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Legislative update: Anti-gun measure clears first hurdle, Saturday hearings set for key bills

Leave a Comment / Action Alert, New Mexico, News, Politics / By John Block

On Thursday, the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee passed a radical anti-gun bill, H.B. 9 by Democrat ballot harvester and Rep. Pamelya Herndon (D-Bernalillo), a radical anti-gun bill that would mandate citizens to lock up their guns.

“It is unlawful for a person who keeps or stores a firearm to do so in such manner that the firearm is accessed by a minor without the authorization of the minor’s parent or guardian or when used in the commission of a crime,” the bill reads.

It continues, “When a firearm is accessed by a minor and used in the commission of a crime, the person who keeps or stores the firearm commits unlawful access to a firearm by a minor and is guilty of a misdemeanor.”

It passed out of committee on a party-line vote. State Rep. Stefani Lord wrote, “There… seemed to be an issue with people waiting to speak and never got called upon” during the committee. “The people that did call in did a great job. The bill passed the first committee along straight party lines. This bill makes you a felon if a minor uses your firearm in a nefarious way. You will be charged with a misdemeanor and fined $1,000 if the minor touches your firearm without permission.”

In the Senate, scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s proposed bill to reduce the gross receipts tax rate in New Mexico by a meager 0.25 percent hit a wall in the Senate Tax, Business, and Transportation Committee. Also, the House Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee voted 6-4 against the Governor’s hydrogen bill on Thursday.

Far-left Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-Bernalillo) had her radical gas tax on the poor, S.B. 14, pass committee on Thursday with a 6-4 vote. It would result in a 20-35 cent or more per gallon tax increase — harming the poorest New Mexicans already struggling with gas prices on the rise once again amid global conflict.

The bill’s extremist sponsor, who is double-dipping with per diem and charging her electric car at the Capitol, brushed off complaints of the increased cost of gas. “It’s been something like 19 cents over 10 years,” she erroneously claimed.

Although it might appear there are not too many hot-button issues being discussed in committee Friday, on Saturday, there will be multiple bad bills showing up. Here’s what you need to know:

H.J.R. 2, the “Environmental Rights” amendment by Reps. Joanne Ferrary (D-Doña Ana) and Tara Lujan (D-Santa Fe)

This radical bill would enshrine “environmental rights” in the New Mexico Constitution, which would, in effect, put the final nail in the energy industry’s coffin — the fund which provides for most state funds for hospitals and schools, not to mention jobs. This bill was proposed last legislative session and the Piñon Post helped it die before it could reach final passage.

It’s back and it will have a House Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee hearing on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. The Zoom details are below:

Please click the link below to join the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83031344397 Or One tap mobile : US: +12532158782,,83031344397# or +13462487799,,83031344397# Or Telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 669 900 9128 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 646 558 8656 Webinar ID: 830 3134 4397

H.B. 68 “CRIMINAL CODE CHANGES” by Rep. Meredith Dixon (D-Bernalillo)

This radical bill turns law-abiding gun owners into felons if they are carrying a gun within a school zone. According to state Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park), “Exceptions are in the car if over age 19” and concealed carry. “However, open carry is LEGAL in NM, but you would now be arrested for a felony if you walked down the sidewalk within 1000 feet of a school zone. If you lived in a school zone, you are now a felon once you walk to your car on the street.”

Other issues with the bill include “school zone” being “defined to mean any public, private or parochial school or property used for school purposes and the area within 1,000 feet of the school property line, but it does not mean a post-secondary school. This bill is unnecessary, overbroad, confusing and sets up legal traps for law-abiding citizens. First, let’s acknowledge that criminals ignore gun-free zones. This bill will impact law-abiding gun owners,” Lord writes.

