Spaceport pioneer dead at 58

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Lonnie Sumpter, executive director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, died Tuesday afternoon following a brief illness. Sumpter, who worked for more than 20 years to make Spaceport America a reality, was 58. His death came quickly and was a shock to a tight-knit community that has shared the vision of a spaceport in Southern New Mexico. “It’s a big loss to all of us,” said Doña Ana County Commissioner Kent Evans, who has also worked on the spaceport for more than two decades. “He was a mainstay behind the spaceport, and I have a lot of respect for Lonnie.” Gov. Bill Richardson called Sumpter “a true public servant.” “As executive director of the N.M. Spaceport Authority, he was a pioneer in his profession and a valued member of my administration,” Richardson said. Continue Reading

Affordable housing overhaul heads to Senate floor

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Sen. Mary Kay Papen’s bill that would remake the state’s affordable housing system is headed to the Senate floor after the Finance Committee’s members gave it unanimous approval this morning. The bill could be heard by the full Senate later this week or early next week. Senate Bill 519 would, over a period of several months, shut down the state’s scandal-plagued regional housing authorities and replace them with a system overseen by the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority. The bill would also provide for audits of each of the seven housing authority regions to determine the extent of the mismanagement first revealed last year when Frances Williams, a member of the Las Cruces-based Region VII board, complained about problems. Several weeks after she went public, the Region III authority, based in Albuquerque, defaulted on $5 million in bonds it owed to the state. Based on concerns expressed earlier this week by members of the Corporations and Transportation Committee, Papen proposed an amendment today that would require that the MFA, while seeking service providers to replace the housing authorities, give preference to bidders who employ former employees of the two regional housing authorities in the state that have not had problems. Current state law creates seven regional authorities. Continue Reading

Bill limiting gifts gets committee approval

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Another ethics reform bill has been approved by a House committee. On Tuesday House Bill 819, which would limit gifts to public officials, passed the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on a vote of 6-0. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Gail Chasey, D-Albuquerque, would prohibit state officials and candidates for state offices from accepting gifts with a value of more than $250, and prohibit lobbyists from giving gifts whose combined value total more than $1,000 to any one state official or candidate for state office each year. “There is currently no law in New Mexico that regulates gifts to candidates, elected officials or state employees,” Chasey said in a news release. “This bill will set the parameters of what is acceptable and legal for everyone, including lobbyists or companies doing business with the state and the recipient of the gifts.” The bill is part of a comprehensive package of ethics reform proposals made by House Democrats. Continue Reading

Lujan’s wage bill passes; Altamirano’s is gutted

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The House Labor and Human Resources Committee voted today to amend a bill that’s already passed the Senate to mirror one proposed by Speaker of the House Ben Lujan, then sent both on to the Business and Industry Committee with do-pass recommendations. Lujan’s bill was given a do-pass recommendation on a 4-2, party-line vote. After amending Senate President Pro Tem Ben Altamirano’s bill, the committee members voted the same way on it. The move sets up the same clash between the House and Senate that led to no minimum wage increase being approved in the 2006 legislative session. “I think we’ll leave this session without a minimum wage bill if the amendments are added on,” Altamirano said in opposing the amendments to his bill, which were proposed by Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton, D-Albuquerque and the House majority whip. Continue Reading

Richardson yet to receive requested legislative approval of priorities left over from 2006 session

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Almost halfway through the 2007 legislative session, Gov. Bill Richardson said today he is pleased with the progress of his agenda despite the fact that lawmakers haven’t yet endorsed priorities Richardson wanted approved by Thursday. In his State of the State address last month, Richardson asked for four of his priorities to be approved within 30 days – by Thursday. They are: • Raising the minimum wage. • Creating a state Renewable Energy Transmission Authority to focus on the development of alternative energy in New Mexico. • Pass GRIP II, which would fund a multitude of road and transportation projects around the state. Continue Reading

Competing minimum wage bills to be debated

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Competing minimum wage bills sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Ben Altamirano and Speaker of the House Ben Lujan will both be heard in a House committee today. Senate Bill 324 has already passed the Senate, but infighting between Democrats over particulars of how to raise the minimum wage led to Lujan introducing House Bill 759. Both will be heard today in the House Labor and Human Resources Committee. Both bills raise the state minimum wage to $7.50 per hour in two phases. Altamirano’s bill would raise the minimum wage to $6.50 per hour in 2008 and $7.50 per hour in 2009. Continue Reading

Senator wants protection for whistleblowers

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Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, R-Sandia Park, thinks she has found a hole in the ethics reform proposals of the governor and House Democrats. As a result, she’s proposing her own legislation. Senate Bill 1,043 would create a state whistleblower law designed to encourage employees to report illegal activity. “I thoroughly expected the governor’s task force to address protection for public employees,” Beffort said in a news release. “It did not protect them, so I am protecting them with the Whistleblower Protection Act.” “New Mexico has experienced serious ethical breaches,” she said. Continue Reading

