NM Environment Secretary Urges Congress to Fund LANL Cleanup

David Martin

From therepublic.com - New Mexico Environment Secretary David Martin and a delegation of New Mexico leaders were in Washington this week pushing for more money to cleanup toxic waste at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Martin says the delegation stressed the need for more federal funding to ensure the lab can meet its promise to remove thousands of barrels of radioactive waste that is stored above ground on lab property by 2014.  Martin says the delegation stressed the need for more federal funding to ensure the lab can meet its promise to remove thousands of barrels of radioactive waste that is stored above ground on lab property by 2014. The potential dangers of the waste made national headlines last summer when the Las Conchas fire raged near the lab. Martin and the newly formed Regional Coalition of LANL Communities met with the New Mexico congressional delegation, National Nuclear Security Administrator Tom D'Agostino and others on Monday and Tuesday.

NM Environment Secretary Urges Congress to Fund LANL Cleanup

Full List of Martinez Signatures and Vetoes

Susana Martinez

SANTA FE – Readers can find a full description of any bill mentioned below on the state's bill finder page. Keith Gardner the Governor's Chief of Staff will be on News New Mexico this morning to answer regarding signed and vetoed bills. Goveror Martinez announced yesterday that she has concluded action on items passed during the 2012 legislative session. The 20-day bill signing period during which the Governor was able to sign or veto legislation sent to her by the legislature concluded at noon Wednesday.
Governor Martinez has taken action on the following items:
SIGNED HB 40 – Nonfranchise Auto Dealer Continuing Ed
SIGNED HB 42 – Legislative Retirement Contribution Changes
SIGNED HB 102 – Property Tax Valuation
SIGNED HB 231 – Income Tax Lottery Tuition Donation
SIGNED HB 277 – Federal Water Projects Gross Receipts
SIGNED HB 315 – Lung Cancer Research
SIGNED HB 190 – Reauthorize Projects
SIGNED HB 191 – Severance Tax Bond Projects
SIGNED SB 66 – General Obligation Bond Projects
SIGNED SB 196 – Schools for Deaf & Blind Capital Outlay
SIGNED SB 206 – GSD Contracts Database
SIGNED SB 209 – School District Financial Flexibility
VETOED HB 186 – Create Additional Judgeships
VETOED HB 188 – Increase County Official Salaries
VETOED SB 59 – Child Murder as Aggravating Circumstance
VETOED SB 71 – Interlocks for Certain Crime Convictions
VETOED SB 225 – Cigarette Tax Definitions
VETOED SB 302 – Bed & Breakfast Beer & Wine Permits
Tuesday, in addition to signing HB 201 and vetoing SB 9 the Governor took action on the following items:
SIGNED HB 55 – Local Government Planning Fund
SIGNED HB 64 – Change Thanatopractice to Funeral Services
SIGNED HB 102 – Estimate Property Tax in Valuation Notices
SIGNED HB 105 – Engineer & Surveyor License Requirements
SIGNED HB 219 – Military Installations as Fee Agents
SIGNED SB 10 – Condo Declaration Zoning Law Compliance
SIGNED SB 26 – Neighboring State Citizen Firearm Purchases
SIGNED SB 256 – Tribal College Dual Credit Programs
VETOED HB 72 – Judicial Retirement Changes

Full List of Martinez Signatures and Vetoes

Rep. Rhonda King also not running for re-election

Rep. Rhonda King

From Capitol Report New Mexico - Make it nine members of the state House of Representatives stepping down. Rep. Rhonda King (D-Stanley) announced Wednesday she will not seek re-election in House District 50. Rep. King said: “At this point of my life, I want to spend more time with my family, including my young daughter. I also look forward to continuing my service to the community, particularly my work on the Tri-County Juvenile Justice Board which provides programs to help improve the lives of youth in our communities. Known as a moderate Democrat, King has served in the House for 14 years and her district was altered in this most recent re-apportionment map to include not only King’s hometown of Stanley but also the community of Eldorado in Santa Fe. She’s the neice of former Gov. Bruce King, the cousin of state attorney general Gary King and the wife of Johnny Montoya, the chief of staff at the Public Regulation Commission. King’s announcement is the latest in a string of legislators who will resign at the end of their terms this year. Nine members of the 70-member House are stepping down and with four incumbents squaring off in two districts that are being consolidated under redistricting, that means at least 11 current House members will not return — and there’s still 13 days left before the filing deadline so more changes could happen between now and March 20. Read more

Rep. Rhonda King also not running for re-election

Courtesy of Conservative Daily News

     

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Governor axes more than 20 capital projects in Santa Fe

