The college and university ranking and review site, Niche.com, ranked New Mexico’s college campuses in terms of safety.
The safest college campus, according to Niche, is Northern New Mexico College in Española. The four-year degree offering school earned a “B+” safety ranking.
The top-ranking university campus is Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU) in Portales, which ranked a “B+” grade and the second spot overall when factoring in both colleges and universities.
ENMU President Patrice Caldwell said to Eastern New Mexico News, “Our Public Safety Department, vigilant faculty and staff, and our well-maintained facilities make ENMU an attractive home away from home for our students. Student success begins with a safe place to live and learn.”
The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro clinched the third spot out of all schools in the state, with a “B” rating. New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas ranked fourth among all colleges and universities in the state with a “B” rating as well.
New Mexico’s other universities went unranked, with New Mexico State University in Las Cruces scoring a “B-” grade while the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque scored a much lower “C-” grade. Albuquerque is the sixth most dangerous city in the United States.
Read Niche’s full rankings of New Mexico college campuses here.
Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) Secretary Kurt Steinhaus is requesting another increase in spending on the Department despite the state failing behind every single other state and the District of Columbia in education.
The request for more cash comes directly after Lujan Grisham’s administration demanded a massive lump of funding the administration claimed was an education “moonshot” to help solve New Mexico’s failing education system.
Despite the “moonshot,” New Mexico’s education system remains the lowest in the nation. The PED receives the largest sum from the state budget, making up approximately 45 percent, or around $4 billion.
Steinhaus’ department is now requesting an at least 6.3 percent increase, increasing spending for the department to $4.3 billion.
Lujan Grisham’s regime not only brought no results with its union-focused education agenda; It actually plunged New Mexico’s students into historic decline.
“We’ve got to build a budget that will deliver a better outcome of getting those licensed people in the classroom,” Steinhaus said.
From 2020 to 2022, fourth-grade mathematics scores for New Mexico children are ranked 50th out of all 50 states, being beaten only by the territory of Puerto Rico. Eighth-grade mathematics scores ranked 49th, being nearly tied with Washington D.C. and West Virginia while only beating Puerto Rico in that category.
In the category of reading, New Mexico fourth-graders ranked once again took the bottom spot, with no jurisdictions ranking higher in the category, but the District of Columbia, West Virginia, and Alaska coming close. New Mexico eighth-graders also scored the lowest in the nation, with the exception of Puerto Rico. Other states with similar low eighth-grade reading scores include Oklahoma, Alabama, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
Only 19 percent of New Mexico fourth-graders are proficient in math, while 13 percent of New Mexico eighth-graders are math proficient. 21 percent of the state’s fourth graders are proficient in reading, while 18 percent of New Mexico’s eighth graders are proficient in the same category.
In both mathematics and reading, New Mexico’s children did not change in the rankings, while all other states and jurisdictions improved post-pandemic.
Fourth-grade math scores are the lowest in 17 years, while eighth-graders scores are the lowest in 30 years. In reading, New Mexico fourth graders had the lowest scores in 13 years, while eighth graders in the same category had the lowest scores in 15 years.
According to financial reports filed by the Democratic Party of New Mexico’s federal political action committee (PAC), the entity received $10,000 from disgraced crypto founder Sam Bankman-Fried on August 31, 2022. He founded the failed crypto exchange FTX, which he used to launder money, according to a federal indictment.
The failed crypto mogul may have illegally taken about $10 billion in FTX customers’ funds for his trading firm, Alameda Research, whose future is also in peril, according to the Wall Street Journal. He is now worth close to nothing after his downfall.
Bankman-Fried was one of the Democrat Party’s largest donors until his downfall. On December 13, he was indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission and commit campaign finance violations.
The disgraced ex-crypto boss gave mostly to Democrats, although some Republicans received cash from him as well. The Democratic Party of New Mexico, however, was one of the largest 25 recipients of campaign donations.
BREAKING: SBF has been charged with violating campaign finance laws.
He has given $42 million to Democrats & "dark money" to Republicans.
But there hasn't been a full list of the politicians he paid.
The Democrat Party has not refunded Bankman-Fried’s contribution, nor has it made any public statements regarding taking the large contribution from the accused money launderer.
In a strange turn of events, far-left Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is urging New Mexico legislators to adopt a $750 to $1,500 rebate plan with the new windfall of over $1.1 billion in “new money” to spend in the new fiscal year due to increased oil and gas proceeds
The Albuquerque Journal reported, “The specific size and scope of the rebates remain under negotiation with the session just over a month away, but a spokeswoman for the Democratic governor said Tuesday the rebates could be in the ballpark of $750 per taxpayer – or $1,500 per married couple filing jointly.”
