims’ privacy or jeopardize national security.
“The law bars redactions made ‘on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary,’” the letter says. “Contrary to Congress’s explicit directive to protect victims, these records included email addresses and nude photos in which the names and faces of publicly-identified and non-public victims could be identified. But when it came to information identifying powerful business and political figures who are alleged coconspirators or material witnesses, DOJ appears to have heavily redacted those records.”
In the letter, the senators ask GAO officials to report back to Congress after investigating how many people were involved with redacting the files; whether DOJ “or other senior Trump Administration officials” offered any guidance to people tasked with making redactions; whether the DOJ used contractors for any of the redaction services; and whether any “political appointees” played a role in approving redactions or removing published records from the DOJ website.
“It is critical to understand what led to DOJ’s failure to redact the victims’ information and re-victimize those individuals while violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act in its redactions of information related to their alleged abusers,” the senators wrote.
Their correspondence comes just days after officials with state Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s New Mexico Department of Justice searched the former Zorro Ranch, the 7,500-acre property Epstein bought from former New Mexico Gov. Bruce King in the 1990s.
Governor signs budget and tax package before deadline, but vetoes disaster response bill
—Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
In a busy end to her final bill-signing period, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed off Wednesday on an $11.1 billon spending plan and a tax package that includes hefty incentives for New Mexico physicians.
Lujan Grisham, who is set to step down from office at the end of this year, specifically cited investments in universal child care, public safety and health care as hallmarks of her administration.
“We’ve built a strong foundation of opportunity for New Mexico families, and while this budget marks a massive leap forward, our work is far from finished,” she said in a statement.
But the two-term governor used her line-item veto authority to ax some budget provisions, including language that child care assistance be prioritized for low-income families.
Lujan Grisham also vetoed two bills, including a measure changing the process for how the state responds to wildfires, floods and other natural disasters.
The governor, who authorized nearly $257 million in emergency spending in the last budget year, said the legislation, House Bill 180, would have made responding to natural disasters more difficult by imposing a cap on such spending without legislative approval.
Rep. Harlan Vincent, R-Glencoe, one of the sponsors of the bill, said he was disappointed by the governor’s veto, but expressed gratitude that $21 million in state matching funds for parts of New Mexico covered by federal disaster declarations was left in place in the budget bill.
He said the funding could be used to help relocate houses in the Ruidoso area after wildfires and subsequent flooding in the area over the last two years.
“I would feel much better if people were off the (Rio Ruidoso), and we could restore it back to its natural state,” Vincent told the Journal.
From a political perspective, the governor’s decision to leave largely intact the $11.1 billion budget bill that will increase state spending by about $339.5 million — or 3.1% — over current levels means no special session will likely be required before a new state fiscal year begins in July.
The governor vetoed about $21 million in proposed spending from the bill, including $1 million for a proposed sports hall of fame and an additional $500,000 from a proposed lowrider museum in Española.
As in past years, she also vetoed some budgetary language that sought to impose strict timelines and other restrictions on certain legislative appropriations.
Rep. Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces, said Wednesday the Legislature will work with the governor’s administration on implementing those appropriations, saying, “I think that’s an issue we’re going to dig deeply into.”
He also said the budget bill would set up New Mexico’s next governor for success, despite uncertainty over oil prices and state revenue levels.
“The new governor will come into office and will have the opportunity — and the responsibility — to hit the ground running,” Small told the Journal.
A year after vetoing a tax package passed by lawmakers, Lujan Grisham signed off on this year’s bill that includes a grab bag of tax breaks and policy changes.
Specifically, this year’s tax package, Senate Bill 151, includes a $10,000 personal income tax credit for physicians who practice full-time in the state and a $4 million annual tax credit for local news organizations.
It also includes a 1% salary increase for state workers and teachers, which was added to the bill by the state House after being removed in a Senate committee.
In her executive message to lawmakers, Lujan Grisham said she supports the pay raise for state employees — it will take effect on July 1 — but described it as an “odd” decision to include it in tax legislation.
“While I assume the Legislature did not want to create a logjam in the waning days of the 30-day session, rolling this provision into the tax bill created more confusion than necessary,” the governor wrote.
Lujan Grisham also expressed concern that a provision in the tax package to decouple parts of the state’s corporate income tax system from the federal tax code could lead to “double taxation” on some businesses.
