One of the major debates this legislative session is about extending school hours to increase public school performance. But then you get this in the voting rights bill:

That's better than the proposal to make the day a holiday for the entire state but it doesn't pass the smell test. That's because the Dems are also pushing for those extended school hours. Which is it? More school or more holidays?

What apparently does pass the smell test is a bill to make the smell of roasted green chile the "official aroma" of New Mexico. Maybe, but it's getting competition from all that legal marijuana wafting through the air. 

(See, this is why we need a full-time paid legislature with lots of staffers--to settle these critical matters once and for all.) 

As the only Republican left in the Legislature from Bernalillo County, Rep. Bill Rehm is used to being the odd man out. And he was again Tuesday when he went 0 for 5 with his series of crime-fighting bills. Every one of them was tabled by the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee. 

It's not only a rejection of Rehm's approach but perhaps a signal that some lawmakers are tiring of the ABQ crime problem and expecting more from city leadership. Most of the state is not enduring the crime outbreak that led to Rehm's bills. It raises the question of whether the city's banner crime proposal this year--the one asking for $20 million to track down folks in ABQ and around the state with outstanding arrest warrants--will make the grade at the Roundhouse. 

The aforementioned voting rights act does not have that controversial clause that would allow 16 year olds to vote in state and local elections but it now resurfaces in House bill 217. Well, clearly the teens aren't mature enough to vote but maybe we should let them run and get elected to the legislature. Would we notice a difference?

While the progressives have gone off the rails by advocating for 16 year olds voting, the far right Republicans are right behind them. Take a look:

Hear that violent criminals? You don't follow the laws anyway so do what you're going to do. Heck, the Burque gangsters may start voting Republican. 

The multi-billion dollar question of which companies will be awarded contracts to run the state's Medicaid program will have to wait for an answer. Amid high-level personnel turnover, a decision has been canceled. 

Awarding the contract is the most consequential financial and health care decision the state makes. We took a deep dive into Medicaid money January 16, focusing on a controversy over the billing practices of healthcare giant Centene, whose subsidiary WesternSky Community Care is a current Medicare provider and seeking a new contract. The current one is set to expire at year's end.