“The governor has been working for several months to urge the Legislature to support using a portion of the one-time funds to deliver another rebate to New Mexicans as they continue to experience high costs due to inflation,” Lujan Grisham’s press secretary Nora Meyers Sackett said.
“The record-high revenue projections present a unique opportunity to keep more money in New Mexicans’ pockets, and the governor will continue to push for an additional round of rebates as we near the legislative session,” she continued.
Backtracking to the 2022 campaign, where Lujan Grisham beat her GOP opponent Mark Ronchetti, she blasted his campaign’s plan to give tax rebates based on oil and gas production — essentially the same policy she is proposing now.
Ronchetti’s website read during the campaign, “At current oil and gas production and budget surplus levels, this would amount to more than $500 for every man, woman, and child in New Mexico.”
In July, Lujan Grisham’s campaign railed against Ronchetti’s plan, calling it a “fiscally irresponsible socialist scheme” that would eliminate funding for the state budget. The governor’s administration has now copy-pasted the Ronchetti plan.
Lujan Grisham’s previous critique of Ronchetti’s plan came after she approved robbing the Land Grant Permanent Fund of billions to pay for socialist “free” daycare, approved $75 million annually for socialist “free” college (including for illegal aliens), and promoted full-blown socialist policies, such as the state’s “Energy Transition Act,” also known as the Green New Deal to implement the socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-style policy.
On Wednesday, a Christian doctor and Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), sued the state of New Mexico in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. The doctors sued after the state enacted a 2021 law forcing doctors to aid in physician-assisted suicides. The attorneys argued the mandate to facilitate the end of a patient’s life via a cocktail of life-ending drugs violated their religious conscience and professional ethics.
According to Life News, “The federal lawsuit explains that, despite historic condemnations of assisted suicide, New Mexico enacted the Elizabeth Whitefield End-of-Life Options Act in 2021. The law requires physicians who are conscientious objectors to facilitate suicide by informing patients about assisted suicide and referring patients to physicians and organizations who will participate in ending their lives. If physicians decline to participate based on their religious beliefs or professional ethics, they can face substantial criminal, civil, administrative, and professional liability, including risking losing their medical licenses.”
“New Mexico is unlawfully compelling physicians to speak a certain message about assisted suicide, even if they object for reasons of conscience or faith,” ADF Senior Counsel Mark Lippelmann told Life News. “The Christian doctors we represent believe that every life is sacred and full of inherent value, and that assisted suicide ends an innocent human life without justification. The government should not force doctors to surrender their religious, moral, and ethical convictions.”
CMDA member Dr. Mark Lacy, who practices in New Mexico, has joined the lawsuit.
Background on the law:
The anti-life law passed the Legislature despite bipartisan opposition to the radical measure, with a final vote of 24-17. Despite the vast opposition, Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is close friends with the bill’s sponsor, now-former Rep. Debbie Armstrong (D-Bernalillo).
Democrats Pete Campos of Las Vegas, George Muñoz of Gallup, and Benny Shendo Jr. of Jemez Pueblo, joined Republicans in voting against the measure. Despite invoking his Catholic faith and saying he attended mass at the Cathedral, Sen. Joseph Cervantes (D-Doña Ana) voted with anti-life Democrats to approve the bill.
During the debate, Sen. Gregg Schmedes (R-Tijeras) said, “My concern is that when we legalize this practice, as we’ve seen in other states, the overall suicide rate goes up.” He added, “When I use the word ‘suicide,’ I don’t use it flippantly. Suicide’s the intentional taking of your life.”
The bill, which is opposed by multiple disability rights groups, the Navajo Nation, and many patients living with terminal conditions, seeks to further normalize a culture of death in New Mexico by letting medical professionals prescribe lethal drugs to patients who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness that could take their lives anytime up to six months.
The bill would legalize doctors to prescribe a “cocktail” of lethal drugs to patients suffering from terminal illnesses, which will save insurance companies money.
During the bill’s hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sunday, the “expert witnesses,” law professor Robert Schwartz and physician Steven Kanig could not even list the drugs that would be prescribed to end an individual’s life and admitted that there is no set “cocktail” that is used. Schwartz claimed the concoction of harmful drugs “has been refined over the years” and that “these drugs do change.”
Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s New Mexico Human Services Department (HSD) just released its budget request for the New Mexico Legislature, which the Department says it will use to continue to prop up expanded pandemic-era social programs. HSD wrote in a press release that it is “requesting a budget of $1.6 billion that will leverage an additional $8.4 billion in federal funds to assist 1,088,981 New Mexicans who will experience significant reductions in Medicaid and SNAP (food stamps) benefits when the COVID-19 Federal Public Health Emergency ends.”
The state portion — $1.6 billion — is a 14.4 percent increase from HSD’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget request. In the previous year’s budget, the Department expanded by 22 percent, or $257 million.
HSD wrote in the press release, “The Human Services Department provides services and benefits to 1,088,981 New Mexicans through several programs including: Medicaid, SNAP (food assistance), income supports, behavioral health, financial assistance, utility assistance, and child support.”
“Our mission is to transform the lives of the 1,088,981 New Mexicans we serve through our programs and services, and now we have the opportunity to develop a new Medicaid waiver to drive transformation in healthcare,” said David R. Scrase, M.D., cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Human Services Department.
“HSD has a once in a century opportunity to fund measurable improvements in health outcomes as every state dollar in Medicaid generates an additional $3.52 in a federal match – it’s a great investment that can dramatically strengthen our healthcare system that has served New Mexico so valiantly during the pandemic.”
Although the state claims it wants to focus on fixing New Mexico’s “broken behavioral healthcare system” with the expanded budget request, its own statistics show it only used $7,958,100 of the $1.2 billion in federal COVID relief funds during the 2020-2022 fiscal years. In contrast, it spent $468,965,500 on food stamps during the same period. HSD insists it will use the state money for the following:
Building on the July launch of 988, the national behavioral health crisis support line, HSD is requesting a statewide expansion of the Crisis Now integrated behavioral health response system that includes Mobile Crisis Teams and Crisis Triage Centers designed to respond to a variety of behavioral health needs safely and effectively. This request will support the development and launch of half of the State’s needed system (two in urban areas, seven in rural areas, and six in frontier areas).
Implementing Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHCs), a federally recognized model of sustainable and high quality, integrated behavioral health clinics that research demonstrates shows outcomes. The suite of required services for CCBHCs enhances and supports the already established 988 system in NM and will be launched in Eddy, Grant, Lea and Doña Ana counties as the first step towards statewide expansion.
Raising non-Medicaid behavioral health reimbursement rates from 85 percent of Medicaid to 100 percent, eliminating the discrepancy between payments for services ineligible for Medicaid and/or other forms of insurance. HSD provided 214,951 adults with non-Medicaid behavioral health services from April 2021 – March 2022.
Regarding food stamps, the Department writes, “Benefit enrollment has increased by 20 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic. HSD will begin redetermining eligibility for many SNAP and Medicaid customers when the Federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) ends. These redetermination efforts require increased staff capacity and additional IT investments, which is reflected in this request. Importantly, this fiscal year 2024 request brings HSD to a level of staffing needed that will allow HSD to meet federal requirements ensuring timely delivery of benefits and services to our 1,081,988 customers as we unwind from the PHE.”
According to Fiscal Year 2023 estimates, 1,055,525 New Mexicans are on government assistance through New Mexico’s Human Services Department.
New Mexico’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget was $8.5 billion, the largest in state history. During that budget year, the state delved out 11% of the budget to New Mexico’s Department of Health and Human Services, according to the Legislative Finance Committee.
On Wednesday, the state’s canvassing board certified the remaining legislative elections that resulted in automatic recounts.
The results of both recounts had the same individuals winning. Republican Jenifer Jones of Deming Defeated incumbent Democrat Rep. Candie Sweetser in District 32. Jones has a 46-vote lead, which is unchanged from the initial results.
In the Albuquerque-based District 68, Democrat candidate Charlotte Little defeated Republican Robert Moss by 35 votes — a difference of one vote from the initial 36-vote lead.
The news now affirms that Democrats will officially control the state legislature with 45 seats to Republicans’ 25 seats.
The board, comprised of Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, and Supreme Court Chief Justice Shannon Bacon, all Democrats, certified the election. Bacon was not present at the certification.
Now, the House will officially have 16 new freshman legislators (* indicates previous legislative service):
The far-left Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) dark money group is petitioning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reintroduce jaguars into New Mexico’s Gila National Forest in the southwestern part of the state.
According to the Arizona Republic, “The 107-page scientific petition seeks the reintroduction of jaguars to the Gila National Forest in southwestern New Mexico. It also calls for the designation of critical habitat for their recovery in New Mexico and Arizona, including space to facilitate safe cross-border movements between the U.S and Mexico.”
The group’s Michael Robinson wrote in the lengthy legal filing, “We’re requesting a total of 14 million acres of critical habitat in both states,” adding, “The goal, of course, is to recover the jaguar in part of its historic range in the Southwest.”
