Giving our students a running start

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By State Rep. Richard Berry Business and industry benefit when we have a large, well-trained and prepared workforce. New Mexico benefits when business and industry is supported by these trained professionals. Companies will want to bring their business to the state, leading to more job growth and opportunity while, at the same time, stimulating the economy. One way to attract business to New Mexico while providing our workforce with greater opportunities is to start training future workers in a practical way that meets the needs of students, business and industry. House Bill 44 — the “Running Start for Careers Act” — sets up a pilot program that will allow high school juniors and seniors to use their available electives to attend industry-taught classes. Continue Reading

We need a national popular vote

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By Mimi Stewart and Howie Morales This legislative session, we will be introducing the national popular vote bill, which would guarantee the presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states. Although more than 76 percent of New Mexicans support this legislation, there are several misperceptions about what the bill would do and what it means for the state of New Mexico. First, recent elections have brought the shortcomings of the current system to light. The current winner-take-all rule, which is in effect in most states, awards all of a state’s electoral votes to the candidate who receives the most popular votes. Because of the winner-take-all rule, a candidate can win the presidency without winning the most popular votes nationwide. Continue Reading

The road to pay to play, Richardson style

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By Jose Z. GarciaThere were two kinds of cautionary signals from the very beginning. One had to do with the governor’s bullying style — early rumors of highly aggressive behavior, a speech that Sen. Tim Jennings gave on the floor of the Senate complaining about the use of abusive language, the hardball targeting in 2004 of Democrats who had challenged the governor, and other signs of obvious displeasure against legislators or lobbyists who disagreed. The governor appeared to have mastered the advice Machiavelli gave to the prince: It is better to be feared than loved. The other signal had to do with money: The Richardson administration elevated fundraising to an art form, at an unprecedented level of prominence and glamour, and the dollar amounts broke all records. There were fundraisers in-state, out-of-state, big ones, little ones, fat ones, skinny ones. Continue Reading

Tremendous challenges, unmatched opportunity

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By U.S. Rep. Ben R. Luján In my first two weeks in Washington, there has been much excitement. I was sworn in on Jan. 6, voted on several pieces of legislation including a bill that could provide over 32,000 New Mexican children with health care coverage and settled into a small rental apartment. The importance of the work ahead has been clear, but this weekend — as visitors converged on Washington filled with hope and led by a desire to change the direction of our country — marked the true start of a new era of American government. Millions of Americans have taken a personal stake in the success of our next president, and they took to Washington in celebration of change and hope. Continue Reading

I survived the Purple Tunnel of Doom

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A slightly different inaugural story By Philip Zakahi Heath first asked me to write this column Monday afternoon. I accepted the offer, assuming I would be writing about my impression of the inauguration ceremony itself. Little did I know I would be a participant in the “Purple Ticket Fiasco,” spending just under five hours in the I-395 3rd Street Tunnel — “The Purple Tunnel of Doom” — a four lane, 0.75-mile tunnel traveling under the National Mall. I think I should preface this by noting that, unlike almost all of the people I was in the tunnel with, I got in to the ceremony. Having given up hope of getting in, and with only a few minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to begin, I found myself among a few hundred purple ticket holders who, for no other reason than being in the right place at the right time, the Secret Service and capitol police saw fit to take pity on. Continue Reading

Inspiring us to make our world a little better

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By U.S. Rep. Martin HeinrichYou could hear them coming. By 5:30 a.m. yesterday morning, the revelers and enthusiasts were on the street outside the window of my Capitol Hill apartment. It was bitter cold outside but you couldn’t tell by the large number of people making their way to the inauguration at this early morning hour. By the time my wife Julie and I walked over to the Capitol building around 9:30 a.m., the crowds were everywhere. As members of Congress gathered on the House floor, Reps. Continue Reading

Thinking about how far we’ve come

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By U.S. Rep. Harry Teague Yesterday, when I blogged about the excitement of the high school kids I met from Deming, I never could have imagined how magnified that feeling would be today. Throughout the morning, the crowds were full of excitement and hope. Although it was bitterly cold and the long lines were unending, people stayed upbeat, patient and enthusiastic. When I took my seat near where Barack Obama would soon be sworn in as our next president, I could see that the crowd filled up the entire National Mall — from the Capitol all the way to the Washington Monument. The determination of the crowds today was unlike anything I’ve ever seen, and I believe it is representative of the character of our nation. Continue Reading

A contagious excitement about what lies ahead

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This is the first of a handful of guest blogs that will run in the next few days related to the inauguration events in Washington, D.C.By U.S. Rep. Harry Teague I remember in sixth grade, my government teacher brought a little black and white television into the cafeteria, and we all huddled around to watch John F. Kennedy’s swearing in. Back then, just to be able to watch the ceremony on screen was a great privilege, and television was a relatively new thing. Washington, D.C. and Hobbs, N.M. felt like they were a world apart. I was lucky enough to be able to see and hear a part of a nation inaugurating a president, but the idea of actually standing in front of the U.S. Capitol for the event did not even cross my mind. One of my favorite things to do, always as a parent and now as a member of Congress, is giving generations younger than mine opportunities I never had. Continue Reading

