Latest news with #AustinFisher
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Potential Medicaid cuts drive NM health legislation plans
Rep. Larry Scott (R-Hobbs) speaks during a committee hearing during the 2025 legislative session. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM) As a panel of state lawmakers on Tuesday planned out their work for the rest of the year, their hopes to improve health outcomes for New Mexicans were overshadowed by the looming threat of federal cuts to health insurance coverage. At the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee's first meeting since the most recent legislative session, Rep. Larry Scott (R-Hobbs) told the committee lawmakers need to be ready if the U.S. government turns administration of Medicaid over to the states. 'I don't think any of those changes should try to take us by surprise,' Scott said. State and federal officials say the GOP budget bill making its way through the U.S. Congress could not only reduce federal spending on Medicaid but also the oil and gas revenue that the state government could use to cover the costs. In the worst-case scenario, the proposal would translate to cuts of more than $1.1 billion for New Mexico's Medicaid program, according to one of the Legislature's top budget advisers. The worries over Medicaid cuts come as New Mexico is in the middle of restructuring its entire behavioral health care treatment system, with the state's Medicaid program expected to create a group of licensing boards to help streamline mental health providers' credentialing. During public comment at Tuesday's meeting, Rick Madden, chair of government affairs at the New Mexico Medical Society, told the committee that his organization strongly supports the committee's focus on the potentially extreme effects of funding cuts and work requirements on local patients and communities. Sen. Liz Stefanics (D-Cerrillos) said she wants the health panel to receive updates from the Federal Funding Stabilization Subcommittee, which legislative leaders created late last month in order to track all federal money coming into New Mexico. 'Many of us, of course, are very concerned about it, and it's not just Medicaid that we need to be concerned about,' Stefanics said. Rep. Marianna Anaya (D-Albuquerque) suggested the panel have a joint meeting with the Legislative Finance Committee for any health care-related cuts coming from the federal government, not limited to Medicaid. 'When we're talking about funding and affordability, knowing that we're going to have to plug holes, what realistically does the picture look like for us?' Anaya asked. During the legislative session, New Mexico created a new Medicaid Trust Fund that aims to generate enough in interest to pay for at least some of what the federal government could cut in Medicaid spending. Rep. Eleanor Chavez (D-Albuquerque) wants the committee to review what's happening with that money. The committee's next meeting is scheduled for June 25 through June 27. Lawmakers also suggested where they will hold their meetings, however, a complete schedule was not available as of Tuesday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NM Supreme Court rules alleged crime victims don't need to disclose visa applications
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Nov. 20, 2023 in Santa Fe. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM) The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday ruled unanimously that criminal defendants are not entitled to visa applications from their alleged victims who are seeking protections from deportations as part of their testimonies. So-called U and T visas allow non-citizen crime victims to report crimes and testify against perpetrators without fear of being deported. Approved visas allow victims temporary stays in the United States and also a potential avenue to lawful permanent resident status. Last year, the court ordered judges in San Juan and Bernalillo counties to return or destroy victim visa application material that prosecutors had previously provided to defense teams. The court's new ruling in an opinion issued today provides the legal reasoning for that order. Local DA says immigrant crime victims are going silent amid deportation fears, letting abusers free A rule requiring prosecutors to provide applications to defense teams could have a 'chilling effect' on 'immigrants' willingness to report crimes,' the court's opinion, written by Justice Shannon Bacon, said. First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies recently told Source New Mexico that some immigrant crime victims have stopped answering her phone calls, potentially out of fear of being deported despite qualifying for U visas. About 25 alleged crime victims applied for the visa in her judicial district in the first two months of 2025. One woman who stopped participating in the criminal justice process accused her partner, a United States citizen, of abusing her and two kids, both under age 11 and citizens themselves, Carmack-Altwies said in February. While the court rules that visa applications are now confidential and protected against disclosure during discovery, there are instances when information in an application must be turned over. For example, if the prosecution knows that a victim has applied for a U visa, they should turn that over to the defense