News New Mexico

Gov. appoints a pair to the NMFA board

The Senate has confirmed two board members of the New Mexico Finance Authority, which was caught in a scandal last year over a fake audit.

Clovis businessman Blake Curtis was unanimously confirmed and Albuquerque lawyer Nann Winter won confirmation on a 34-3 vote in the Senate on Monday.

Curtis is a former state legislator. Winter serves as the authority's board chairwoman.

Republican Gov. Susana Martinez appointed the pair to the board overseeing the authority, which provides low-cost financing for capital improvements by cities, counties, schools and other New Mexico governments.

Nearly 30 animal protection bills in the legislature

New Mexico lawmakers this session are considering more than two dozen animal protection bills that propose everything from raising money for starving horses to increasing penalties for neglecting pets and continuing oversight of government-run shelters.

Animal rights advocates say the number of bills aimed at helping animals is higher than usual this year.

They say one reason is the increased awareness of the connection between cruelty to animals and abuse of people.

Elizabeth Jennings, executive director of Animal Protection New Mexico, says her agency is tracking some 30 bills this session, including proposals to make extreme cruelty like starving an animal or letting it freeze to death a fourth-degree felony.

Newsbreak New Mexico 12 p.m. Webcast 2/19/13

Newsbreak New Mexico 12 p.m. Newscast with Vanessa Dabovich

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Trophy poaching bill garners attention
High school dropout bill aims to take licenses
Gov. makes NMFA appointments

High school drop out rate bill aims to revoke licenses

It’s halfway through New Mexico's 60 day legislative session, and lawmakers are looking for ways to reduce our high school dropout rate.

One bill would require school districts to track those wannabe at-risk students through truancy records and failing grades, and then work with the Motor Vehicle Division to deny their licenses or revoke them.

Sen. Craig Brandt, a Rio Rancho Republican, is the bill's sponsor. Brandt's bill would make it harder for kids to drop out, financial hardship or illness being the main excuses. It would require students and parents to sit down for an exit interview with the principal, where all of the drawbacks to dropping out would be spelled out.

New Mexico's latest four year graduation rate has improved from 65 percent to 70 percent - which means the dropout rate is still about 30 percent.

Pregnant women advised to get whooping cough vaccine

Health officials in New Mexico are recommending that all pregnant women get a vaccine to guard against the spread of whooping cough.

The recommendation on Monday by the New Mexico Department of Health is intended to prevent the spread of the disease to children who are vulnerable to whooping cough.

Eight hundred seventy-four whooping cough cases were reported to health officials in New Mexico in 2012. That's three times more cases than were reported in 2011. New Mexico had two whooping cough-related deaths in 2012.

The New Mexico Department of Health recommends that all pregnant women receive the Tdap booster after the 20th week of pregnancy.

Discussion continues over min. wage bill

Voters could decide whether to increase New Mexico's minimum wage for inflation under a proposal backed by Democratic lawmakers.

The House Voters and Elections Committee is scheduled to consider the proposal today. It's already cleared one House committee on a party-line vote, with Democrats favoring it and Republicans opposed.

The state's $7.50 an hour minimum wage has been in effect since 2009. A proposed constitutional amendment would allow voters to decide whether to require automatic cost-of-living increases in the wage rate each year.

Business groups have opposed the legislation.

The measure goes to the 70-member House if it's endorsed by the Voters and Elections Committee.

Lawmakers squash liquor tax bill

From the Santa Fe New Mexican - by Julie Ann Grimm - It’s been more than 20 years since the state Legislature allowed voters in McKinley County to decide whether to increase taxes on alcohol to help pay for substance abuse treatment programs. Six times since then, voters there have opted to leave the tax in place. But state laws don’t allow voters in other New Mexico counties to have the same debate: Would adding 4 cents to the cost of a bottle of beer be worth an increase in funds to help rehabilitate substance abusers?
A measure proposing a local-option liquor excise tax has once again died in the New Mexico House of Representatives. The House Taxation and Revenue Committee last week tabled House Bill 212 on a late-night vote, and the proposal is unlikely to see the light of day again during this legislative session.
Year after year, county and city officials — including Santa Fe city councilors and county commissioners — have asked for the local taxing authority that McKinley County already has. They want to raise more revenue to provide steady funding for alcohol and substance abuse prevention and treatment. But the result has been predictably similar: State lawmakers aren’t going for it.
Rep. Jim Trujillo, D-Santa Fe, said he objected to the law because it would put an “undue burden” on liquor distributors who would have to change computer systems to charge different tax rates in different counties. Excise taxes are tacked on to delivery invoices, he said, not at the cash register. The other reason he cited for rejecting the proposal was that it would increase the cost of alcohol to the point where people would stop buying it in stores.
“Moonshine is being made and we are not getting any revenues from that,” Trujillo said at the hearing. “The more expensive it is, the more moonshine you are going to see being made in homes.” Read more

Cartoon by A. F. Branco

From Legal Insurrection.com

Newsbreak New Mexico 8 a.m. Webcast 2/18/13

Newsbreak New Mexico 8 a.m. Newscast with Vanessa Dabovich

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Gov. comments on "veiled blackmail"
Leg. works on Lottery shore up bill
State launches corrections dept. probe

Alb business owner not paying new minimum wage

From KOB-TV.com - An Albuquerque restaurant owner admits he is not paying his employees the city’s new minimum wage. He claims his employees agreed on paper to work at the old wage. One employee says he agreed out of fear of losing his job. "I'm a good server. I enjoy serving. This is what I've been doing," said Kevin O’Leary.
O’Leary was looking forward to the boost Albuquerque’s minimum wage increase would give him. That is, until he says his boss at Route 66 Malt Shop approached him with an ultimatum. "I asked him, 'what is this? What's this form all about?' And he said, 'well, it's just that you're agreeing to the $2.13 an hour.' So I signed it," said O’Leary.
Owner Eric Szeman said he warned employees of layoffs when the ordinance was proposed and admits he approached O’Leary and his tipped workers with an employment contract. "It was an attempt to save everyone's job, which we did,” said Szeman. “We worked out a compromise that saved everyone's jobs.”
"I would like to comply,” said Szeman. So why won’t he? “We can't afford it,” he exclaimed. “We don't have the money. We don't make the money. The option is I'll get my keys right now I'll kick all the customers out and I'll lock the doors. That's the only other option we have," said Szeman.
The City of Albuquerque says it is not legal for a business owner to draw up a contract, paying employees below the minimum wage. But, the city says, ‘The city is not responsible for enforcing this because it is a “self help” ordinance.” An employee could potentially file a lawsuit against his or her employer. Read more

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