New Mexico in Focus (A Production of NMPBS)

This week on New Mexico in Focus, senior producer Matt Grubs sits down with an expert from the New Mexico Department of Health to talk about COVID-19, the coronavirus that is sending the country – and the world – into a panic. The federal government has taken the lead on the country’s response, though state and local health officials will shoulder much of the burden.

After Super Tuesday, Democratic voters have winnowed the field of presidential hopefuls down to two candidates who are separated by only a handful of delegates, but a wide lead over the few candidates left: Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden. But among Democrats and Republicans, the word “socialism” is likely to be a big part of the campaign regardless of who wins. NMiF Senior Producer Matt Grubs talks with UNM professor Matthew Simpson on the realities and perceptions of socialism.

Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel look at why both of New Mexico’s U.S. Senators are asking for arrest data to track Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities, and debate whether ICE is targeting immigrant-friendly cities. The Line also discusses the efforts by the state’s GOP to turn New Mexico from a blue state into a red one, with a push to register Hispanic oil field workers to vote. Lastly, panelists on The Line debate whether professionalizing lawmakers will affect lobbyist spending in New Mexico.

This week on New Mexico in Focus, senior producer Matt Grubs sits down with the executive director of the New Mexico Ethics Commission, Jeremy Farris. Decades in the making, the commission began its work in January of this year. The interview is part of the Your NM Government project, a partnership with KUNM radio and the Santa Fe Reporter.

Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel wrapped up their insights into the just-ended legislative session last week, and now move on to what’s next in New Mexico politics: election season. For their second topic, the panel tackles the problem of the hundreds of cases in limbo due to a backlog at the state’s Court of Appeals. Finally, they look at the crisis for people suffering homelessness and question whether New Mexico cities are taking the best approach to address the issue. 

This week on New Mexico in Focus, correspondent Gwyneth Doland travels to the Roundhouse to get a feel for how lawmakers think the session went. The focus in the last days of the session is on money, and how much of it is safe to spend. This legislative segment is part of the Your New Mexico Government Project, a collaboration with KUNM Radio and the Santa Fe Reporter. 

This month’s installment of “Our Land” focuses on public land in New Mexico. Correspondent Laura Paskus takes us to a service project in the Sandia Mountains and visits a newly protected national monument in southern New Mexico that one group hopes will represent a chance to reconnect with the land that has authored its past.

Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel look back on the just-concluded 30-day session of the New Mexico Legislature.  They discuss the legislation that passed and the bills that didn’t quite make it. Some bills were sure hits, and some were unexpected misses. And in a departure for The Line, the panelists will expand their view to look at a national topic: President Trump’s recent spate of pardons. 

This week on New Mexico in Focus, “Our Land” correspondent Laura Paskus follows up on a story she broke last weekend. She talks to leaders at the New Mexico Environment Department about the low levels of PFAS toxic chemicals that have been found in some intake wells in the eastern New Mexico city of Clovis.

It’s back to the state’s capital with correspondent Gwyneth Doland and the Your New Mexico Government Project to check in on the progress of plans to reform the state’s failing public employee pension program. The Your New Mexico Government Project is a collaboration with KUNM Radio and the Santa Fe Reporter. 

Correspondent Antonia Gonzales also traveled to the Roundhouse to speak with tribal leaders on American Indian Day, February 7th. The day was focused on environmental protection for the next generation. The leaders talked about creating opportunities for young people and the importance of cultural preservation for the future of New Mexico tribes. 

Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel debate Senate Bill 5, the Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act as it advances through the legislature. This emotionally charged “red flag” bill has passionate supporters and opponents. The Line panelists also look at proposed changes within CYFD, the Children, Youth and Families Department. For their last topic, the Line looks at a pilot program in Santa Fe Public Schools that addresses the longstanding problem of student truancy. 

This week on New Mexico in Focus, correspondent Gwyneth Doland is back at the Roundhouse to talk to lawmakers about fair representation and the funding woes of the state’s new Ethics Commission. The budget debated in the House this week doesn’t fully fund the new commission, which is in place to monitor legislators. Also, there’s a movement afoot to change the way New Mexico redraws its political boundaries. Doland, who authored a report on the state’s shortcomings, checks in on the effort to make state government better reflect its citizens.

Senior producer Matt Grubs sits down with Tierna Unruh-Enos, who this week began a podcast called The Mesa, about the unsolved murders of women buried on Albuquerque’s West Mesa. The deaths of 11 women, one of whom was pregnant, are thought to be the work of a serial killer. This week marked the 11th anniversary of the discovery of the bodies.

Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel talk about the budget that was poised to pass the House as the Legislature hit its halfway mark. The 7.6 billion dollar budget does not include the governor’s Opportunity Scholarship plan to make tuition at state colleges and universities free for all eligible New Mexicans. The panelists also look at diversity in the New Mexico Legislature, and a group lawsuit alleging a failure by the U.S. government to adequately clean up the pollution from a decades-old fuel leak at Albuquerque’s Kirtland Air Force Base.