But she did not strike out the provision from the tax bill, instead leaving it in place to take effect next January.
In all, Lujan Grisham signed 71 of the 74 bills approved by lawmakers during the 30-day session that ended Feb. 19.
Of the three bills vetoed by the governor, one died under what’s known as a “pocket veto” when the governor did not act on it before the Wednesday bill signing deadline. That bill would have modified an existing space commission working group.
The ability for governors to pocket veto bills could be eliminated starting next year, if state voters pass a proposed constitutional amendment on the issue in November.
Overall, however, the governor’s use of her veto pen was far less prolific than in previous years. Last year, for instance, Lujan Grisham vetoed 35 bills passed by lawmakers, including a proposal to make tortilla the official state bread.
Governor signs bill requiring student drivers to take course on bicyclist and pedestrian safety - Gregory R.C. Hasman, Albuquerque Journal
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed into law a bill requiring student drivers to take at least three hours of training on “vulnerable road users,” such as bicyclists, pedestrians and emergency service providers.
Senate Bill 73 will take effect on Jan. 1.
Main bill sponsor Sen. Heather Berghmans, D-Albuquerque, said she got the idea for the legislation after meeting with Melinda Montoya, the Journal reported. Montoya is the mother of the late teen Kayla VanLandingham, who was killed in July while riding her bicycle home in Northeast Albuquerque.
In a message sent to the Senate on Monday, Lujan Grisham said while SB 73 “is a good start to achieving safer roads,” more needs to be done.
Citing data that New Mexico ranks 10th in traffic fatalities in the United States, “with almost 40% of those fatalities involving a vulnerable road user,” the governor said, “it seems that existing drivers are the problem — not future drivers.”
“I encourage the Legislature to attack this problem more comprehensively next session, as it is a matter of life and death,” Lujan Grisham said. “Future legislation could include more requirements around renewing a license, raising the minimum age of those eligible to receive a license, or harsher penalties around distracted or reckless driving. There are many possibilities.
“The bottom line is more needs to be done to limit the loss of life on the road in New Mexico.”
Montoya said in a text that she agreed with the governor’s sentiment.
“We need to do more and I hope that we are able to bring more accountability and safer streets to New Mexico come next session,” she said. “We need to start working now to develop partners to get it moving.”
New Mexico Medicaid now covers traditional Native American healing - Natalie Robbins, Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico is now one of the first states in the nation to cover traditional Native American healing practices under Medicaid.
The coverage was approved in October 2024 by the federal government for tribal communities in New Mexico, Arizona, California and Oregon, according to a news release from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
In New Mexico, the five-year program became effective Oct. 1, 2025, according to Heidi Capriotti, deputy director of the New Mexico Health Care Authority. Involvement is left up to individual tribal governments, and as of last week, the HCA has its first participant — the Navajo Nation, the largest Native American tribe in the United States.
“We have heard for many, many years from our tribal providers that they want this kind of health care that's culturally appropriate and is equitable,” Capriotti said. “So we’re really excited to be able to provide this to tribes who want to participate.”
Patients can see a provider at an Indian Health Services facility and be referred to a traditional healer, who is reimbursed via Medicaid, Capriotti said.
“It’s actually a nice, important shift, because now it begins to acknowledge traditional practices as a legitimate health care for many native communities,” said Norman Cooeyate, associate director of the Center for Native American Health at the University of New Mexico and former governor of the Zuni Pueblo.
Though each of the 19 pueblos in New Mexico has its own set of traditional healing practices, for the Zuni Pueblo, traditional healing can involve the use of herbal medicine, minerals, sweat lodges, ceremonies and prayers, or a reconnection to nature, Cooeyate said.
Traditional healing involves “ancestral ways of creating a balance that provides holistic health and well-being,” he said. “Not just only in our own personal selves — meaning our own personal body, mind, spirit, emotions — but it also extends to the relationships that we have and depend on.”
Families may pay traditional healers with gifts, Cooeyate said, which can be a heavy lift for those in rural New Mexico of little financial means. Adding Medicaid coverage can lessen the financial burden.
“It’s not that we would only want Indigenous practices. We understand that Western practices are important, too,” he said. “Combining the two … leads to better collaborative efforts to make our health care services be more equitable.”
