Friday, March 22, 2019Friday Clippings From Our Newsroom Floor A former social worker with New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) is being investigated for child abuse and delinquency of a child. Police say Natalie Nicotine is accused of driving a juvenile to court while drunk in September. She's also accused of asking a juvenile for money and taking another teenager to buy marijuana. Secretary Blalock was brought in from California to straighten out this messiest of departments. Would he do some good by bringing in some social workers from out of state and increasing the salaries of those trained to more rigorous standards? He's new and he has time to change the damaged culture. But not that much. (And "Natalie Nicotine" is accused of buying marijuana for a kid? Folks, we just report this stuff). JABBING BACK AT JANE Reader Laura Stokes differs with the comments of GOP State Rep. Jane Powdrell-Culbert who praised the state Senate conservatives for holding at bay liberal legislation from new state House Dems: Joe, in response to Ms. Powdrell’s lecture to progressive legislators noted on your blog this week, I would ask why shouldn’t they expect to make big changes? After 8 years of neglect, incompetence and corruption by an administration which had no idea how to govern, there is so much to be done and these legislators set out to do it. An awakened constituency elected them and our governor to do just that and they did their best. And, in fact, some much needed legislation was actually passed after years of stagnation. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the state ranks dead last in the country in overall child well-being. . . Are these Republicans and conservative Dems so proud of their fiscal conservatism that they are willing to sacrifice our kids and our state’s future in the name of austerity when, in fact, there are resources that can be used to invest in children and families? They may gloat but they should know that even though this session has ended, the fight has only just begun. BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
This is a pic of Dem State Rep. Eliseo Lee Alcon and US Senator Martin Heinrich. Heinrich's office explains: Heinrich presented service medals to Vietnam veteran and Rep. Alcon of Milan. . . "Alcon spent over a year on the battlefield working to save the lives of his fellow soldiers. However, like so many Vietnam veterans, recognition for his service and sacrifice is long overdue. These medals are nearly 50 years past due and I am honored to present them to him on behalf of a grateful nation.” “I'm excited to finally receive these medals and grateful to Senator Heinrich for helping to retrieve them,” said Rep. Alcon. “It really shows his commitment to our veterans and the value he holds for those who have served our country.” Alcon was drafted in 1969 and served as a combat medic. . . He never received the medals he had earned. Alcon, 69, has represented House District 6 since 2009. It includes portions of Cibola and McKinley Counties. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.   (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019
Thursday, March 21, 2019With Legislative Session In The Rearview Mirror ABQ City Election Comes Into Focus, Plus: Optimists Beat Pessimists In State's Financial News 29 year old Zack Quintero, president of the NM Young Democrats, a NMSU grad and a current student at the UNM School of Law, says it's time for a "transition" from Benton and he is off and running with a formal announcement set for March 24. District Two takes in Barelas, Downtown, parts of the North Valley as well as neighborhoods near the UNM law school. Benton has already announced he is seeking another four term. He was first elected to the seat in 2005. Quintero says Benton's support of controversial transit projects like the ill-fated Central Avenue ART project will be a major issue as well as public safety. We'll have more on the race soon. There are three other seats up for election on the nine member council which is controlled by the Dems, 6-3. In District 4 in the NE Heights, Republican Brad Winter, the longest serving councilor, has not yet announced if he will seek another term. In District 6 Dem Pat Davis is expected to go for re-election and is heavily favored in the early going, although he is expected to have opposition. In District 8, incumbent Republican Trudy Jones has not yet made public her intentions. Candidates are now making declarations with the city clerk on whether they will seek public financing which both Benton and Quintero say they will do. In May candidates will begin collecting the necessary petition signatures to win a spot on the November ballot. Speaking of the ABQ City Clerk, history buffs take note: Did you know the Office of the City Clerk maintains historical minutes of City Council meetings dating back to 1890? For the next month we will provide a weekly post on what was happening with #CABQ in the 19th and 20th centuries! Hey, maybe they have the crime stats from the 1890's? That might make us look pretty good today. NOT FOR PESSIMISTS For a change the pessimists must be grinding their teeth because the good news about NM's finances just keeps coming. The price of oil touched $60 a barrel Wednesday for the first time in four months and then there's this jaw dropper: Exxon Mobil Corp. plans to reduce the cost of pumping oil in the Permian to about $15 a barrel, a level only seen in the giant oil fields of the Middle East. The scale of Exxon’s drilling means that it can spread its costs over such a big operation that the basin in Eastern New Mexico and West Texas will become competitive with almost anywhere in the world, Staale Gjervik, president of XTO Energy, the supermajor’s shale division, said in an interview. 15 bucks a barrel?? I mean, we're getting that thing down to the cost of a decent enchilada plate. And then there's this: The Feds look as though they are going to pump more money into the nuke programs here: The Trump federal budget proposal provides for an ample increase for modernizing nuclear weapons and that means a budget increase for Los Alamos National Labs, with the money stimulating the northern economy. How much of an increase specific to New Mexico has not yet been stated. We'll stop with the glad tidings while we're ahead. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019
