In New Mexico, we value our hardworking immigrant communities and our diversity. The mere presence of ICE vans and deportation squads has already caused a ripple of fear and panic through our communities. It must stop here and now. – part of a letter delivered to Governor Martinez by Doña Ana Democrats in the House of Representatives
The Crib Sheet is a collection of stories, events, and ideas that are shaping the conversation in New Mexico and D.C. politics.
[New Mexico]
- The 60 day Legislative session is halfway done today, with plenty of budget battles to come.
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided a Las Cruces neighborhood yesterday, which appears to signal that the nationwide immigration enforcement raids that were reported over the weekend are happening in New Mexico. The raid sparked a protest in Las Cruces and some House Dems to hold a news conference in the Capitol Rotunda. Today in Santa Fe and in several major U.S. cities protests on Trump’s immigration policies are expected.
- The Senate passed a campaign finance reform bill that, among other requirements, would force independent groups to disclose their donors even if electioneering is not the group’s primary purpose. The bill now heads to the House.
- Representative Jason Harper, Republican from Rio Rancho, introduced a bill “restructuring the state gross receipts tax and simplifying income and other tax policies”. The bill brings back the gross receipts tax on food and eliminates most exemptions to the gross receipts tax (including online sales). Two senior Democrats have agreed to co-sponsor the bill: Senator John Arthur Smith of Deming and Senator Carlos Cisneros of Questa.
- The House voted 35-33 to rescind 3 previous bills that approved participation in a constitutional convention of states.
- The NM GOP is going after new Speaker of the House Brian Egolf saying he failed to disclose a potential conflict of interest representing a licensed marijuana producer.
- A bill allowing open primaries in New Mexico received a warm reception on Tuesday compared to the reaction earlier in the week in the Senate.
- Senator Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces introduced a bill in a push for renewable energy that “would require utilities to search for the least expensive generation when proposing new power purchases or construction”.
[D.C.]
- Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham’s planned meeting with the head of ICE “was canceled at the behest of Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly and the White House” according to the Congresswoman, who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Her national exposure is no doubt a boost to her stock in the 2018 gubernatorial campaign.
- The White House plans to have a co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management lead “a broad review of American intelligence agencies”, following the departure of Michael Flynn as his national security adviser. Trump wrote on Twitter this morning that the “low-life leakers” responsible for Flynn’s ouster will be caught.
- According to reports Trump has asked retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward to succeed Michael Flynn.
- Andrew Puzder’s withdrawal as Trump’s choice to be Labor secretary was due to a lack of support from Republicans. UPDATE: Trump announced today that Alexander Acosta, a former U.S. attorney and current dean of Florida International University College of Law, is his new pick for Labor secretary. If confirmed Acosta would be the first Hispanic member of Trump’s cabinet.
- The Washington Post has a long read on the U.S. oil and gas industry and how they might benefit from Trump’s support of developing domestic energy.
- Workers at a Boeing plant in South Carolina have rejected efforts to unionize, “setting up a picture-perfect stop for President Trump, who visits the facilities this week.”
[Tech & Strategy]
- Edward Snowden apparently has a new job figuring out “how to protect reporters and the people who feed them information in an era of eroding privacy”.
- A survey by the Pew Research Center shows that “Facebook was the top non-television source for election news cited by supporters of both candidates” in 2016.
- Marc Champion at Bloomberg Politics describes how to know a populist when you see one.
[Culture]
- Orale! Through March 5th the New Mexico History Museum will feature an exhibit covering the car culture of northern New Mexico. Slate had a cool piece covering the exhibit last summer.
- Hey art lovers: New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art has now published online almost 400,000 images for free.