This bill was to be considered on Tuesday in the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee but was rescheduled for Saturday. The Zoom details are below:

Please click the link below to join the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87885692969 Or One tap mobile : US: +13462487799,,87885692969# or +16699009128,,87885692969# Or Telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 346 248 7799 or +1 669 900 9128 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 646 558 8656 or +1 301 715 8592 Webinar ID: 878 8569 2969

S.B. 43, “PROHIBITING LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE FOR A CHILD,” by Sen. Antoinette Sedillo-Lopez (D-Bernalillo)

This bill would allow youths who are sentenced for violent crimes, including murder, to be released in 15 years despite being given life sentences. The bill was referred to the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee and then the Senate Judiciary Committee.

This bill will be considered on Friday in the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee. The Zoom details are below:

For public participation, click on the following link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83347538157 to join the Webinar or via telephone 1-669-900-9128 Webinar ID: 833 4753 8157

Gas tax bill sponsor has taxpayers foot the bill for charging her electric car

4 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By John Block

According to photos exclusively obtained by the Piñon Post, far-left Senate Pro-Tem Sen. Mimi Stewart is taking as much as she possibly can from the New Mexico taxpayers — even plugging in her electric hybrid car in the Legislative parking garage while at work.

Stewart drives a white Ford C-MAX Energi, which is parked in her assigned spot, as can be seen in the pictures. She is utilizing the outlet on the wall of the parking garage to plug in as she goes to work passing her party’s agenda in the Senate.

This cost comes in addition to Stewart’s $174/day per diem, which is to be spent on gas, food, and lodging. Although it is unlikely to amount to a mammoth amount of money taken from the taxpayers for the electric charge, is it a good look for a sitting state senator to be taking per diem AND grifting as much as possible from the taxpayers.

Stewart is an ardent anti-energy Democrat who has for years proposed an extreme bill that would install “clean fuel standards,” resulting in a 20 to 35 cent per gallon tax on gasoline, which would harm the poorest New Mexicans.

“This is bigger than just the cost of gasoline…. This program does not really affect the cost of gasoline, like so many other factors that go into it,” Stewart claimed in 2021. She added, “When everybody talks about, ‘Oh the poor are gonna be hurt,’ I do believe the poor care about the climate.”

To make matters worse, Democrat Sen. Bill Tallman (D-Bernalillo) has sponsored S.B. 55, which would create an “electric vehicle income tax credit,” which would let Sen. Stewart get at least $2,500 in a tax credit since her vehicle falls in the scope of the legislation being bought before January 1, 2027.

So, the New Mexico taxpayers already subsidizing Stewart’s expenses while at the legislature with per diem are further paying for her electric vehicle’s charging while in Santa Fe and could potentially give the anti-energy legislator a tax credit for owning a hybrid vehicle.

Legislative update: Thursday hearing on anti-gun bill, Rep. Lord introduces recall legislation

Leave a Comment / New Mexico, Politics / By John Block

On Wednesday, the Democrats’ S.B. 1, sponsored by far-left Senate Pro-Tem Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-Bernalillo), which is an election year bill to raise teachers’ salaries, passed the Senate Education Committee by a vote of 11-0. It is suspect the Democrats only submitted such legislation in 2022 — an election year — while other non-germane legislation, such as legalizing recreational marijuana got its own special session last year to ram it through.

No Committee date has been given to S.B. 8 yet, which is a third-world-style election bill to rip all voting protections away from New Mexico’s voting system — leaving a gaping hole open for ballot harvesting, stuffing, and automatically sending people absentee ballots. The Piñon Post will keep you up-to-date on the latest regarding this bill.

On Tuesday, Democrats killed a GOP bill, H.B. 48 to eliminate the double-taxation of Social Security income to senior citizens. The bill died on a 4-4 tie vote, with all but one Democrat — Rep. Miguel Garcia (D-Bernalillo) — voting against the commonsense bill. GOP legislators have also filed H.B. 49, which is a duplicate bill eliminating social security double-taxation in New Mexico. It has yet to make the committee calendar.

State Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park) dropped a bill, H.J.R. 12, on Wednesday to allow recall of all elected leaders in New Mexico. It is unclear if Democrats will allow it to get to a committee, much less pass a single chamber. If passed and signed, it would go to the voters for final approval at the next election.

