In a defiant op-ed published in the Albuquerque Journal, Democrat State Representative Marian Matthews from New Mexico openly criticized this year’s Senate Bill 3 (SB 3), the failed Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) bill, marking her firm opposition to what she described as a flawed proposal championed by the far-left progressives within her party. Matthews, who represents District 27, highlighted her commitment to protecting vulnerable populations, a commitment that led her to vote against the bill not once but twice.
Matthews invoked the words of Hubert Humphrey to underline her point, stating, “The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those who are in the shadows of life – the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.” She argued that the New Mexico Legislature frequently fails this moral test, and passing SB 3 would continue that trend by potentially reducing or eliminating services for those most in need.
The crux of Matthews’ argument revolves around the economic strains placed on caregivers, who are legally bound to pay the state minimum wage and provide mandated state benefits. She noted that, unlike other businesses, caregivers cannot simply raise prices to cover increased costs due to slow adjustments in state contracts. This leads to reductions in workforce and services, exacerbating the plight of about 70,000 of New Mexico’s “most vulnerable” citizens.
Matthews criticized the formation of the task force designed to develop the PFML, pointing out its lack of representation from caregivers, healthcare providers, and rural areas. She highlighted the unsustainable nature of the bill, questioning its long-term viability and the capability of the state agency assigned to administer it.
Reflecting on her own legislative efforts, Matthews mentioned her support for a more inclusive and sustainable PFML bill that she introduced in 2024. However, she encountered resistance from fellow legislators who believed exempting caregivers from payroll taxes funding the program would lead to its insolvency. “PFML would be paid for on the backs of the most vulnerable,” she lamented.
Matthews also shared personal anecdotes from her career, including threats from a powerful unnamed senator aimed at stifling her opposition to the PFML bill and other legislative efforts. Despite the political pressure and personal attacks, Matthews remains committed to advocating for the most vulnerable populations, stating, “Whether or not I win the election, I do not regret my votes. I don’t apologize for advocating for the most vulnerable New Mexicans.”
The representative concluded her piece with a call to action for more rigorous debate within her party, reminiscent of the Democrat Party’s former historical “Big Tent” approach. However, the Democrat Party of John F. Kennedy appears not only to be on life support, but deceased.
She expressed hope for a revival of vigorous, contentious debates to achieve better policy outcomes, boldly stating, “I’m up for a raucous debate if the Woke ever wake up!”
I went to the legislature committee meetings to oppose the “cloud seeding” bill. It was obvious it was already a done deal with most of Susan Martinez’s committee already supporting it. However, Marian Matthews was the only committee member who voted against it. She also asked some probing questions. Hurray for her. I wish we had a few more ethical folks like her in politics.
For what it’s worth, the bill died on the floor. But I later found out that NM has a Weather Modification Committee – not elected, of course. They pretty much have a free rein (not rain) to spew whatever chemicals they want into the skies.
Although they may try to manipulate “Mother Nature”, they cannot control it.
So, let’s call it what it is, they are poisoning the sky, the earth and the people on the earth. Normally that would be criminal, however, the Demoncrats get a free pass to steal, kill and destroy what God has created.
No matter the agenda, a Democrat is still a Democrat and will side for the overall agendas. Otherwise they would be an Independent.
Agree. Where was she when there was effort to impeach the governor. She was silent. Maybe she is thinking of running for another office…..
There is actually such a thing as weather manipulation with psychotropic equipment, which is already used, not for the good. Just be aware.
There are now several states that have voted to outlaw any geo engineering of their skies.
Ella, We are aware. As is true with the rest of the political corruption going on at full tilt right now. The issue and problem is, that the general public cannot do anything about it. Even when we do try to vote a Republican in, either the Dems make it impossible to make change, or the Republican is actually being bought and thus giving into the Dem agendas.
The weather is not the only thing evil people are manipulating.
I actually agree with Mrs. Marian Matthews on this one. Hard to believe it, but I do. She’s exactly right. There are pro-woke figures inside the state’s Democratic Party who bully people to support their agenda, or to target people who do not support their agenda(like one Mrs. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who’s arguably one of the biggest supporters of the woke agenda in the state, across the United States as a whole, across North America, across the Western Hemisphere, and across the globe, etc). This, among other reasons, is why New Mexico has been ranked dead last in the United States and ranked even lower I am sure on the planet for almost everything that is good. And now, New Mexico is also the most dangerous U.S state in the entire United States, including the U.S territories! I mean, you can’t make this stuff up. New Mexico is now the most dangerous U.S state in the entire U.S. There’s a reason for that, unfortunately. The crime rate in NM, which has gotten completely out of control and the Left and Democrats in the state, including the Governor, refuse to do anything about it. Even our own United States congressional delegation in Congress(Ben Ray Lujan, Martin Heinrich, Melanie Stansbury, Gabe Valequez, and Teresa Leger Fernandez), refuse to do anything about the rising crime rate in NM from Congress. And because of that, New Mexico has now become literally the most dangerous state in the United States. And it’s also becoming one of the most pro-woke U.S state in the country too, probably only behind Minnesota, where I am originally from, which is now like the most pro-woke U.S state in the Union. New Mexico has become this horrible place to live, to do business in, etc overall and it’s because of the Democratic Party in the state, especially the current Democratic Party in the state overall. But understand this. The Democratic Party has had control of the New Mexico government and maybe even the state’s education system, etc, for the better part of the last 90+ years of the 112+ years New Mexico has been a state, and possibly before that. And it is this fact that has made and caused New Mexico to be ranked dead last or last in education for many years, and ranked low for other things for many years as well. So I know that we hear people say that it’s horrible that New Mexico