This week on New Mexico in Focus, correspondent Antonia Gonzales looks at sports gambling, with a focus on Isleta Resort and Casino. A 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision opened the door for previously banned commercial sports betting, and a number of New Mexico tribes have opened sports books at their casinos. Ms. Gonzales examines how and why Isleta Pueblo chose to open its sports book, what business is like, and what other tribes are weighing before they act.

Correspondent Gwyneth Doland travels to Santa Fe to talk to lawmakers about the push for an extreme risk firearm protection order law. The controversial bills, sometimes referred to as “red flag” measures, would let the state temporarily take a gun from someone found by a court to be a danger to themselves or the community. Doland speaks to lawmakers who both favor and oppose such a law.

Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel debate the worth of an agreement between two “nuisance” convenience stores and the city of Albuquerque. The stores have agreed to stop selling alcohol in mini and pint-sized bottles and to better self-police their properties. The Line also examines the progress of Senate Bill 115, the cannabis legalization bill, that passed its first committee along party lines on Tuesday. For the final topic, The Line looks at New Mexico’s problem with a backlog of wage theft complaints linked to the enforcement of the state’s minimum wage law.

This week, New Mexico in Focus takes a close look at topics important to the state now that the 2020 legislative session has begun.

Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel watched the governor’s State of the State address in the NMPBS studio as it was broadcast from the Roundhouse by our television crew. The Line panel of former lawmakers took a deep dive into their takeaways from the speech, which was streamed live on the web. We bring you highlights from the speech and from the panelists’ analysis.

Correspondent Gwyneth Doland travels to Santa Fe to talk to lawmakers about responsible budgeting and check in on concerns about open government.

NMiF host Gene Grant sits down with Charles Goodmacher of Transform Education NM, a coalition of education, tribal and community leaders whose mission is to advance a new vision for New Mexico’s public education system and hold the state accountable to meeting the constitutional rights of its students. They will discuss the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit that mandated New Mexico do a better job of providing an equitable education for English-language learners, Native, and low-income students.

NMiF senior producer Matt Grubs speaks with Kathleen Sabo of New Mexico Ethics Watch. The group authored a recent report on the influence of lobbyists on the nation’s only true citizen legislature. New Mexico has long struggled with a few powerful people holding sway at the Capitol. The rise of grassroots campaigning has changed the game, though well-moneyed interests are quickly shifting tactics to protect their interests. (All our legislative coverage is part of the #YourNMGov project, in collaboration with KUNM radio and the Santa Fe Reporter, and funded by the Thornburg Foundation and New Mexico Local News Fund)

NMPBS, KUNM and The Santa Fe Reporter are proud to bring you the 2020 State of the State Address, delivered by New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday, January 21, 2020. Along with the speech, we also bring you analysis and insight with a panel of former lawmakers. This is part of the #YourNMGov project. (Funding for #YourNMGov provided by the Thornburg Foundation and the New Mexico Local Journalism Fund). This year we also provided live annotated comments of the speech in partnership with newsrooms across the state. 

This week on New Mexico in Focus, it’s a preview of the upcoming legislative session. Lawmakers are already at work in the Roundhouse, and the full Legislature returns Tuesday, Jan. 21, to begin the 30-day session.

Ahead of the State of the State address, NMiF Senior Producer Matt Grubs sits down with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for a preview of what to expect when the governor delivers her official call to legislators for her second session as chief executive. The governor has already introduced a budget that will create a trust fund for early childhood development, and create a state department for the same purpose. But Lujan Grisham has different ideas than lawmakers about how much money the early childhood effort will take.

Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel delve into the governor’s plans to add their insights and informed opinions to the conversation. The group also gauges the mood at the Capitol as the Legislature arrives to another year with hundreds of millions of dollars in extra revenue, thanks to the oil boom in southeast New Mexico.

Correspondent Gwyneth Doland talks to members of the Capitol press corps for their views on what to watch for as the session begins. While the budget is the first priority in the “short” sessions for New Mexico, lawmakers will introduce hundreds of bills in the hope of getting approval from the governor to add their issue to the agenda. Among the controversial bills expected are a “red flag” law that would temporarily seize guns from suspected domestic abusers after a court hearing, and a measure to legalize recreational cannabis.

This week on New Mexico in Focus, it’s a look at how New Mexico’s oil boom in the Permian Basin is altering life for many in the southeast corner of the state. With people flocking to the area for jobs, community needs like roads, schools and housing are struggling to keep pace. The boom is also filling state government coffers as we head into the legislative session later this month. NMIF correspondent Megan Kamerick talks with journalists Jens Gould of the Santa Fe New Mexican and Dan McKay of the Albuquerque Journal about what this means for the state’s future.

In this month’s installment of Our Land, correspondent Laura Paskus sits down with John Fleck, co-author of the new book “Science Be Dammed: How Ignoring Inconvenient Science Drained the Colorado River.”

Senior Producer Matt Grubs and The Line opinion panel examine Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s budget plan for 2021 that she will present to the legislature when it convenes Jan. 21, as well as the smaller budget proposed by lawmakers. The Line also debates the shape of the U.S. Senate race in New Mexico, now that former meteorologist Mark Ronchetti has joined other GOP candidates seeking to fill outgoing Democratic Sen. Tom Udall’s seat. The Line also looks at crime in Albuquerque and the rest of our state.