Wednesday, March 20, 2019Veteran GOP House Member Says "Thank God" For Conservative Senate Dems, Plus: About That Tax Increase For High Earners Thank God for Senate Democrats,” said Rep. Jane Powdrell-Culbert, R-Corrales. “Some of these (House ) freshmen really thought Senate Democrats would think their ideas were the best inventions since ice cream. Doesn’t work like that.” Powdrell-Culbert, 69, has served in the House for 16 years, and while she was ready and willing to give the House freshmen a piece of her mind, she's probably also keeping a close eye on her Sandoval County legislative district. In 2018, a Democratic opponent scored 45 percent of the vote against her. The district is still GOP country but in the presidential election year of 2020 the Dems could make her work for it as the higher turnout will lift them up some. That would keep Powdrell-Culbert on her toes. Still, the feisty liberal freshmen are learning their lessons the hard way and with Powdrell-Culbert around class is definitely in session. FAKE NEWS OR NO NEWS? Was it "fake news or "no news yet" on the legislature's increase in the personal income tax for single filers making over $210,000 and for married couples filing jointly making over $315,000? In our Monday blog we opted for "fake news" because the tax increase is tied to a precondition--it takes effect only if state revenues in the fiscal year that begins July 1 do not grow more than five percent over the current budget. Several readers argued that that is not exactly fake news if you believe the Lujan Grisham administration's budget estimates for the 2020 fiscal year. Fair enough. For now we'll call the measure "no news yet." The budget officials project that while this year's general fund revenue will come in at $7.59 billion, the next budget year will see that shrink to $7.43 billion, forcing the tax hike to take effect. However, what if they are wrong? If revenue hits just a bit over $7.969 million--an increase of over five percent--the tax would die. And the way this oil boom has been generating cash, we would not count that out. If oil, currently priced in the high 50's a barrel, went up 15 bucks and stayed there, we could easily hit the mark, and we may do that without any price increase, given the historic and stunning volumes being produced in the SE Permian Basin. The Santa Fe bean counters nave been notoriously unreliable in recent years. During the recession they predicted state revenue shortfalls that were not nearly as worse as those that occurred and during the oil boom they have underestimated the cash flow to state coffers. As for the new tax rate, it would be a mild increase on the wealthiest taxpayers, giving them a a rate of 5.9 percent, up from today's 4.9 percent. ABQ Dem State Rep. Javier Martinez, vice-chair of the House Taxation and Revenue Committee, agreed with our assessment that the possible tax increase measure does not restore a progressive tax structure. He wants an interim committee to come up with such a plan that addresses all the tax brackets. He also might want to look at creating a new bracket--for taxpayers making over $400,000 or $500,000. Should they pay the same as the "little guy" making the $210,000? One correction: In our Monday blog we said if the tax rate were to take effect, it would start on January 1, 2022. Actually it would begin January 1, 2021. And a tip of the hat to the ABQ Journal capitol bureau chief Dan Boyd for supplying additional information for this report. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019 Tuesday, March 19, 2019Time For Another Edition Of Reader Vox Populi: Readers Write Of The Legislative Session, Dr. No, Tech Jobs, Balloons And Coloring New Mexico Joe, Good work covering the legislative session. NM is a backwater state in ways that keep us from progressing. MLG represents progress, but we have a mix of religious and rural values that make NM unique and aren’t going to change anytime soon, if ever. Sen. John Arthur Smith (chairman of the Senate Finance Committee) happens to have seniority and lives in Deming. Deming isn’t representative of much of NM, and John Arthur represents Deming and it’s values. But he won’t be in the Senate forever. We are in for a long, slow process of getting this state moving. Educating our kids at an early age is an essential part of the effort. Poverty remains New Mexico’s primary barrier to getting out of last place in child well-being. Reader Richard Flores writes of the most recent case of a child dying in the custody of foster parents and how that impacts the Children Youth and Families Department (CYFD): CYFD will, once again, come under intense scrutiny after a child died in foster care. We don't know what happened so the public, media and politicians need to withhold blame until medical findings are made public. In any case, CYFD faces another disconcerting and monumental PR fiasco. I believe the current governor is fully committed to serving the "best interests" of New Mexico's children, and it is unfortunate for this to happen so early in her term. Perhaps the task force to be appointed by the