CBD’s move, which is supposedly meant to protect the large South American cat, just so happens to be an opportunity for enviro-Marxists to attempt the ending of border security between the United States and Mexico, claiming the cat has a large population in the border state of Sonora, Mexico. The Mexican state borders both Arizona and New Mexico.
The lefist group claims, as reported by The Republic, “Populations of jaguars in South America are healthier and show significantly more genetic diversity than those found in northern Mexico. Rapid expansion of development, a border wall and the construction of Interstate 10 have all been linked to the destruction of habitat for the jaguar in the southwestern United States and Sonora.” However, the report even notes how the populations of the jaguars — which are by no means native to the United States — are weakening.
Jaguars were first reported to be in the United States in the late 1700s. The population mostly became extinct around the 1960s, and environmentalists have been chomping at the bit to revive the cats’ population. There are a few jaguars still roaming throughout the southwestern United States.
“This is a real opportunity to do right by a species that has been part of the Southwest for a very long time and has only been gone for a relatively brief period of time,” claimed Robinson.
CBD is responsible for harming cattle ranchers and others who conserve land with frivolous lawsuits. Notably, the group petitioned for a cut in cattle grazing to save the supposedly “fragile” meadow jumping mouse in New Mexico’s Sacramento Mountains. No one has ever physically seen the creature there.
In the past, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said, “the relentless petitions and lawsuits over endangered species have diverted too many agency resources to the courtroom,” according to The New York Times.
As we reported in July, Democrats in the state legislature are scheming to ram through even more bad anti-gun bills to limit New Mexicans’ right to bear arms. They held a hearing where many proposals were previewed.
During the July hearing, far-left Democrat Albuquerque-area legislators Dayan Hochman-Vigil and Pamelya Herndon released their plans to sponsor anti-gun bills in the 2023 Legislative Session. One measure would create and beef up the “Office of Gun Violence and Prevention,” which was initially funded $300,000 in the 2022 Legislative Session. Anti-gun activist Miranda Viscoli said the department, to be comparable with states like Colorado, needed approximately $3 million in funding.
Herndon proposed a bill forcing New Mexicans to lock up their firearms. If they did not, and their gun somehow was used in an offense by a minor, the parent of that child could be made a felon if the victim of the crime is killed or permanently disabled. As noted by even some Democrats in the chamber, the bill would be the first crime proposal to base a defendant’s sentence not on their own actions but that of someone else (a minor) who got ahold of a firearm.
Previous versions of this bill sponsored during the last two legislative sessions by state Sen. Antoinette Sedillo-Lopez (D-Bernalillo) have died.
Now, even more anti-gun proposals are coming to light. According to the Albuquerque Journal, “Rep.-elect Reena Szczepanski, D-Santa Fe, who plans to sponsor the legislation that would raise the buying age for purchasing AR-15-style rifles, said New Mexico needs to keep forging ahead on a multi-faceted approach to addressing gun violence.”
“She also described the bill as aimed at closing a loophole, as New Mexico already has a minimum age of 21 to purchase semi-automatic handguns.”
In response to the proposed gun grabs, state Rep. Stefani Lord said, “I feel the gun bills they present are consistently going after responsible gun owners and are not addressing crime issues.”
Democrats are also floating expanding New Mexico’s anti-gun “Red Flag” laws that violate both Second Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights.
On Monday, the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) announced that it projects around a $1.1 billion increase in new revenue for the fiscal year 2024 thanks to the oil and gas industry.
The report projects $3.6 billion in recurring revenue for the year, a massive 42.7 percent increase from the roughly $2.5 billion revenue estimate for the 2023 fiscal year.
The “new” money will mean more funds for legislators to spend or save during the next legislative session, which starts on January 17, 2023.
Despite Democrats being hell-bent on knee-capping the oil, gas, and coal industries in every possible way, the funding to the state coffers for education, health care, and other key pieces of the budget comes thanks to extractive energy industries.
Many legislators have urged the state to use excess funds for one-off projects that benefit the long-term fabric of the state, such as infrastructure projects to fix roads and rebuild aging government buildings.
One project Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is adamant about ramming through is $10 million to build a new abortion center in Las Cruces to abort even more Texas mothers’ children.
State Sen. George Muñoz (D-Gallup), the Senate Finance Committee chairman, said after the LFC report, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican, “No one in this state’s history has ever had this opportunity, and if we don’t use this opportunity to fix problems within our agencies, fix problems within our schools, then we’re going to lose out.”