Far-left state Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero (D-Bernalillo) proposed H.B. 156, which would make felons of gun owners who own firearms with “a magazine, box, drum, tube, feed strip or other container that is capable of holding more than fifteen rounds of ammunition to be fed continuously and directly into a semi-automatic firearm.” The bill reads, “A person who violates this section is guilty of a fourth degree felony.”

Here is a Thursday bill hearing you need to know about:

Anti-gun H.B. 9 by Rep. Pamelya Herndon (D-Bernalillo)

On Thursday at 1:30 p.m., the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee will be considering H.B. 9, by Democrat ballot harvester and Rep. Pamelya Herndon (D-Bernalillo), a radical anti-gun bill that would mandate citizens to lock up their guns.

Please show up to testify against this radical anti-gun bill. The meeting details are below:

Please click the link below to join the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82353539692 Or One tap mobile : US: +16699009128,,82353539692# or +12532158782,,82353539692# Or Telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 669 900 9128 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 646 558 8656 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 Webinar ID: 823 5353 9692

Legislative update: MLG’s pro-election fraud bill filed, anti-gun bill postponed

1 Comment / New Mexico, News, Politics / By John Block

On Tuesday, the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee pushed consideration of the radical H.B. 68 by Rep. Meredith Dixon (D-Bernalillo) to another date, which angered many Republicans ready to testify against the extremist anti-gun bill that would criminalize people for merely carrying a gun — even just stowing the firearm in a car — within 1,000 feet of a school. This could impact countless law-abiding gun owners who merely live in the vicinity of a school.

Also on Tuesday, scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that the Democrat majority leaders of the New Mexico House and Senate are co-sponsoring the Governor’s pro-election fraud bill, S.B. 8 to further remove security measures in New Mexico elections — turning them into third-world, fraud-ridden scandals that would make citizens lose all remaining hope in the state’s electoral system. Read the bill’s text here. THIS BILL IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THIS SESSION FOR THE GOP TO KILL. It is likely to be introduced during the Senate floor session at 12:00 noon on Wednesday.

There are upcoming committee hearings on key legislation. Here are the bills on the calendar you need to know about so you can testify against them:

H.B. 33, the “Cigarette and Tabacco Products Tax” by Rep. Joanne Ferrary (D-Doña Ana)

The extreme bill that would increase the tax rate on all tobacco products regardless of source, including an excise tax of 20 cents per cigarette sold was referred to the House Health and Human Services Committee to then be considered by the House Taxation and Revenue Committee.

The Committee will consider the bill on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. The Zoom details are below:

Please click the link below to join the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84182969724 Or One tap mobile : US: +12532158782,,84182969724# or +13462487799,,84182969724# Or Telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 669 900 9128 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 646 558 8656 Webinar ID: 841 8296 9724

S.B. 21, “CREATING THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE INCOME TAX CREDIT,” by Sen. Bill Tallman (D-Bernalillo)

The bill that create a tax credit for people to purchase unsustainable electric vehicles was referred to the Senate Tax, Business, and Transportation Committee to be heard in the Senate Finance Committee.

This bill will be heard on Thursday, February 27, 2022, “30 minutes after floor session” in the Senate Tax, Business, and Transportation Committee. The Zoom details are below:

For public participation click on the following link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84895112616 to join the Webinar or via telephone 1-669-900-9128 Webinar ID: 848 9511 2616As for the Wednesday House floor session, the chamber will consider mostly useless House memorials, such as create “Bow Tie Day” by Rep. Joshua Hernandez (R-Sandoval) and honor the birthplace of communist activist Dolores Huerta, who claims unborn babies have no souls sponsored by Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero (D-Bernalillo).

Lujan Grisham’s election fraud bill is here to bring third-world elections to NM

7 Comments / New Mexico, News, Opinion, Politics / By John Block

On Tuesday, scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced her election fraud bill to create a wild west of election cheating in the state on social media, touting the bill’s file number as S.B. 8, although it was not posted on the New Mexico Legislative website at the time.