team, 'because the fact of a U/T-Visa application is relevant impeachment material,' the court wrote. A crime victim's credibility could reasonably be called into question, according to the court, because the benefits of a U or T visa are 'significant and could provide ulterior motives.' The court explained that 'the defense may impeach the victim's credibility by cross-examining the victim about the potential benefits that a U/T-Visa offers to a victim, acknowledging these benefits are significant and could provide ulterior motives.' When the U/T-visa application is relevant to the victim's motive, the court wrote, a defendant can: Cross-examine witnesses, including victims, regarding their knowledge and participation in the U/T-Visa application process and their reasons for involvement; impeach a witness who has made 'prior inconsistent statements on the topic'; educate the jury about what U/T visa is and their benefits by cross-examining the state's witnesses or direct examination of defense witnesses'; and make related closing arguments Also, if prosecutors have a copy of the visa application and material within it bears on the defendant's guilt, then the information — 'not the application' itself — must be disclosed, according to the court opinion. If the prosecution and defense disagree on whether information in the application is material, a judge may have to review it in private.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers urge water board to reconsider produced water rule
The New Mexico No False Solutions Coalition and members of the Defend NM Water Campaign held a rally to share their concerns about the proposed oil and gas wastewater reuse rule on May 6, 2024 outside the Roundhouse in Santa Fe. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM) On Thursday, 27 Democratic New Mexico lawmakers wrote to the 14-member board that governs state water policy, urging members to reconsider in an upcoming meeting its recent decisions regarding oil and gas wastewater. Last month, the Water Quality Control Commission continued deliberations on a proposed rule to expand the uses of oil and gas water outside the oilfields. Deliberations have been ongoing since December 2023, when the New Mexico Environment Department petitioned to expand legal uses beyond oilfields. With New Mexico water sources expected to become increasingly strained by more demand and shrinking supplies from a hotter, drier climate, the relationship between oil and gas and its wastewater has sparked a major policy debate in the past few legislative sessions and in the WQCC's rulemaking. The state's oil and gas production generates billions of gallons of wastewater, which is extremely salty and can include radioactive materials and heavy metals from underground; chemicals used in the fracking process; or cancer-causing or toxic compounds mixed in from the oil and gas, such as benzene. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has floated using treated oil and gas wastewater in manufacturing and other industries in her Strategic Water Supply proposals, but lawmakers stripped produced water from the final bill. Water and conservation groups that opposed the idea said that treatments for the water remain unproven and the waste poses threats to human and environmental health. The WQCC rule-making deliberations included several weeks-long hearings in 2024 with hours of testimony from scientists, water experts, environmental officials and industry representatives. In April, recent edits to the rules culminated in the board adopting positions to allow for some pilot projects to discharge treated produced water into the groundwater, and allowed for so-called 'closed-loop' projects to bypass the permitting process. The letter, signed by Democrats in both chambers, called the board's limitations for these pilot projects 'insufficient,' and said they contradict existing law and potentially risk human and environmental health. 'The decision to allow ANY discharge of treated oil and gas waste to ground or surface water prior to the development of treatment and quality standards is both irresponsible and dangerous in the extreme,' the letter said. The letter cited testimony from New Mexico State University researchers, experts from the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association and even NMED, which requested the rule change, that produced water contains toxic chemicals and treatment options have not been proven safe nor effective. 'Until credible, scientifically based standards for treatment and water quality are adopted, we believe it is premature to issue permits for any pilot treatments outside the oilfield,' the letter said, and suggested research can be done in the labs or in the field under existing laws. Lawmakers also said if the WQCC does allow pilot projects, then those projects must not discharge waste to surface or groundwater and must follow a permitting process, to allow for public notification and the right to protest. 'The Commission's decision on the issue is contrary to the legislature's intent and the letter of the law,' the letter stated. The letter cited motions filed by environmental groups and suggested that any law adopt more stringent permitting standards. The letter also recommended that the WQCC include tests of 600 substances in the treated water. WQCC Chair Bruce Thomson, an environmental engineer, said lawmakers raised 'some good points,' in the letter but that he disagrees with the characterization of oil and gas wastewater. 