The battle over restricting methane emissions from the oil and gas industry is headed to Bernalillo County. It’s in the form of a proposed resolution by Democratic County Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins, with the support of groups such as New Mexico Voices for Children and Hispanics Enjoy Camping, Hunting and the Outdoors (HECHO). The resolution is expected to be heard during Tuesday evening’s meeting.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Imagine what it’s like to be young and poor: Money is short, jobs are scarce, someone gets sick, and then the car breaks down. Of all the daily hassles you can imagine in this scenario, one that probably doesn’t come to mind is running short on diapers. Yet this is what often pushes families over the edge, says Emily Pepin, who counsels young mothers facing homelessness at Youth Shelters and Family Services in Santa Fe.
New Mexico’s small population stretches over a big state, so we have taken higher education to the students, with 32 colleges and universities. Nearly every sizable community has a branch or an independent institution. For our students, who tend to be older and need to hold a job while they take classes, this is a good thing.
New Mexico has the nation’s largest percentage of young children receiving food stamps, with nearly half of children age 4 and under participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to a report issued this week. The program, also known as food stamps, is the largest provider of nutrition assistance to children in poor families nationwide.
Legislators on opposing sides of the aisle are using remarkably similar arguments on two bills that would delay tax breaks and subsidies to businesses to help balance New Mexico’s projected $460 million shortfall between last year and this year. One would delay incoming corporate tax cuts for two years, saving the state an estimated $13.8 million this fiscal year, according to the Legislative Finance Committee.
The Atlantic--The front door of Nora Nivia Nevarez’s adobe-like house in suburban Albuquerque, New Mexico, opens to blocks and children’s books scattered around the brightly colored carpet, shaped like a puzzle piece. Throughout the afternoon, she keeps a careful eye on her four small charges, ages 4 months to 10 years, by turns reading books and helping them with puzzles. One little boy named Javier cries as his guardian, Guadalupe, picks him up. He’s tired and ready to go home.
SANTE FE, N.M. - Health care providers and advocates for children and low-income families are speaking out against any further cuts to Medicaid in advance of the special session on the budget that Governor Susana Martinez is expected to convene shortly. Legislators are facing a projected shortfall of about $325 million.
Income is up and poverty is down in New Mexico, new Census data show, but the state still lags behind the rest of the country in economic growth and remains one of just two states where more than 1 in 5 residents live in poverty. “There is relatively little movement out of poverty,” said Jeffrey Mitchell, director of the Bureau of Business & Economic Research at The University of New Mexico. “The poverty rate declined, but less so than other places.”
Gov. Susana Martinez agreed to a special legislative budget session — a half-day session to finalize “pre-approved” measures without tax increases. Are participatory public budget discussions inconvenient? Martinez prefers secrecy, cutting taxes, ripping education and other governmental services, corporate giveaways, even voter ID. She’s proven her priorities — people get as little as possible.
A public policy group that looks at the social costs of excessive drinking is asking Gov. Susana Martinez and legislators to increase the alcohol tax by 25 cents a drink to sustain state services amid spending cuts. Peter DeBenedittis of Alcohol Taxes Save Lives & Money said Tuesday the increase would raise $154 million a year — a fraction of what the state spends on police, courts, jails, emergency response and medical treatment in cases related to alcoholism.