Richardson donates to keep Cruces club open

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Gov. Bill Richardson announced a $15,000 grant to help keep the Boys and Girls Club of Las Cruces afloat during a visit to the city Monday. The Boys and Girls Club announced last week that it may have to close its doors if it can’t find additional funding. Telephones were shut off, and the club’s board president said the center doesn’t have any major donors left. Richardson’s grant will keep the club open through the summer and give it time to find additional funding. “I know the great work of the Boys and Girls Club,” Richardson said in announcing the grant. Continue Reading

GOP pushes probes of former secretary of state

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Republicans have requested two additional probes of a $3 million shortfall in the secretary of state’s office. There were already several probes of an apparent $3 million shortfall in the secretary of state’s office that resulted from debt that accumulated last year during the tenure of former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron. The money was spent on the switch to paper ballots, and has led to an emergency request to lawmakers to fund that office’s operations for the remainder of the fiscal year. Senate Republican leaders sent letters Monday to the U.S. attorney and the Legislative Finance Committee asking them to look into the situation. That’s in addition to a legal opinion they sought last week from Attorney General Gary King, an audit Gov. Bill Richardson ordered by the Department of Finance and Administration and a federal review of the spending of a $9 million grant to Vigil-Giron’s office. Continue Reading

Papen’s affordable housing bill moves forward

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A bill that would remake the state’s affordable housing system was approved by another Senate committee today. Senate Bill 519, sponsored by Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, would, over a period of several months, shut down the state’s scandal-plagued regional housing authorities and replace them with a system overseen by the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority. The bill would also provide for audits of each of the seven housing authority regions to determine the extent of the mismanagement first revealed last year when Frances Williams, a member of the Las Cruces-based Region VII board, complained about problems. Several weeks after she went public, the Region III authority, based in Albuquerque, defaulted on $5 million in bonds it owed to the state. On a 7-0 vote with two members absent, the Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee approved the bill this afternoon, but not before its members asked some tough questions. The bill now moves to the Finance Committee before it can be considered by the full Senate. Continue Reading

House votes to abolish death penalty

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The House has voted to abolish the death penalty in New Mexico. On a vote of 41-28, the House just voted to replace the death penalty as the maximum punishment for a capital crime with life in prison without the possibility of parole. The bill now moves to the Senate, which killed a similar bill in 2005. “They perhaps do not deserve our mercy, but they do deserve justice,” Rep. Gail Chasey, D-Albuquerque and the sponsor of the bill, said before the vote. “… The death penalty is very, very prone to error.” Chasey said money spent trying to enforce the death penalty could be better spent on crime prevention and help for victims. “Life without possibility of parole should be the ultimate punishment,” Chasey said. Continue Reading

House to debate repeal of death penalty

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I’m going to try something a little different today. I’m in Santa Fe, and the House of Representatives is about to begin debating a bill that would repeal the death penalty in New Mexico. A similar bill passed the House in 2005 but died in the Senate. I’m going to update this posting frequently throughout the debate to keep you up on what’s being said. Check back often if you want updates, or read the posting again later for a comprehensive recap. Continue Reading

Longtime county treasurer, clerk dead at 81

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A longtime Doña Ana County treasurer and clerk died Thursday in Las Cruces. Delia Garcia Barncastle, who remained active in the Republican Party even after she left office in 1998, died after a long illness, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported. She was 81. Barncastle served as treasurer from 1969 to 1972 and 1989 to 1994, and was clerk from 1977 to 1980, the newspaper reported. “She worked long and hard,” current Clerk Rita Torres told the newspaper. Continue Reading

Journal profiles Richardson’s gubernatorial tenure

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The Albuquerque Journal ran Part 4 of its lengthy biography of Gov. Bill Richardson on Sunday. This installation dealt with his time as governor of New Mexico. Click here to read it. The article is an honest look at the improvements in the state under Richardson’s leadership and the controversies that have dogged his tenure. It’s a time commitment, but definitely worth a read. Continue Reading

Universal health care must become a top priority

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By Dr. James “Jim” Kadlecek “If criminals have a right to a lawyer, I think working Americans have a right to a doctor.” – Harris Wofford It is one of the great failures of American public policy that we do not have universal health care. At the risk of repeating arguments that most readers have heard before: • Nearly every industrial society in the world, except the United States, provides universal health care. • A healthy workforce is a more productive workforce. • We are a wealthy country and can afford it. • Providing a universal system would probably be less costly that the existing non-system, which is duplicative and inefficient. Continue Reading