'My biggest concern with the letter is that they claim that treatment technologies do not exist. I will agree that treatment technologies are in an early stage of development,' Thomson told Source, saying the board heard testimony of 15 to 20 studies about potential technologies 'to treat it to a very high level of quality. Thomson said the objections to the lack of permits would likely be discussed in the next deliberation. Melissa Troutman, a climate and health advocate at WildEarth Guardians, told Source NM her group also argued to the WQCC that the leftovers from any produced water treatment process would meet the qualifications for hazardous waste. 'Our argument at Guardians is that it would be creating a new hazardous waste, but the rule isn't applying hazardous waste laws, and that's illegal,' she said, saying it would no longer have the exemption under oil and gas exploration. Troutman said there's still time to reshape the outcome. 'The door is still open for deliberation, and hopefully we can bring these points forward,' Troutman said. 'Hopefully, when they do issue a final rule, it's much, much closer to what we actually need.' The WQCC is next scheduled to meet Tuesday, May 13 to continue deliberations. HB128_GLGLettersgn5.8.25 SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Mexico Supreme Court requests parties file written arguments in Bishop's lodge wastewater case
Mark DeCamp, with nonprofit Protect Tesuque, stands outside of the Roundhouse on Jan. 30, before a Senate Conservation Hearing. (Austin Fisher / Source NM) The New Mexico Supreme Court issued an order Wednesday requesting all the parties involved in a wastewater disposal dispute in Tesuque submit written arguments by May 19. The court's decision follows an April 22 emergency petition submitted by attorneys representing nonprofit Protect Tesuque to halt a proposed permit for treated wastewater from Bishop's Lodge hotel and 82 adjacent homes in Tesuque Village. New Mexico Supreme Court asked to weigh in on Tesuque wastewater conflict Protect Tesuque argued that the New Mexico Environment Department wrongly applied state environmental laws in the permitting process, and asked the state's highest court to intervene. In the motion, attorneys for the nonprofit argue that NMED's permitting policies unequally enforce limitations in liquid waste laws between smaller and larger permits (more than 5,000 gallons of liquid waste per day), which they say amounts to a constitutional violation because it ignores state environmental laws. Tom Hnasko, the attorney representing Protect Tesuque, said the court could have denied the petition without further argument. 'They obviously want to see what the Environment Department and Bishop's Lodge have to say about the matter,' he said. Attorneys for both Bishop's Lodge and the New Mexico Environment Department requested the state's justices deny the petition, and filed documents last week saying they intended to file further arguments. 'The New Mexico Environment Department remains confident in its legal position that Bishop's Lodge's wastewater treatment system is subject to state ground and surface water quality regulations. NMED has consistently found that the facility meets or exceeds all applicable state water quality standards. Due to ongoing litigation, we are unable to comment further at this time,' said Drew Goretzka, a spokesperson at the New Mexico Environment Department in a written statement Wednesday. Representatives for Bishop's Lodge or its parent company, Juniper Capital, did not respond to emailed requests for comment Wednesday afternoon. The hotel and its parent company maintain that the proposal to treat sewage is safe, noting that it installed a new wastewater treatment plant in 2024 'designed to meet or exceed all local and national water quality standards.' The draft permit is scheduled for a May 19 hearing before the New Mexico Environment for additional testimony, which at this time, remains in place. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
See which bills NM Gov signed, vetoed from 60-day session
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signs Senate Bill 3, which seeks to rebuild the state's behavioral health system, during a signing ceremony at the New Mexico Legislature on Feb. 27, 2025. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM) New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed 160 of 195 bills that lawmakers sent her during the 60-day legislative session that ended March 22. She vetoed the other 35 bills, providing written justifications for doing so on 18 of them. The remaining 17 bills were 'pocket-vetoed,' meaning the governor's inaction on those bills past Friday's deadline meant they will also not become law. Lawmakers are hoping to get rid of the 'pocket veto.' They unanimously passed a measure to remove that power, but it won't go into effect without the public's approval, as well. Voters will have the chance to vote on the change in 2026, assuming a special election isn't held before then. See which bills are now law and which the governor vetoed in our tracker below. If the governor provided a veto message, you can find that in the chart below, as well.