governor to reform child protection can come up with a reform package that will address the needs of our children and families for the better. DOUBTING DR. NO Reader Jeff Nordley writes of the decision of State Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith to not give a hearing on the bill to legalize recreational marijuana: Joe, About your coverage of the marijuana legalization bill sponsored by Rep. Javier Martinez. Theoretically, in a democracy the majority prevails. Well, according to the ABQ Journal a majority of citizens in every county in NM support legalization. But, thanks to one Senator in Deming Democracy is subverted. That's not democracy, that's ridiculous. An anonymous reader writes of their frustration with Senator Smith and other conservative Democrats, who along with Senate Republicans often form a conservative coalition to thwart legislation: We Democrats need a robust primary in 2020 to rid the party of DINO's (Democrats in name only). I plan to donate heavily to anyone challenging Sen. Clemente Sanchez of Grants or Senator Smith. TECH AND BALLOONS  Reader Barry Simon writes:Joe, I read an article recently about how tech entrepreneurs are looking elsewhere to start their companies rather than in unaffordable San Francisco. They mention Austin and Seattle. Then comes the kicker: "...even New Mexico." I guess our state is now one large city. But at least our burgeoning reputation as a tech center is being noticed. Reader Steve Wentworth is president of the neighborhood association near the ABQ Balloon Fiesta Park. He writes of Mayor Keller's $7.5 million proposal to extend a railroad spur into the park to expedite traffic flow: The Rail Runner spur line extending to Balloon Fiesta Park was considered a decade ago and died from a lack of support. Neighborhood leaders have been told the proposed spur line and a $2.5 million dollar slip ramp onto I-25 would only be used for Balloon Fiesta and maybe Freedom Fourth--less than two weeks of annual use. The majority of Park users drive to the Park and would not use the Rail Runner. Other improvements should be made to address the needs of people who use the park year round, including sewers, drainage, restroom facilities and utilities. The money for the proposed spur line and slip ramp could pay for additional city buses and improve mass transit system for the metro. It doesn’t make any sense to target such an extraordinary expensive item while ignoring real year-round needs. Good arguments, Steve, but the Mayor's seem a tad stronger, given the world class status of the event, even if the spur is used mainly for those two weeks. Those are the two weeks when millions of dollars come into the community from across the globe. GOOD BEHAVIOR Reader David Ley writes: Joe, Senate Bill 41, introduced by Senator Mary Kay Papen, is intended to ensure that the events of 2013, and the state’s unilateral and destructive actions regarding behavioral health cannot recur. The bill passed the legislature twice previously but was vetoed both times by Gov. Martinez. The bill again cleared the legislature this session, with bipartisan support and is on the Governor’s desk. We expect her to sign this bill. A documentary on the events of 2013 and its long lasting ripples is showing at the ABQ National Hispanic Cultural Center April 6 at 3 pm. Your readers are invited to attend. Behavioral health providers and Human Services Department Secretary David Scrace will attend. A reader writes of Bernalillo County Clerk Linda Stover winning a national award for her election worker training programs and provides this link. CALLING PETER WIRTH Reader Ken Tabish writes of the legislative session: Joe, Many kudos to you for bringing the backroom and front room maneuvers during the most recent legislative session. It is refreshing to see progress after eight years of, as you say, “nothingness.” You just gotta have a love to hate relationship with Dr. No (Senator Smith) as he was at it again with fellow Dem Senators Clemente Sanchez and May Kay Papen. There will be great efforts by the progressive wing to find candidates to go against them in the primary. My question from the sidelines is where was Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth? If he was wielding influence behind the scenes, it surely didn’t have an impact on these three. House Speaker Brian Egolf surely outperformed him in leading the House in pushing forth a progressive agenda. COLOR MY WORLD  Re your color suggestion for NM politics: "And there you have a New Mexican shade of Blue. Or maybe we should have our own distinct color given our state's unusual split on economic and social matters. How about a special color of turquoise?" I cherish our state mineral, turquoise, and its color is one of my favorites, but as a descriptive color for politics it seems inappropriate. The oft-used "purple" is not appropriate because it is a combination of equal parts of red and blue, which is not an accurate description of our politics. Since NM is more blue than red, how about the color violet, which falls between purple and blue on the color spectrum? Or is it too frilly a color to describe the rough and tumble of La Politica? If we really want to show the true colors of La Politica, Chris, we might have to go to black and blue. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019
Monday, March 18, 2019Session 2019: New Mexico Plays Catch Up: After A Lost Decade New Leadership Took Field And Came To Play; Our Recap Of The Top Plays And Key Players
A solid foundation was laid for what could indeed become transformative change in the years ahead but a foundation is not a home. So before too much celebratory champagne spills on to the floors of the Roundhouse, let's take a deeper dive.