Bill extending tax breaks for blighted areas signed into law - Kylie Garcia, Albuquerque Journal
Legislation extending tax break periods for developments within New Mexico’s blighted areas has been signed into law.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the legislation, Senate Bill 58, last week, allowing municipalities to extend the property tax exemption period for development projects in Metropolitan Redevelopment Areas, commonly referred to as MRAs.
MRAs are blighted areas for which development incentives, including tax abatements, are available. Tax abatements enable property taxes to freeze at pre-development levels for certain periods, giving projects time to stabilize before developers pay higher taxes on improved properties.
Before SB 58, a seven-year term was the only option available, which local leaders say is ineffective for longer-term projects — like affordable housing developments — that require more financing and often take more than a decade to stabilize.
Under the new law, municipalities can award developers tax abatements for terms up to 14 years.
The city of Albuquerque, which has 19 MRAs, hailed the governor’s action in a Monday news release, stating the new law will strengthen the city’s ability to support redevelopment projects, spur investment and draw new housing and businesses to these areas.
“This change gives communities and developers more time to make projects succeed,” said Terry Brunner, the city’s Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency director, in a statement. “Redevelopment often takes years of planning and construction. With more time, we can support projects that bring housing, jobs and vibrant community spaces to life for Albuquerque families.”
Mayor Tim Keller, who has long highlighted Albuquerque’s need for more affordable housing, agreed and thanked the governor and SB 58’s supporters for “making this effort possible.”
The new law will apply to redevelopment agreements signed after it takes effect in May.
In the months ahead, the city’s Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency will work with partners and stakeholders to finalize implementation details and identify projects that could benefit from the extended abatement period, a news release said.
Some recent projects that have benefited from the city agency’s Redevelopment Tax Abatement program include Sol Housing’s senior affordable housing project, which is nearing completion on the corner of Central and Alcazar SE, and Titan Development’s hotel and food hall under construction along Central Avenue.
Altogether, the program has supported the development of more than 350 new homes since its creation in 2023.
Sol Housing Executive Director Felipe Rael said the signing of SB 58 into law is “a great first step” to getting even more homes on the market.
“We are in a housing crisis throughout New Mexico and, specifically for projects that are in Metropolitan Redevelopment Areas, this is just another great tool to help spur investment, and I hope it spurs more housing investment,” Rael said.
New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham signs free, universal child care into law - Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham joined a group of children, parents and educators at a Santa Fe preschool Tuesday morning to sign her free, universal child care initiative into law.
“I really wanted something that would create a sea change for families and children in New Mexico,” Lujan Grisham said before signing the bill. “Senate Bill 241 is the culmination of decades of leadership of the Legislature and eight years of good leadership by a short little governor and, most importantly, the dedication of the people in the child care industry and the parents and the families.”
After the bill signing, she told reporters she believed that free childcare will ameliorate New Mexico’s deep-seated issues with child well-being. The state routinely ranks 50th for child well-being in the national Kids Count report published by the nonpartisan Annie E. Casey Foundation. Since November, Lujan Grisham said more than 16,000 new children have enrolled in free child care — and more than half of them were already eligible to receive free child care under the state’s previous requirements.
“All of these families struggled for no reason,” she said. “This is maybe the most monumental, pivotal day in New Mexico’s past, its current and the opportunities for its future. We couldn’t be prouder.”
The universal child care effort ranked with medical malpractice reform and education and literacy standards as one of the Legislature’s top priorities in the recent 30-day session. Initial proposals from members of the state House of Representatives would have required co-pays from some New Mexico families to participate, but the bill Lujan Grisham signed into law Tuesday will only require co-pays from families with a household income of than 600% of the federal poverty level under certain signs of economic decline, such as inflation and decreasing oil prices.
A recent report from the state Legislative Finance Committee found a slight decrease in the state’s general fund revenue. “Major” changes in oil and gas revenue would affect the Early Childhood Trust Fund and other similar state funds. The new law allows the state to take up to $700 million from the $11 billion Early Childhood Education and Care Trust Fund to pay for universal child care over the next five years. State leaders created that fund in 2020 with about $300 million.
Lujan Grisham praised Lt. Gov. Howie Morales for prioritizing this issue when he was a state senator and for refusing to let it go when he joined her administration.