Lujan Grisham claimed, “While voting rights are under attack across the country, New Mexico is taking every action to protect and expand them. The New Mexico Voting Rights Act will safeguard access to the ballot box and ensure New Mexicans’ voices are heard.”

Voting rights are not under attack in New Mexico or the country — to the contrary. Many states are expanding the right to vote, but making it harder to cheat, such as in states like Texas, Georgia, and Arizona, which have put safeguards in place to help stop bad actors from infiltrating elections.

According to a press release from Lujan Grisham’s office, far-left Sen. Peter Wirth, who also serves as majority leader in the Senate, is the primary sponsor.

“Given all that is happening at the national level to stymie voter protections, states must step up to expand ballot access and support voter rights,” claimed Wirth “Our democracy depends on it. I’d like to thank Secretary of State Toulouse Oliver and Governor Lujan Grisham for their leadership on this issue and look forward to getting this bill passed and signed into law.” The United States is not a democracy and voting rights are not under attack or being “stymied.”

“New Mexico has the opportunity to be the innovative leader that expands voter protections and ballot access,” claimed the House Majority Leader Rep. Javier Martínez (D-Bernalillo), legislation sponsor in that chamber. “SB 8 will make sure the people of our state can freely and safely exercise their constitutional right to vote and we can protect our core democratic values.”

Democrat Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who has constantly attempted to weaken New Mexico’s elections and has refused to clean up voter rolls, claimed, “This legislation now gives us the chance to pass one of the most powerful voting rights bills in our state’s history.”

However, the alleged “voter protections” not only erode the right to legally vote in New Mexico, they create opportunity after opportunity to implement fraud across the board, such as giving voters seven full days after an election to return an absentee ballot — an easy way for radical leftists to swing elections by harvesting and stuffing ballots in drop boxes (something already in place in the state) to swing elections after the fact.

Other provisions in the bill include:

Increasing voter access by designating Election Day as a state holiday and allowing 16 year-olds to participate in local elections;
Creating a permanent absentee voter list that allows individuals to voluntarily receive mail ballots for each election without needing to make individual requests;
Expanding online voter registration opportunities by allowing individuals without MVD-issued ID to register online using their full social security number;
Supporting Native voting access by expanding the timeline for indigenous nations, tribes, and pueblos to request alternate voting sites;
Improving automatic voter registration by adopting a system that provides a mechanism for eligible individuals to become automatically registered to vote upon completing a transaction at the Motor Vehicle Department;
Enabling nominating petition signatures to be securely submitted electronically; and
Automatically restoring the voting rights of those convicted of a felony who are not currently incarcerated.

This legislative session, this bill should be THE SOLE BILL REPUBLICANS FOCUS ON to stop in its tracks, or the books will be cooked for years in the state, with little to no hope of going back. This is the kind of third-world illegal voting fraud that goes on in countries like Venezuela with its dictator Nicolas Maduro and Cameroon with its dictator Paul Biya — not the United States of America.

Call your senators and representatives and demand they oppose S.B. 8, a bill solely focused on sowing more election fraud into New Mexico elections. Find your legislators here.

More information about voter fraud in New Mexico can be found here.

Not satire: Anti-parent MLG starts ‘Proud Parents for Michelle’ group

2 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By John Block

On Tuesday, anti-parent alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham posted an eyebrow-raising social media message touting a new group she’s starting — “Proud Parents for Michelle.”

The scandal-ridden disgraced politician wrote, “Are you a New Mexico Parent? We want to hear from you – join our Parents for Michelle supporter group today,” sharing a link to a signup sheet, which asks, “Do you support all that Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Democrats have accomplished over the past 3 years?”

Are you a New Mexico Parent? We want to hear from you – join our Parents for Michelle supporter group today.https://t.co/8ctXXlTlzF pic.twitter.com/Qi6T7b7tAm
— Michelle Lujan Grisham (@Michelle4NM) January 25, 2022

Lujan Grisham shut down public schools for months, forcing countless children to go without education during the pandemic, and doing next to nothing to fix New Mexico’s low-ranking child well-being.

During Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s run for Virginia governor, the ex-governor claimed, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” He lost to Republican Glenn Youngkin.

