‘A good place to work': Westside ABQ lawmakers open offices, part of modernization push
A trio of Albuquerque-area Democratic lawmakers opened an in-person office space in a community college campus Saturday, one of several recent office openings that the legislators hope will boost services for constituents and also build momentum for a professional, paid Legislature in the near future.
Newly hired district legislative aides for Sen. Harold Pope, state Rep. Joy Garratt and state Rep. Charlotte Little will regularly work from a newly leased office space at Central New Mexico Community College's Westside campus. The office is in the 'WSII' building on the north side of campus.
Thanks to a provision in the state budget two years ago, at least 20 House lawmakers have opened individual or shared office spaces since late last year in or near their districts, according to Pamela Armstrong, spokesperson for the office of House Speaker Javier Martinez (D-Albuquerque). More offices are expected to open soon, she said. The same provision allowed lawmakers to hire paid legislative aides.
NM legislative recap Feb. 12: It's still too cold to harvest, but the session is heating up
Garratt, whose District 29 covers from Albuquerque's West Side to Laguna Pueblo, told Source New Mexico at the Saturday ribbon-cutting that, outside of the obvious benefit of the office being 'a good place to work' where constituents can reach their representatives year-round, the new office could demonstrate to the public why a more professional, modern Legislature is needed.
'Step one is actually having a staff person. Step two is having a space other than Starbucks, Panera Bread and a local coffee shop. Step three, and this is something I've worked on for three sessions, is modernization, paid legislators,' she said.
New Mexico's remains the only unpaid Legislature in the country, though lawmakers receive per diem payments during the session and for interim committee meetings. Lawmakers and good-government advocates say paying lawmakers would elicit better candidates and reduce the influence of lobbyists or other outside interests.
'I think if people see the effectiveness of being able to easily contact your state legislator, I think there would be greater public support,' Garratt said. 'If we do our jobs. They'll see it's beneficial. People don't know their state legislators. I got an angry phone call yesterday saying, 'Congressman Garratt, what are you going to do about the Trump budget?''
Lawmakers this year considered a joint resolution, which, if approved by voters, would create a commission that would determine and approve lawmaker salaries. But it never made it out of the Senate.
An independent review of the legislation noted that a base salary of $50,000, for example, for 112 lawmakers would be cost taxpayers about $5.6 million annually.
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San Francisco Chronicle
40 minutes ago
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NBC News
41 minutes ago
- NBC News
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NBC News
an hour ago
- NBC News
Federal agents in Trump's crime crackdown set up checkpoint in popular D.C. nightlife area
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Mayor Muriel Bowser on Tuesday characterized Trump's takeover of local police as an "authoritarian push" during a virtual event she held with constituents where she rejected the president's assertion that there's been a spike in crime. But the Democratic mayor conceded that while she opposes Trump's actions, he has the authority to carry out his executive order. "We all need to do what we can in our space, in our lane, to protect our city, to protect our autonomy, to protect our home rule, and get to the other side of this guy and make sure we elect a Democratic House so that we have a backstop to this authoritarian push," Bowser said. According to federal data released in January, violent crime in the district for 2024 was at its lowest level in more than three decades, and down 35% from the previous year. In Monday's order, Trump cited several high-profile violent acts in justifying his decision to deploy National Guard troops and take control of the D.C. police, including the fatal shootings of a congressional intern in June and two Israeli Embassy staffers in May. The directive to federalize D.C. police lasts for the 30-day maximum, barring legislation passed by Congress to extend that period. Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday that he plans to submit a bill that will include a request to extend his police takeover. 'We're going to need a crime bill that we're going to be putting in, and it's going to pertain initially to D.C.,' he said. 'We're going to be asking for extensions on that, long-term extensions, because you can't have 30 days.' Passage of such a bill would be highly unlikely since it would need Democratic support in the Senate. National Guard troops began arriving in D.C. on Tuesday, the first tranche of nearly 800 soldiers activated by the Army to assist law enforcement in carrying out Trump's order. Roughly 30 National Guard troops were on the ground Tuesday evening, joining 750 uniformed Metropolitan Police Department officers in conducting anti-crime operations across the city. A senior Army official told NBC News that the 800 National Guard troops are expected to be operational by the end of the week. Roughly 100-200 of those troops will be supporting law enforcement at any given time once all of them are deployed, according to a spokesperson for the Army. The primary focus of their work is providing law enforcement administrative help and protecting federal personnel and property, multiple U.S. officials told NBC News. The troops are not expected to engage in direct law enforcement activities. According to data provided by the administration, federal law enforcement personnel have helped make more than 100 arrests since Monday, a third of which have resulted in firearm-related charges. Including the federalized D.C. officers, more than 1,450 personnel participated in Tuesday's effort, according to administration figures Wednesday. That count included dozens of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who are joining personnel from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Secret Service. Roughly 40 agents within the Homeland Security Investigations division, which typically focuses on long-term probes into transnational crimes, have joined federal personnel in an effort to mitigate crime in the city irrespective of whether those crimes are directly related to immigration. Combating unlawful immigration, a consistent focal point of Trump's presidency, is also playing a role in Trump's D.C. police takeover, with agents from ICE's Enforcement Removal Operation carrying out "targeted" stings this week to arrest immigrants. A spokesperson for ICE said that an operation at a Home Depot "resulted in arrests of criminal illegal aliens convicted of assault, theft and gang activity." 'The President was clear, he will make DC safe and beautiful again, and ICE is proud to be a part of the solution alongside our federal law enforcement partners. This includes both immigration enforcement and efforts to combat crime in support of the US Marshals Service," the spokesperson said in a statement.