“When I received the phone call back in November…saying we’re going to move forward with this and that the governor has made sure that we’re going to implement this coming Nov. 1, I got emotional,” Morales said to the crowd gathered at Tuesday’s bill signing. “I remember sitting there, talking to you as the governor and saying, ‘I don’t think this is a fight we can win,’ and the governor turning to me and saying, ‘Some fights are worth fighting, even if you lose.’”
Lujan Grisham also signed Senate Bill 96 into law, which will ease zoning restrictions on regulated child care homes in residential areas. From inside the “Owl Classroom” at Garcia Street Club School, a decades-old preschool in the middle of a Santa Fe neighborhood, she said she hoped to knock down barriers to where child care facilities can go.
“If we can do this since 1945, we can do more,” she said, referencing the school’s origination date. “That’s exactly what we want — home, historic environments as well as brand new facilities. We want a hybrid and a mix all throughout the state.”
She said she believes the two laws, taken together, can make New Mexico a replicable model for how the rest of the nation tackles issues of child well-being.
“This really, truly can be a state in America that solves this problem,” Lujan Grisham said. “When a poor state — in terms of our stats, not our money — solves it for America, America will redesign and reshape how we treat our families, and that’s a long time coming.”
Data: Taos County crime response up 5% since 2023 - Taos News
Data from the Taos County Sheriff’s Office show that over a two-year period from 2023-2025, deputies responded to 5% more incidents.
The Taos News reports that Sheriff Steve Miera is attributing the increase in response to an increase in the number of available deputies.
Miera currently has 37 deputies, but expects to increase that beyond 40 by August. Filling a deputy position costs approximately $100,000 in payroll and benefits.
Miera told the Taos News that new positions are funded by county and state budget allocations at the start of Taos County’s fiscal year, which begins July 1.
Miera said having more deputies "allows the sheriff’s office to deploy proactive patrols in smaller communities and areas like Blueberry Hill, Las Colonias, West Romero Road and Ranchitos.”
Crime trends from 2023-2025 also show a mixed picture in Taos County.
Property crime and alcohol-related crimes are down, but crimes involving interpersonal violence have increased.
—Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) signed onto a letter with a bipartisan coalition of senators calling for an independent audit of how U.S. Department of Justice officials have redacted information in the public releases of documents related to infamous sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Luján joined U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in the Wednesday letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. In it, the four write that the DOJ has not complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act’s requirements to only redact information that would violate victims’ privacy or jeopardize national security.
“The law bars redactions made ‘on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary,’” the letter says. “Contrary to Congress’s explicit directive to protect victims, these records included email addresses and nude photos in which the names and faces of publicly-identified and non-public victims could be identified. But when it came to information identifying powerful business and political figures who are alleged coconspirators or material witnesses, DOJ appears to have heavily redacted those records.”
In the letter, the senators ask GAO officials to report back to Congress after investigating how many people were involved with redacting the files; whether DOJ “or other senior Trump Administration officials” offered any guidance to people tasked with making redactions; whether the DOJ used contractors for any of the redaction services; and whether any “political appointees” played a role in approving redactions or removing published records from the DOJ website.
“It is critical to understand what led to DOJ’s failure to redact the victims’ information and re-victimize those individuals while violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act in its redactions of information related to their alleged abusers,” the senators wrote.
Their correspondence comes just days after officials with state Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s New Mexico Department of Justice searched the former Zorro Ranch, the 7,500-acre property Epstein bought from former New Mexico Gov. Bruce King in the 1990s.
Governor signs budget and tax package before deadline, but vetoes disaster response bill
—Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
In a busy end to her final bill-signing period, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed off Wednesday on an $11.1 billon spending plan and a tax package that includes hefty incentives for New Mexico physicians.
Lujan Grisham, who is set to step down from office at the end of this year, specifically cited investments in universal child care, public safety and health care as hallmarks of her administration.
“We’ve built a strong foundation of opportunity for New Mexico families, and while this budget marks a massive leap forward, our work is far from finished,” she said in a statement.
But the two-term governor used her line-item veto authority to ax some budget provisions, including language that child care assistance be prioritized for low-income families.
Lujan Grisham also vetoed two bills, including a measure changing the process for how the state responds to wildfires, floods and other natural disasters.
The governor, who authorized nearly $257 million in emergency spending in the last budget year, said the legislation, House Bill 180, would have made responding to natural disasters more difficult by imposing a cap on such spending without legislative approval.