Gov. Susana Martinez

From the Santa Fe New Mexican - by Steve Terrell  - The new district courthouse currently under construction, a planned botanical garden on Museum Hill, the Santa Fe Farmers Market, La Familia Medical Center, Women's Health Services, El Museo Cultural and Santa Fe Public Schools were among the local entities hit Wednesday by Gov. Susana Martinez's vetoes.  Martinez cut almost $23 million from a capital outlay bill by using her line-item veto power to ax nearly 200 projects statewide. Those included more than 20 projects in Santa Fe County.  The executive director of the Santa Fe Botanical Garden, near the state museum complex on Museum Hill, said the veto of $201,000 for the project was "very disappointing," but it won't stop the garden from being built on the land it leases from the state.  The 280 projects left standing in the bill amount to $107 million in 10-year severance tax bond proceeds -- nearly a third of which will go to an Interstate 25 interchange at Paseo del Norte in Albuquerque.  Martinez also signed a separate bill authorizing $139 million in projects for colleges, senior citizen centers and libraries, but the property-tax-supported bonds require voter approval. No projects were vetoed in the general obligation bond measure.  Martinez explained in a statement that her vetoes were because the Legislature took a "grab bag" approach to capital outlay.  "Legislators divided up the funding among themselves and doled the dollars out to various projects within their districts -- regardless of whether the local community identified the project as useful or necessary, regardless of whether the project was adequately funded (or a plan existed to adequately fund it), regardless of whether the project was an appropriate use of severance tax bonds, and regardless of whether a better alternative funding mechanism existed for the project," she said. Read more

Governor axes more than 20 capital projects in Santa Fe

Tobacco bill vetoed

From the Alamogordo Daily News - SANTA FE For the second year in succession, Gov. Susana Martinez has vetoed a bill that would have forced a price increase on certain cigarettes produced by smaller companies. The bill was designed to make sure that all tobacco companies are reimbursing the state for medical costs related to smoking. Small companies selling cigarettes on tribal lands are not paying into the state escrow fund designated for smoking-related health expenses. Sen. Lynda Lovejoy, D-Crownpoint, sponsored Senate Bill 225 to end this disparity. She said allowing some companies to escape payment threatens New Mexico's 1998 master settlement with Big Tobacco companies. That agreement brings the state $35 million to $40 million a year. Martinez, in vetoing the bill Wednesday, said there was no pressing need to create the cigarette law. She vetoed a similar cigarette bill last year, calling it a tax increase. Martinez campaigned for governor on a promise not to increase any taxes. "While a credible argument can be made that escrow collection may or may not be a tax increase, my primary concern with this bill relates to ongoing arbitration between the state and major tobacco companies," Martinez said. Tobacco companies that signed the master agreement are challenging dozens of states on compliance issues. They hope to avoid or reduce annual payments to those states. "Because New Mexico is in compliance with the master settlement agreement, there is no need to amend the law at this time," Read more

Tobacco bill vetoed

Biggest Solar Storm in Five Years to Hit Earth

Wall Street Journal WASHINGTON—The largest solar storm in five years is racing toward Earth, threatening to unleash a torrent of charged particles that could disrupt power grids, GPS and airplane flights.The sun erupted Tuesday evening, and the effects should start smacking Earth between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. EST Thursday, according to forecasters at the federal government's Space Weather Prediction Center. They say the storm, which started with a massive solar flare, is growing as it speeds outward from the sun. "It's hitting us right in the nose," said Joe Kunches, a scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He called it the sun's version of "Super Tuesday." Read More News New Mexico

Biggest Solar Storm in Five Years to Hit Earth

Iran May Be Cleaning Up Nuke Work

From usatoday.com - Satellite images of an Iranian military facility show trucks and earth-moving vehicles at the site, indicating that crews were trying to clean it of radioactive traces possibly left by tests of a nuclear-weapon trigger, diplomats told the Associated Press on Wednesday.   Two of the diplomats said the crews may be trying to erase evidence of tests of a small neutron device used to set off a nuclear explosion. A third diplomat could not confirm that but said any attempt to trigger a so-called neutron initiator at the Parchin site could only be in the context of trying to develop nuclear arms. The images, provided to the IAEA by member countries, are recent and constantly updated, said one of the diplomats.  More News New Mexico

Iran May Be Cleaning Up Nuke Work

ACLJ to Represent 20 Tea Party Groups Against IRS

From theblaze.com -In February, The Blaze asked, “Is the Obama administration using the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to wage a war against opposition voices like the Tea Party?” The question centered upon the allegations from numerous conservative groups that the Obama administration is unfairly targeting them in an effort to stifle their speech. Now, The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) is stepping forward to represent nearly 20 Tea Party groups against what they believe to be a coordinated partisan attack. According to the ACLJ, a non-profit legal group that works toward “the ongoing viability of freedom and liberty in the United States and around the world,” the IRS asked questions that violate groups’ First Amendment free speech and association rights. “This appears to be a coordinated attempt to intimidate Tea Party organizations by demanding information that is outside the scope of legitimate inquiry and violates the First Amendment,” a press release quotes Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ, as saying. “These organizations have followed the law and applied for tax exempt status for their activities as Americans have done for decades.”  More News New Mexico

ACLJ to Represent 20 Tea Party Groups Against IRS

Anthony Elects New Mayor

Arnulfo Castaneda

From ktsm.com -The city of Anthony, New Mexico named a new mayor Tuesday. Arnulfo Castaneda beat out Juan Acevedo in the city's second mayoral campaign. We were at city hall as election officials counted each ballot and released the results of the race. Castaneda beat out Acevedo by 224 to 180 votes. The new mayor elect said he's ready to get to work. "I'm very happy it's been a long day and I was ready to get some results," Castaneda said. “There's many things that Anthony, New Mexico needs. We need to start working on after school projects for our youth and we need to work on our public safety needs and infrastructure." Acevedo said he will be challenging the results. “We want to do an investigation just to see if it was legal and everything was fine," Acevedo said. Acevedo said he heard of discrepancies with fraudulent ballots. A little more than 400 votes were cast in Anthony, New Mexico.

Anthony Elects New Mayor