is ranked last in education and stuff like that, and I am not discounting that fact. But, this is nothing new unfortunately. New Mexico has been ranked last or very low on education in terms of the United States for many years. Part of this has been due to the fact that the Democratic Party has had control of New Mexico, in basically every aspect of it, including the education system at the state level, for many years and decades, in fact, as I said before, for the better part of the last 90+years of the 112+ years that NM has been a state. I mean, I remember like 12 years ago, when I was in high school here in New Mexico, we were ranked very low on education. So unfortunately, our horrible rankings on education is nothing new. It’s just that now, it’s more profound(I mean, 52nd in education if you want to count D.C and Puerto Rico as states even though their not, is disturbing). But, it’s nothing new unfortunately. But, I agree with Marian Matthews on this one. Yes, I know that she’s a Democrat and all and I know that she supports other things that they support and that’s bad. But, this time, I will agree with her on this one. Because she’s actually right about the Paid Family Leave Bill. This bill would have ruined the state’s healthcare system and all that stuff and it would made New Mexicans more vulnerable to poverty or whatever. Because let’s understand this, New Mexico is a poor state among the average or regular citizen(like myself). But, the government of New Mexico is not poor. State Senator George Munoz(D-Gallup) stated this. And you know what, he actually has a point. New Mexico, in terms of the government, is not a poor state. The state government in fact has had massive surpluses in recent years and so on. But, the average New Mexico citizen are poor and a law like the Paid Family Medical Leave would have ultimately made average New Mexico citizens more poor, most likely, in terms of healthcare and it would have basically ruined the healthcare system in the state. We basically have already had one healthcare law ruin the state in the past. And that was Obamacare, though it was a federal law implemented by President Obama, who claimed that with Obamacare that “if you like your healthcare plan, you can keep it”, basically asserting that Obamacare wouldn’t cause people’s healthcare plans and premiums to go up. It turns out that that was a lie in the long run, as everyone now knows. But, I digress.
I actually agree with Mrs. Marian Matthews on this one. Hard to believe it, but I do. She’s exactly right. There are pro-woke figures inside the state’s Democratic Party who bully people to support their agenda, or to target people who do not support their agenda(like one Mrs. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who’s arguably one of the biggest supporters of the woke agenda in the state, across the United States as a whole, across North America, across the Western Hemisphere, and across the globe, etc). This, among other reasons, is why New Mexico has been ranked dead last in the United States and ranked even lower I am sure on the planet for almost everything that is good. And now, New Mexico is also the most dangerous U.S state in the entire United States, including the U.S territories! I mean, you can’t make this stuff up. New Mexico is now the most dangerous U.S state in the entire U.S. There’s a reason for that, unfortunately. The crime rate in NM, which has gotten completely out of control and the Left and Democrats in the state, including the Governor, refuse to do anything about it. Even our own United States congressional delegation in Congress(Ben Ray Lujan, Martin Heinrich, Melanie Stansbury, Gabe Valequez, and Teresa Leger Fernandez), refuse to do anything about the rising crime rate in NM from Congress. And because of that, New Mexico has now become literally the most dangerous state in the United States. And it’s also becoming one of the most pro-woke U.S state in the country too, probably only behind Minnesota, where I am originally from, which is now like the most pro-woke U.S state in the Union. New Mexico has become this horrible place to live, to do business in, etc overall and it’s because of the Democratic Party in the state, especially the current Democratic Party in the state overall. But understand this. The Democratic Party has had control of the New Mexico government and maybe even the state’s education system, etc, for the better part of the last 90+ years of the 112+ years New Mexico has been a state, and possibly before that. And it is this fact that has made and caused New Mexico to be ranked dead last or last in education for many years, and ranked low for other things for many years as well. So I know that we hear people say that it’s horrible that New Mexico is ranked last in education and stuff like that, and I am not discounting that fact. But, this is nothing new unfortunately. New Mexico has been ranked last or very low on education in terms of the United States for many years. Part of this has been due to the fact that the Democratic Party has had control of New Mexico, in basically every aspect of it, including the education system at the state level, for many years and decades, in fact, as I said before, for the better part of the last 90+years of the 112+ years that NM has been a state. I mean, I remember like 12 years ago, when I was in high school here in New Mexico, we were ranked very low on education. So unfortunately, our horrible rankings on education is nothing new. It’s just that now, it’s more profound(I mean, 52nd in education if you want to count D.C and Puerto Rico as states even though their not, is disturbing). But, it’s nothing new unfortunately. But, I agree with Marian Matthews on this one. Yes, I know that she’s a Democrat and all and I know that she supports other things that they support and that’s bad. But, this time, I will agree with her on this one. Because she’s actually right about the Paid Family Leave Bill. This bill would have ruined the state’s healthcare system and all that stuff and it would made New Mexicans more vulnerable to poverty or whatever. Because let’s understand this, New Mexico is a poor state among the average or regular citizen(like myself). But, the government of New Mexico is not poor. State Senator George Munoz(D-Gallup) stated this. And you know what, he actually has a point. New Mexico, in terms of the government, is not a poor state. The state government in fact has had massive surpluses in recent years and so on. But, the average New Mexico citizen are poor and a law like the Paid Family Medical Leave would have ultimately made average New Mexico citizens more poor, most likely, in terms of healthcare and it would have basically ruined the healthcare system in the state. We basically have already had one healthcare law ruin the state in the past. And that was Obamacare, though it was a federal law implemented by President Obama, who claimed that with Obamacare that “if you like your healthcare plan, you can keep it”, basically asserting that Obamacare wouldn’t cause people’s healthcare plans and premiums to go up. It turns out that that was a lie in the long run overall, as almost everyone now knows. But, I digress.