ACORN is doing good work in New Mexico

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This guest column is in response to recent controversies in Doña Ana County that you can read about by clicking here, here and here. By Dana Gallegos On Monday, ACORN registered its 40,000th voter in New Mexico this year, making this already the largest drive in state history and bringing to 92,000 the total of New Mexicans ACORN has registered since 2000. However, ACORN doesn’t just register new voters. We make sure they get the encouragement and support they need to cast a ballot, many for the first time. In fact, a study of the voters we registered in New Mexico in 2004 showed that 65 percent of the people that ACORN helped get on the voter rolls voted on Election Day. Continue Reading

The left-wing bias of the mainstream media

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By Dan Foley I was going through some of my favorite web sites just the other day and I came across an article the Heritage Foundation had up about Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn. It claimed Dodd had been exposed by Bank of America personnel. They showed copies of a letter written by their company that wound up, word for word, as the exact bill he is carrying to bail out the banking industry. Now I am sure you are saying to yourself, why is this worth writing about since all politicians are on the take? The fact is the only ones who have such allegations made against them in the mainstream media are the conservatives. Continue Reading

Audit of State Land Office is justified

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By Steve Fischmann State Land Commissioner Patrick Lyons claims that partisan politics and anti-development sentiment are behind the state auditor’s decision to review real-estate deals at his office. However annoyed Mr. Lyons may be, speculation about the auditor’s motives is counterproductive. Instead, the commissioner should work closely with auditors to ensure the State Land Office does the best job it can on behalf of New Mexico’s citizens. The primary legal obligation of the Land Office is to maximize returns for the beneficiaries of state trust lands — usually the public schools. Mr. Lyons’ protestations that trust revenues are increasing are irrelevant if state land is being sold off too cheaply. Continue Reading

Security and spending: The federal budget in 2008

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By Mimi Stewart and Dede Feldman Now that the president has proposed his budget for Fiscal Year 2009, we’d like to send him a message from our state. We’re ready to pay for security for our country, but we want you to spend those dollars wisely. It’s time to take a good, hard look at what we’re buying with our “security dollars,” and make sure we’re in fact making our country safer – not more at risk. Let’s look at how we’re spending those dollars now. A White House online statement boasts that the new budget features “a nearly 74-percent increase since the president took office” in the Department of Defense’s base budget. Continue Reading

Education and health appropriations are priorities

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By David Abbey A recent opinion piece by two Senate committee chairs, published on this Web site on March 3, was headlined, “Education, health care took back seat in state budget.” The writers raised concerns about underfunding Medicaid, failing to pass a new public school funding formula bill and not scheduling hearings on key health and school measures. In fact, the Legislative Finance Committee (which includes six of the 10 members on the Senate Finance Committee) had a hearing on universal health care on Oct. 4, and most of the Dec. 4 budget hearing for the Human Services Department was devoted to universal health care. On Dec. Continue Reading

Education, health care took back seat in state budget

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By Sens. Dede Feldman and Cynthia Nava Voters hear a lot about the importance of education and health care during every election season, but the true test of our elected officials’ priorities can be found in the state’s recently approved budget. Ordinary citizens have been making extraordinary efforts to improve New Mexico this year by participating in town halls, task forces and the like. Yet, in spite of the Herculean efforts of hundreds of citizens who have come together to grapple with tough issues such as the state school funding formula, the inability of small employers to afford health coverage for their employees and the growing number of uninsured people in New Mexico, this year’s budget stops short of making the investments we need to assure a healthy, well-educated New Mexico, now and into the next decade. As chairs of the Senate Education and Public Affairs committees, which deal with two areas that are often played off against one another – schools and health care – we are very disappointed. Continue Reading

