Category Archives: Uncategorized

At a recent legislative town hall, several legislators present named affordable housing as a top priority.  There was not much specificity as to how housing should be made affordable or how to get it done. Meanwhile, the people who actually … Continue reading →

The state of our Union is frightening. That is why we need New Mexicans to engage intensively at the state and local level. We are at a moment of unprecedented contradictions. Yet again, as in Iraq in 2003, a Republican … Continue reading →

Maybe somebody is worried about Dad, who has been way too depressed and scaring the family with hints of suicide. Maybe it’s a teenager who’s behaving too oddly. Or maybe there’s concern about a new child in the home. Those … Continue reading →

Constitutional Amendment 1 on the ballot this November asks a simple question.  Do you approve taking additional money out of the state’s Land Grant Permanent Fund (LGPF) every year? The amendment earmarks the money for public schools and early childhood … Continue reading →

Some New Mexicans who suffer from diabetes are paying a lot less for insulin, and that should begin to show up in health outcomes. It is probably too soon to expect measurable results. Diabetes is epidemic in New Mexico. According … Continue reading →

New Mexicans hoped this would be the year we take legislative action on crime. The action ran into complications. House Bill 5 was the most watched of several crime bills until it ran aground. The “rebuttable presumption” bill, sponsored by … Continue reading →

“You think you’re a big shot. I own you, and I own the legislature,” declared the liquor industry lobbyist, speaking loudly at Santa Fe’s La Fonda hotel, in a banquet room full of legislators and press. This legendary event happened … Continue reading →

            Twenty-six agencies, said the director of the Cattle Growers Association, speaking at a public forum several years ago. Federal and state. That’s the number of regulatory agencies her members – New Mexico’s ranchers —  had to deal with.  Then … Continue reading →

 NOTE: This column was written and published before the delta variant surge in 2021. Some days, only one person dies of Covid in the whole state of New Mexico. Good news, right? No, it most emphatically is not. It is … Continue reading →