Rep. Harlan Vincent, R-Glencoe, one of the sponsors of the bill, said he was disappointed by the governor’s veto, but expressed gratitude that $21 million in state matching funds for parts of New Mexico covered by federal disaster declarations was left in place in the budget bill.
He said the funding could be used to help relocate houses in the Ruidoso area after wildfires and subsequent flooding in the area over the last two years.
“I would feel much better if people were off the (Rio Ruidoso), and we could restore it back to its natural state,” Vincent told the Journal.
From a political perspective, the governor’s decision to leave largely intact the $11.1 billion budget bill that will increase state spending by about $339.5 million — or 3.1% — over current levels means no special session will likely be required before a new state fiscal year begins in July.
The governor vetoed about $21 million in proposed spending from the bill, including $1 million for a proposed sports hall of fame and an additional $500,000 from a proposed lowrider museum in Española.
As in past years, she also vetoed some budgetary language that sought to impose strict timelines and other restrictions on certain legislative appropriations.
Rep. Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces, said Wednesday the Legislature will work with the governor’s administration on implementing those appropriations, saying, “I think that’s an issue we’re going to dig deeply into.”
He also said the budget bill would set up New Mexico’s next governor for success, despite uncertainty over oil prices and state revenue levels.
“The new governor will come into office and will have the opportunity — and the responsibility — to hit the ground running,” Small told the Journal.
A year after vetoing a tax package passed by lawmakers, Lujan Grisham signed off on this year’s bill that includes a grab bag of tax breaks and policy changes.
Specifically, this year’s tax package, Senate Bill 151, includes a $10,000 personal income tax credit for physicians who practice full-time in the state and a $4 million annual tax credit for local news organizations.
It also includes a 1% salary increase for state workers and teachers, which was added to the bill by the state House after being removed in a Senate committee.
In her executive message to lawmakers, Lujan Grisham said she supports the pay raise for state employees — it will take effect on July 1 — but described it as an “odd” decision to include it in tax legislation.
“While I assume the Legislature did not want to create a logjam in the waning days of the 30-day session, rolling this provision into the tax bill created more confusion than necessary,” the governor wrote.
Lujan Grisham also expressed concern that a provision in the tax package to decouple parts of the state’s corporate income tax system from the federal tax code could lead to “double taxation” on some businesses.
But she did not strike out the provision from the tax bill, instead leaving it in place to take effect next January.
In all, Lujan Grisham signed 71 of the 74 bills approved by lawmakers during the 30-day session that ended Feb. 19.
Of the three bills vetoed by the governor, one died under what’s known as a “pocket veto” when the governor did not act on it before the Wednesday bill signing deadline. That bill would have modified an existing space commission working group.
The ability for governors to pocket veto bills could be eliminated starting next year, if state voters pass a proposed constitutional amendment on the issue in November.
Overall, however, the governor’s use of her veto pen was far less prolific than in previous years. Last year, for instance, Lujan Grisham vetoed 35 bills passed by lawmakers, including a proposal to make tortilla the official state bread.
Governor signs bill requiring student drivers to take course on bicyclist and pedestrian safety - Gregory R.C. Hasman, Albuquerque Journal
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed into law a bill requiring student drivers to take at least three hours of training on “vulnerable road users,” such as bicyclists, pedestrians and emergency service providers.
Senate Bill 73 will take effect on Jan. 1.
Main bill sponsor Sen. Heather Berghmans, D-Albuquerque, said she got the idea for the legislation after meeting with Melinda Montoya, the Journal reported. Montoya is the mother of the late teen Kayla VanLandingham, who was killed in July while riding her bicycle home in Northeast Albuquerque.
In a message sent to the Senate on Monday, Lujan Grisham said while SB 73 “is a good start to achieving safer roads,” more needs to be done.
Citing data that New Mexico ranks 10th in traffic fatalities in the United States, “with almost 40% of those fatalities involving a vulnerable road user,” the governor said, “it seems that existing drivers are the problem — not future drivers.”
“I encourage the Legislature to attack this problem more comprehensively next session, as it is a matter of life and death,” Lujan Grisham said. “Future legislation could include more requirements around renewing a license, raising the minimum age of those eligible to receive a license, or harsher penalties around distracted or reckless driving. There are many possibilities.