Are you a parent who wants to have a say in your child's education?

Too bad. Terry McAuliffe says you have to sit down and shut up. pic.twitter.com/YOja0FWxVJ
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) September 29, 2021

Lujan Grisham, who is the chair of the Democrat Governors Association, refused to condemn the anti-parent statement.

She also has been trying to inject racist Critical Race Theory into the New Mexico public schools, which would create a racist environment in New Mexico schools to pit children against each other based on race. She sponsored and passed the most extreme abortion up-to-birth and infanticide bill in the nation.

MLG’s draft PED social studies rules full of CRT, anti-Hispanic, anti-police sentiments

Now, Lujan Grisham appears to be pandering for votes by a recent publicity stunt where she claims she is volunteering as a substitute teacher and now attempting to get parental support after running one of the most anti-parent administrations in New Mexico.

Legislative Update: Anti-gun proposal, tax bills have Tuesday hearings

3 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By John Block

Monday was another busy day at the Legislature, with the House Health and Human Services Committee (HHHC) passing on a party-line vote H.B. 16, “GUN VIOLENCE VICTIM ADVOCATE FUNDING” by Rep. Miguel P. Garcia, which is a radical anti-gun bill that would give money and advocacy to those who are victims or to survivors of “gun violence.”

HHHC member Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park) said during the meeting that “there is no such thing as gun violence,” which leftists were quick to criticize despite Lord’s facts presented in the Committee.

Oh, LORD! 😵‍💫 “There is no such thing as gun violence.” Republican Representative Stefani Lord. #nmpol #nmleg
— Charles Goodmacher (@CharlesGoodmach) January 24, 2022

Here are bill hearings you need to know about for Tuesday:

H.B. 68 “CRIMINAL CODE CHANGES” by Rep. Meredith Dixon (D-Bernalillo)

This bill will be considered on Tuesday in the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee. To testify, the Zoom details are below:

When: Jan 25, 2022 01:30 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada) Topic: House Consumer & Public Affairs Committee Please click the link below to join the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82353539692 Or One tap mobile : US: +16699009128,,82353539692# or +12532158782,,82353539692# Or Telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 669 900 9128 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 646 558 8656 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 Webinar ID: 823 5353 9692

H.B. 49, “EXEMPT SOCIAL SECURITY INCOME FROM INCOME TAX” sponsored by Rep. Gail Armstrong (R-Magdalena).

This bill would exempt social security from New Mexico’s unfair laws that double-tax these checks going to senior citizens. This is a positive bill and the Piñon Post encourages people to testify in support of it.

This bill will be considered in the HOUSE COMMERCE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. Zoom details are below:

Please click the link below to join the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88683384400 Or One tap mobile : US: +16699009128,,88683384400# or +12532158782,,88683384400# Or Telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 669 900 9128 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 646 558 8656 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 Webinar ID: 886 8338 4400

H.B. 33, the “Cigarette and Tabacco Products Tax” by Rep. Joanne Ferrary (D-Doña Ana)

The Committee will consider the bill on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. The Zoom details are below:

S.B. 21, “CREATING THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE INCOME TAX CREDIT,” by Sen. Bill Tallman (D-Bernalillo)

This bill will be heard on Tuesday “30 minutes after floor session” in the Senate Tax, Business, and Transportation Committee. The Zoom details are below:

For public participation click on the following link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84895112616 to join the Webinar or via telephone 1-669-900-9128 Webinar ID: 848 9511 2616

Dem rep’s home raided amid DOJ probe into sketchy group that funded MLG trip

6 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By John Block

On Wednesday, federal agents were spotted at the home and the Laredo, Texas office of Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX), as the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Unit, which investigates bribery and government integrity, is investigating him.

According to a recent report, “Documents obtained by Fox News show that in 2013, Cuellar and his wife took a $25,000 trip to Turkey and Azerbaijan which included a stay at a luxury hotel and was sponsored by the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians.”