--The big picture headline for the session is "New Mexico Starts To Catch Up." --The minimum wage--outside of the three large cities--had not been raised for a decade, woefully languishing at $7.50 an hour. Now it will go to $9 an hour in 2020 and eventually to $12 in 2023. The increase to $9 is 20 percent over ten years ago. Catch up. --The state's general fund budget first reached $6 billion in 2007-08. Flash forward to this year when it hit $7 billion for the first time. That's a rise of 17 percent over 12 years, or less than 1.5 percent annually. Catch-up. --Back in '07 the public education budget rang in at $2.560 billion. This year it comes in at $3.2 billion. That represents increase of 25 percent over twelve years and basically tracks the rate of inflation. Catch up. --State employees are getting a pay raise of 4 percent. They have had no pay raises or mostly tiny one percent increases the past ten years. That's catch up. Ditto for public schools teachers who this year received a pay boost of 6 percent. --The state's financial foundation had been so chipped away at by the recession and eight years of budget austerity that promised a better economy but failed to deliver that even the GOP this year did not fight the education budget which is 16 percent more than last year's. NEW MOOD It was an optimistic and productive session but let's put it in the context of the deep financial black hole we fell into this last decade. The result included several years of historic depopulation, a crime epidemic, a drug epidemic; a wave of child abuse, a loss of manufacturing jobs and a transition to a low-wage economy. This constructive legislative session began a long awaited restoration--not yet a transformation. There was significant legislation passed but from where we sit one of the more consequential changes was in the psychology. The Governor, House, Senate and members of both parties embraced, for the most part, the new order that features mammoth surpluses and the release of pent up frustration. After 8 years of do nothingism they went to work and a can-do spirit returned to the Capitol fueled by the Permian Basin energy boom that promises to fill state coffers for years. THE PLAYERS  But those proved minor detours on the way to a win. She helped craft a suitable compromise on the minimum wage, kept the controversial but precedent-setting Energy Transition Act on an even keel; failed on the constitutional amendment for early childhood but did so in a way that cues it up for another attempt; stayed the course on two gun control laws (despite the hectoring); presided over ground breaking legislation for at risk students; a needed increase in the public schools budget and warmed up the previously frosty gubernatorial relationship with legislators. The Alligators said she banged heads behind closed doors, but that's what a Governor does. There was merit to her post session Fourth Floor celebration. House Speaker Brian Egolf grew into the job more this year and right on schedule the Republicans grumbled that they were being shut out. Well, that's what happens when you are shut out at the polls. He had an embarrassing moment when he misspoke on a campaign finance reform bill but otherwise ran a tight ship. The addition of so many new progressive faces made it easier. Gone were Reps. Rodella and Trujillo who had made his life difficult. Much of the nonsense of past sessions--useless memorials and pontificating over red or green chile and the like--were mostly gone. The House was more productive than it has been in years. The Senate conservatives were like a batter facing ten pitches at once as they swatted away at Egolf and company's often unwanted presents.
The state's growing blue patches portend a coming to Jesus moment for the conservative Senate coalition that Smith has long presided over. That may come at the June 2020 primary election when progressives hope to challenge some of the conservative Dems. They will also work to take out a couple of ABQ area GOP senators in the general election that would finally bust the coalition. If the coalition does go, as we suspect it may, it would be the moderate Governor who would be the final check on any swing too far left. For now, the coalition stands but not as tall. ALSO OF NOTE  Senator Peter Wirth's constitutional amendment to stop electing and have the Governor appoint members of the Public Regulation Commission (PRC) made it through and will be on the November 2020 ballot, That could be a close one. . . Legalization of marijuana failed but a bill to decriminalize possession of up to half an ounce made it to the Governor. That seemed like a pitch-perfect compromise at this moment in history. Of course, the push for legal pot will be back next year. . . Senate coalition watchers have their eyes peeled on Senate President Pro Tem Mary Kay Papen of Las Cruces. She turns 87 tomorrow and her election plans for 2020 have not yet been announced. If she opts out, the seat would could go to a Dem progressive, delivering a blow to the coalition. Watching her close things out at the end of the session did not leave the impression that she was packing it in. We'll see. Happy Birthday, Mary Kay. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019 |
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