“The bottom line is more needs to be done to limit the loss of life on the road in New Mexico.”
Montoya said in a text that she agreed with the governor’s sentiment.
“We need to do more and I hope that we are able to bring more accountability and safer streets to New Mexico come next session,” she said. “We need to start working now to develop partners to get it moving.”
New Mexico Medicaid now covers traditional Native American healing - Natalie Robbins, Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico is now one of the first states in the nation to cover traditional Native American healing practices under Medicaid.
The coverage was approved in October 2024 by the federal government for tribal communities in New Mexico, Arizona, California and Oregon, according to a news release from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
In New Mexico, the five-year program became effective Oct. 1, 2025, according to Heidi Capriotti, deputy director of the New Mexico Health Care Authority. Involvement is left up to individual tribal governments, and as of last week, the HCA has its first participant — the Navajo Nation, the largest Native American tribe in the United States.
“We have heard for many, many years from our tribal providers that they want this kind of health care that's culturally appropriate and is equitable,” Capriotti said. “So we’re really excited to be able to provide this to tribes who want to participate.”
Patients can see a provider at an Indian Health Services facility and be referred to a traditional healer, who is reimbursed via Medicaid, Capriotti said.
“It’s actually a nice, important shift, because now it begins to acknowledge traditional practices as a legitimate health care for many native communities,” said Norman Cooeyate, associate director of the Center for Native American Health at the University of New Mexico and former governor of the Zuni Pueblo.
Though each of the 19 pueblos in New Mexico has its own set of traditional healing practices, for the Zuni Pueblo, traditional healing can involve the use of herbal medicine, minerals, sweat lodges, ceremonies and prayers, or a reconnection to nature, Cooeyate said.
Traditional healing involves “ancestral ways of creating a balance that provides holistic health and well-being,” he said. “Not just only in our own personal selves — meaning our own personal body, mind, spirit, emotions — but it also extends to the relationships that we have and depend on.”
Families may pay traditional healers with gifts, Cooeyate said, which can be a heavy lift for those in rural New Mexico of little financial means. Adding Medicaid coverage can lessen the financial burden.
“It’s not that we would only want Indigenous practices. We understand that Western practices are important, too,” he said. “Combining the two … leads to better collaborative efforts to make our health care services be more equitable.”
Bill extending tax breaks for blighted areas signed into law - Kylie Garcia, Albuquerque Journal
Legislation extending tax break periods for developments within New Mexico’s blighted areas has been signed into law.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the legislation, Senate Bill 58, last week, allowing municipalities to extend the property tax exemption period for development projects in Metropolitan Redevelopment Areas, commonly referred to as MRAs.
MRAs are blighted areas for which development incentives, including tax abatements, are available. Tax abatements enable property taxes to freeze at pre-development levels for certain periods, giving projects time to stabilize before developers pay higher taxes on improved properties.
Before SB 58, a seven-year term was the only option available, which local leaders say is ineffective for longer-term projects — like affordable housing developments — that require more financing and often take more than a decade to stabilize.
Under the new law, municipalities can award developers tax abatements for terms up to 14 years.
The city of Albuquerque, which has 19 MRAs, hailed the governor’s action in a Monday news release, stating the new law will strengthen the city’s ability to support redevelopment projects, spur investment and draw new housing and businesses to these areas.
“This change gives communities and developers more time to make projects succeed,” said Terry Brunner, the city’s Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency director, in a statement. “Redevelopment often takes years of planning and construction. With more time, we can support projects that bring housing, jobs and vibrant community spaces to life for Albuquerque families.”
Mayor Tim Keller, who has long highlighted Albuquerque’s need for more affordable housing, agreed and thanked the governor and SB 58’s supporters for “making this effort possible.”
The new law will apply to redevelopment agreements signed after it takes effect in May.
In the months ahead, the city’s Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency will work with partners and stakeholders to finalize implementation details and identify projects that could benefit from the extended abatement period, a news release said.
Some recent projects that have benefited from the city agency’s Redevelopment Tax Abatement program include Sol Housing’s senior affordable housing project, which is nearing completion on the corner of Central and Alcazar SE, and Titan Development’s hotel and food hall under construction along Central Avenue.
Altogether, the program has supported the development of more than 350 new homes since its creation in 2023.
Sol Housing Executive Director Felipe Rael said the signing of SB 58 into law is “a great first step” to getting even more homes on the market.