In 2013, then-U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham went on a swanky trip along with nine other members of Congress to Baku on the Caspian Sea sponsored by the Azerbaijani government masked as the nonprofit corporations Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians (TCAE) and the Assembly of the Friends of Azerbaijan (AFAZ).

Reports indicate that the lawmakers and their staff, including Lujan Grisham, received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of travel expenses, luxury goods, such as scarves, crystal tea sets, gold-plated plates, turquoise earrings, and rugs, among other valuable items. Lujan Grisham did not disclose these gifts to the Ethics Committee, despite these luxury goods being above the threshold for disclosed gifts.

The rugs alone were valued at $2,500 to $10,000 — far above the $350 threshold set by the Ethics Committee. At the time, she claimed she did not disclose these luxurious gifts because she “did not think they were particularly valuable” and she reportedly said they were “unattractive.”

She took her fiancé, Manuel “Manny” Cordova, on the trip but paid $4,980 for his flights.

Lujan Grisham met with the Azerbaijan America Alliance on May 31, 2013 “regarding Azerbaijan-U.S. relations,” according to U.S. House lobbying reports.

Lujan Grisham has continued her luxurious lifestyle, if not paid by the Azerbaijani government, the New Mexico taxpayers have shelled out tens of thousands for her expensive habits, including expensive tequila and $200/lb Wagyu steaks. Throughout the pandemic, Lujan Grisham has broken her lockdown orders to buy lavish jewelry while New Mexicans were forced to stand in bread lines during the holidays due to her strict 75-person capacity limit in grocery stores.

Recently, upon arrival back from her “climate change” excursion to Scotland, Lujan Grisham made the taxpayers foot the bill for a lavish dinner party which included “[s]ous vide and butter-basted beef tenderloin with roasted vegetable Napoleon and rosemary red wine demiglace.” Dessert included a “chocolate pear tartlet with hazelnut crisp,” with the meal totaling $150 per guest.

As federal investigators probe Rep. Henry Cuellar, it is unclear if more will come out about more alleged corruption by Lujan Grisham, who directly received tens of thousands in luxury gifts from the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians — a front for the government of Azerbaijan.

Gov. Lujan Grisham’s office was contacted for comment but the Piñon Post has yet to receive a response.

Legislative update: Radical anti-gun bill to be heard Tuesday

1 Comment / New Mexico, News, Politics / By John Block

It is another week of the 2022 Legislative Session and Democrats ager going full-speed ahead trying to ram through extreme bills left and right.

Here are the bills you need to know about and how you can help stop them:

H.B. 68 “CRIMINAL CODE CHANGES” by Rep. Meredith Dixon (D-Bernalillo)

These bills will be considered on Tuesday in the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee. To testify, the Zoom details are below:

S.B. 15 “KN95 MASKS AND EDUCATION” by Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D-Doña Ana)

This radical bill will waste more taxpayer money by shelling out $10 million state dollars to buy “KN95” masks to disseminate across all New Mexico schools, as well as a fund “a robust statewide public education campaign about the importance and proper usage of masks.”

The wasteful bill will appear in the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee on Monday, January 24, 2022, at 1:30 or a half-hour after the floor session that day. The hearing will be held in Room 311.

The meeting details are below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87967039414 or via telephone 1 669 900 9128. The Webinar ID for SHPAC is 879 6703 9414.

Contact the committee members to advocate against this bill by clicking here.

S.B. 3 ENHANCING DEATH BENEFITS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT by Sen. George Muñoz (D-Cibola, McKinley, and San Juan)

This commonsense bill would enhance the death benefits for peace officers, mounted patrol officers, and reserve police officers in New Mexico.

After an officer has been determined to be killed in the line of duty, “[i]n addition to any other death benefits provided by law, the surviving spouse, children or parents shall be paid… one million dollars ($1,000,000) as supplemental death benefits.”

It appears Muñoz’s bill will also create a new fund called the “peace officers’, New Mexico mounted patrol members’ and reserve police officers’ survivors fund” that will reserve ten percent of “all money received for fees, licenses and penalties from life, general casualty and title insurance business pursuant to the New Mexico Insurance Code” to be paid monthly to the state treasurer and credited to the fund. It is to never have less than $1 million in the fund at all times.

