, ,

Crib Sheet: February 4th, 2017

Crib Sheet: February 4th, 2017

“We just cut education twice — in the special session, we just cut it a few weeks ago, and we’re getting ready to cut it again. Three times. My constituents are like, ‘Can we at least freeze the film industry in these difficult times?’ ” – Representative Tim Lewis, in response to a proposal to increase tax incentives for the New Mexico film industry

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]
  • Governor Martinez approved a roughly $9 million “feed bill”, a spending bill that pays for the operating costs of the 2017 legislative session. Her approval included a veto of $800,000 in emergency funds for the New Mexico judiciary system.
  • The payday and title loan industry is defending itself against legislators attempting to limit the interest rates they are able to collect on loans issued by them.
  • An environmentalist piece on the Huffington Post claims recent companion bills filed in the Roundhouse are part of a Koch funded effort to “defeat solar companies” by “encumbering them in regulations”.
  • New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver plans to publish additional information online that attempts to make it easier to identify potential conflicts of interest.
  • New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas has joined efforts that attempt to find “a way to end the state’s long-running dispute with Texas over management of the [Rio Grande] river.”
  • Two pieces of legislation were killed in committee by the House Education Committee that tried to eliminate so-called “golden parachutes” received by college presidents, superintendents, and college coaches if their contracts are terminated early.
  • A group of faith leaders organized by the liberal group NM CAFé called on the Doña Ana County Sheriff to respond to Trump’s executive actions on immigration.
  • In the Albuquerque school board elections early voter participation is up.
[D.C.]
  • New Mexico’s D.C. delegation reacted to news of Trump’s Supreme Court pick Neil Gorsuch, a judge on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
  • On Friday U.S. District Judge James Robart’s ruling temporarily lifted “the Trump administration’s ban on all refugees and on visa holders from seven predominantly Muslim countries, making them once again free to enter the U.S.”. As one would expect, Trump early this morning had something to say about it.
  • The Trump administration took a “more measured tone” than previously announced positions relating to Israel by admitting that “Israel’s building of new settlements or expansion of existing ones in occupied territories may not be helpful in achieving peace with Palestinians”.
[Tech & Strategy]
  • To those talking about the death of data in politics, “that obituary may be premature” according to a piece on Campaigns & Elections.
  • Congressman Ben Ray Luján and the DCCC announced an “unprecedented early” effort to reclaim control of the House in 2018.
[Culture]
  • All hail our mighty pollinators! While there have been conflicting reports whether bee populations are in decline or not, one cannot ignore the magnitude of their importance. If you’ve always meant to inquire more about beekeeping in our environment consider attending The Business of the Bee – NMBKA Conference today at the South Broadway Cultural Center in Albuquerque. More info here.
  • The internet lost it over pictures of Obama on vacation sporting a backwards baseball cap.