AG King reports successes from legislative session

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By Gary K. King Before being elected your state attorney general, I served in the Legislature for 12 years. An important lesson I learned during that time was that getting legislation passed and enacted into law is an often complicated and lengthy process. With that lesson in mind, I am assured that my legislative agenda as attorney general was a successful one during the 2008 session, and the results will benefit New Mexico in a number of ways. Many of you may remember that my top priority for this session was to get a law passed that would make it a crime to engage in the practice of human trafficking. Senate Bill 71, sponsored by Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, creates such an offense for the first time in New Mexico. Continue Reading

Teague: I’m not running to do favors for big oil

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The following column was submitted in response to a Feb. 12 column written by Jim Kadlecek. By Harry Teague I am running for Congress to bring New Mexico values to Washington and to deliver on the things that matter to the working families of New Mexico. I am not running for Congress, as Jim Kadlecek suggested in a recent column, to do favors for any industry. When I was 17 years old I went to work in the oil fields for a $1.50 an hour. Continue Reading

Winners and losers from the legislative session

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By Diane Denish The Legislature holds 112 lawmakers. Add in one governor and one lieutenant governor, and you can get 114 officials’ viewpoints of what was or wasn’t accomplished in any particular legislative session. One thing we’ll all agree on is this: The work can be tough and frustrating, but the goal is always to do what’s right for New Mexico. Even so, there are bound to be winners and losers, and our just-completed session was no different. Here are just a few: Winner: Pre-K. Continue Reading

Work is getting done at a glacial pace during session

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By Diane Denish You might have heard some rumblings that we’re having a bit of a slow legislative session in the Roundhouse. Those rumblings are right… and they’re wrong. Far from a “do-nothing session,” as a certain governor recently branded it, work is getting done. It’s just been, well, glacial. The main reason for that pace is the comparative lack of money for new programs and projects. Continue Reading

Legislature considers helping with home costs

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This column was submitted Friday, but because I’ve been busy covering the presidential caucus, I’m just now getting around to publishing it. I apologize. By Diane Denish We’re at that point of the session where nerves go jangling. Advocates for good, social causes scour the budget that the House has prepared hoping – sometimes against hope – that their programs received a blessing. Lobbyists roam from committee room to committee room trying to advance, amend or kill bills. Continue Reading

Help get kids off MySpace and into the open space

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By Diane Denish The 2008 legislative session found its legs in its second week. Health reform plans began moving through committee. Several ethics bills were introduced, including creation of an ethics commission, a limit on campaign contributions and disclosure of lobbyist salaries. A budget is expected from the House as soon as Monday. Committees started early in the morning, working through the hundreds of bills introduced thus far. Continue Reading

An argument for the governor’s health-care proposal

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By Diane Denish As we were preparing to embark on an effort to reform our state’s health-care system in this year’s legislative session, a newspaper cartoon caught my eye. Titled “The simplified health care program,” it showed two street vendors of the hotdog-stand variety. One of them offered “Fried Stuff” for $1. The other offered a defibrillator, $10 a jolt. While it was a humorous exaggeration, the sad fact is that too many of our citizens aren’t as healthy as they can be and, all too often, drastic and expensive health care is the best they can hope for. The problem affects every New Mexican – even those who have insurance and get basic, preventive care. Continue Reading

Pre-K program is working and should be expanded

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By Diane Denish The start of a legislative session always sparkles with energy. The capitol bustles with people and action. Legislators who’ve developed close bonds over the years get reacquainted. There are hugs and flowers and proud family members who’ve come to the Roundhouse to see their loved ones take to the House and Senate floors. This year’s opening day carried a poignancy as we in the Senate bade farewell to our late Senate president pro-tem, Ben Altamirano. Continue Reading

County is working toward a bright future for residents

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By Brian D. Haines I am flattered that Dr. Jim Kadlecek, in his Dec. 11 column on this site, is willing to give me sole credit for the 2003 lease (not sale) of Memorial Medical Center and the introduction of tax-increment development districts (TIDDs) into the New Mexico political landscape. He obviously thinks I wield a lot of clout. He’s wrong, of course. I’ll address the two issues in turn. Continue Reading