“We are in a housing crisis throughout New Mexico and, specifically for projects that are in Metropolitan Redevelopment Areas, this is just another great tool to help spur investment, and I hope it spurs more housing investment,” Rael said.
New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham signs free, universal child care into law - Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham joined a group of children, parents and educators at a Santa Fe preschool Tuesday morning to sign her free, universal child care initiative into law.
“I really wanted something that would create a sea change for families and children in New Mexico,” Lujan Grisham said before signing the bill. “Senate Bill 241 is the culmination of decades of leadership of the Legislature and eight years of good leadership by a short little governor and, most importantly, the dedication of the people in the child care industry and the parents and the families.”
After the bill signing, she told reporters she believed that free childcare will ameliorate New Mexico’s deep-seated issues with child well-being. The state routinely ranks 50th for child well-being in the national Kids Count report published by the nonpartisan Annie E. Casey Foundation. Since November, Lujan Grisham said more than 16,000 new children have enrolled in free child care — and more than half of them were already eligible to receive free child care under the state’s previous requirements.
“All of these families struggled for no reason,” she said. “This is maybe the most monumental, pivotal day in New Mexico’s past, its current and the opportunities for its future. We couldn’t be prouder.”
The universal child care effort ranked with medical malpractice reform and education and literacy standards as one of the Legislature’s top priorities in the recent 30-day session. Initial proposals from members of the state House of Representatives would have required co-pays from some New Mexico families to participate, but the bill Lujan Grisham signed into law Tuesday will only require co-pays from families with a household income of than 600% of the federal poverty level under certain signs of economic decline, such as inflation and decreasing oil prices.
A recent report from the state Legislative Finance Committee found a slight decrease in the state’s general fund revenue. “Major” changes in oil and gas revenue would affect the Early Childhood Trust Fund and other similar state funds. The new law allows the state to take up to $700 million from the $11 billion Early Childhood Education and Care Trust Fund to pay for universal child care over the next five years. State leaders created that fund in 2020 with about $300 million.
Lujan Grisham praised Lt. Gov. Howie Morales for prioritizing this issue when he was a state senator and for refusing to let it go when he joined her administration.
“When I received the phone call back in November…saying we’re going to move forward with this and that the governor has made sure that we’re going to implement this coming Nov. 1, I got emotional,” Morales said to the crowd gathered at Tuesday’s bill signing. “I remember sitting there, talking to you as the governor and saying, ‘I don’t think this is a fight we can win,’ and the governor turning to me and saying, ‘Some fights are worth fighting, even if you lose.’”
Lujan Grisham also signed Senate Bill 96 into law, which will ease zoning restrictions on regulated child care homes in residential areas. From inside the “Owl Classroom” at Garcia Street Club School, a decades-old preschool in the middle of a Santa Fe neighborhood, she said she hoped to knock down barriers to where child care facilities can go.
“If we can do this since 1945, we can do more,” she said, referencing the school’s origination date. “That’s exactly what we want — home, historic environments as well as brand new facilities. We want a hybrid and a mix all throughout the state.”
She said she believes the two laws, taken together, can make New Mexico a replicable model for how the rest of the nation tackles issues of child well-being.
“This really, truly can be a state in America that solves this problem,” Lujan Grisham said. “When a poor state — in terms of our stats, not our money — solves it for America, America will redesign and reshape how we treat our families, and that’s a long time coming.”
Data: Taos County crime response up 5% since 2023 - Taos News
Data from the Taos County Sheriff’s Office show that over a two-year period from 2023-2025, deputies responded to 5% more incidents.
The Taos News reports that Sheriff Steve Miera is attributing the increase in response to an increase in the number of available deputies.
Miera currently has 37 deputies, but expects to increase that beyond 40 by August. Filling a deputy position costs approximately $100,000 in payroll and benefits.
Miera told the Taos News that new positions are funded by county and state budget allocations at the start of Taos County’s fiscal year, which begins July 1.
Miera said having more deputies "allows the sheriff’s office to deploy proactive patrols in smaller communities and areas like Blueberry Hill, Las Colonias, West Romero Road and Ranchitos.”
Crime trends from 2023-2025 also show a mixed picture in Taos County.
Property crime and alcohol-related crimes are down, but crimes involving interpersonal violence have increased.