It will also be heard in the Senate Health and Public Affairs on Monday at 1:30 p.m. or following the floor session that day.

S.J.R. 8 “SALARIES FOR PUBLIC OFFICIALS” by Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto (D-Bernalillo)

This bill would attempt to change the New Mexico Constitution to give authority to the Democrat-controlled State Ethics Commission to “review and establish the salaries of all elected state officers every two years.”

This legislation could open the door to sweeping increases in raises for elected officials in New Mexico, as well as bestow even more authority to the Democrat-controlled Supreme Court:

“When necessary, the chief justice of the supreme court may designate any justice of the supreme court, or any district judge of the state, to act as a judge of the court of appeals, and the chief justice may designate any judge of the court of appeals to hold court in any district, or to act as a justice of the supreme court.”

According to the fiscal impact report on the bill, it conflicts with H.J.R. 10 being proposed by socialist Rep. Angelica Rubio (D-Doña Ana) and Rep. Javier Martinez (D-Bernalillo), which would attempt to change the Constitution to give a salary to legislators — despite legislators making per diem and a pension. New Mexico’s legislature is supposed to be a “citizen legislature” not made up by career politicians.

This bill will be heard on Monday at 9:00 a.m. in the Senate Rules Committee, conveniently chaired by Sen. Ivey-Soto. The Zoom details are below: For public participation click on the following link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86412647187 to join the Webinar or via telephone 1-253-215-8782 Webinar ID: 864 126 47187

Other legislation to keep an eye out for in the coming days is S.B. 14, which would result in at least a 20-35 cent-per-gallon tax on fuel — hurting the poorest New Mexicans. This bill was previously proposed in the 2021 Legislative Session, but thanks to the Piñon Post’s advocacy to engage New Mexicans to testify against the bill, it died before reaching final passage.

ABQ small businesswoman Michaela Chavez running for BernCo Commission

1 Comment / New Mexico, News, Politics / By John Block

Albuquerque small businesswoman Michaela Chavez, a Republican, announced her candidacy for the Bernalillo County Commission’s District 1 seat, which encompasses most of the city’s west side south of Paseo Del Norte, west of Carlisle Boulevard, and north of Central. Along with the North Valley, Downtown, and the Westside, the District also encompasses To’Hajiilee and part of Laguna Pueblo.

The District is currently represented by far-left Democrat activist Debbie O’Malley, who was one of the people who tried to create Albuquerque’s “International District.”

According to a release from the Chavez campaign, Mrs. Chaves “is a lifelong resident of Albuquerque, and her familiarity and experience with her fellow citizens in Bernalillo County brings a voice to the county commission that offers common-sense solutions to old problems.” She has been involved with the local Bernalillo County Republican Party and previously sought the GOP nomination for Congress in 2021’s special election to fill a vacancy left by Deb Haaland in the First Congressional District.

“Before anything else, Michaela Chavez is a proud mother of two children. Chavez assists her husband of 18 years in the operation of his small financial firm. Chavez has a lengthy track record of community service and grassroots organization. Michaela Chavez plans to focus on crime, educational programs, and economic recovery initiatives to repair the damages caused by harmful policies during the” pandemic lockdowns.

“Michaela was taught all of the values that make New Mexico a great place to live: faith, family, hard work, and culture. She has also seen first-hand the same hardships that all citizens of Bernalillo County have faced: high crime, poverty, poor education, and leaders who have kept us dead last. She is running to address these issues and leave her kids with a better Albuquerque that affords them with the opportunities that we all know we can achieve with the right leadership.”

Michaela Chavez writes on her website, “I want to focus on the issues that impact New Mexicans, and we need to stop electing politicians who play political games with people’s lives. I want to work for you. We need to create more jobs, protect small business, improve our schools, and make public safety a top priority. The old ideas aren’t getting the job done—Bernalillo County needs a fresh perspective.”

Education, crime, small business, and homelessness are among the issues Chavez is running on. Read more about her by visiting her website here.