Time to start living within our means

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By Tom Taylor and Keith GardnerAfter the economic crisis occurred last fall, many New Mexicans have learned a valuable lesson — that they can no longer spend every last dollar from their paychecks. All of us have come to realize that we must pay our bills, but we also put away something in the savings account in case times get tough. Tough times are now here. For the last six years, Governor Richardson and the Democratic-controlled Legislature refused to stop their spending spree. Now we must deal with the consequences. Continue Reading

Stray cats and dogs deserve humane euthanization

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By Ken W. MartinezEvery legislative session, I have the daunting task of deciding what issues I will focus on and what causes I will support. Being from Grants, I understand the challenges our rural communities face and, having the responsibility of being the New Mexico House majority leader, I understand how those issues intersect with the broader needs of our state. Unfortunately, animal-rights issues have taken center stage in New Mexico the past few years, and this year is no different. It has often been said that how our community treats our animal population is a commentary on how we truly are as a society. From cases of horse cruelty in Albuquerque to animal hoarding in Española and Los Lunas to dog-fighting rings in Las Cruces, we still have a lot of work to do to ensure that we treat animals humanely. Continue Reading

Leaving Emperor Bill’s realm

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Continued corruption vindicates my decision to leave New Mexico after losing the gubernatorial race to Richardson in 2006. The sleaze the governor has made endemic will lead to years of buyers’ remorse in the Land of Enchantment.By John Dendahl Moving away from New Mexico in early 2007 was neither easy nor fun. The state calls itself “Land of Enchantment” — an apt description in many ways. The lovely city of Santa Fe had been my family home for about 130 years. I am among the third of four Dendahl generations born in Santa Fe and had spent most of my 68 years there. Continue Reading

The economic crisis: an investment opportunity

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The Health Security Act is a safe investment the state needs to make By Jane Blume We are facing the greatest economic crisis since the depression. Unemployment is increasing, health costs are rising, families are financially strapped, and in 2009 our state Legislature must deal with expanding costs along with a huge deficit of hundreds of millions of dollars. A key factor in the financial problems faced by the Big Three automakers and other businesses is the ever-rising cost of health care. These expenses are also impacting our state budget, which is confronted with increasing health-care expenditures for Medicaid programs and state and local government employees and retirees. These rising costs are putting pressure, once again, on our state lawmakers to decide how to maintain a healthy population with fewer financial resources, while at the same time allocating sufficient funds for education and other state obligations. Continue Reading

Don’t bet against the GOP in 2010

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By Allen Weh Last week I met with the state Republican Party Executive Committee for what I considered to be one of the most important briefings of my tenure as chairman of the New Mexico GOP. The mainstream media and our Democrat opponents continue to taunt us for our 2008 losses, asking “how” and “when” the Republican Party can rebuild. That is why last week’s meeting with GOP leaders was so important. I believe that in New Mexico there is nothing to rebuild. There is only that which we can, and must, continue to build upon! Continue Reading

2008 review: Bragging about NM and saying goodbye

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By Diane D. Denish As the year winds down and we prepare to spend the holidays with our families and friends, it’s a good time to look back and reflect on all that has happened over the last year. When historians look back on 2008, they will highlight the election of Barack Obama and the increase in youth activism and excitement that carried him to victory, the spectacle of the Beijing Olympics, the historic financial crisis, the continued wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the see-sawing oil prices that put our state into a budget shortfall.It was a remarkable year! However, when I think back on 2008, I will also remember what happened here, in our communities. While the last year was plagued by economic crisis, forcing many states into unmanageable deficits, New Mexico is riding out the storm and we have some things to brag about. We have seen tremendous growth in the film industry. Continue Reading

The schizophrenia of the two hats

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By Jose Z. GarciaLurking just beneath the surface in the public outcry and anger over the scandal in the Gadsden Independent School District in southern Doña Ana County is the conflict of interest inherent in the two incompatible hats being worn by Cynthia Nava: school superintendent and powerful state senator. From her point of view, of course, wearing each hat and being able to put one on and take one off must have seemed very convenient, at least for a while. For example, the New Mexico School Board Association, in naming the Gadsden school board its board of the year, was almost certainly thinking about the Senate hat worn by the GISD superintendent, Cynthia Nava. As a powerful state senator — chair of the Education Committee, co-chair of the Public School Capital Outlay Oversight Task Force and vice chair of the Legislative Education Study Committee — she might well be grateful for a positive gesture from a statewide education lobby group toward her school board (which hires and fires superintendents, and does very little else) at a moment the school board and Superintendent Nava were under heavy fire. And the gratitude the organization might have been thinking about was almost certainly not gratitude the organization might receive from Superintendent Nava, but from Sen. Nava. Continue Reading