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Winnipeg Free Press
23-05-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Province says six deals with U.S. firms necessary, despite trade war
The Manitoba government has defended a series of costly deals with U.S. companies, saying it had no choice but to sign the contracts in question. The Opposition Tories have tabled the details of six deals this week that challenge the NDP's pledge to buy local amid the trade war with the United States. They show the province has agreed to pay more than $4.5 million to six companies that are headquartered on American soil in recent months. RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan accused the government of failing to do 'the heavy work behind the scenes' and find Canadian alternatives. Each contract was issued or updated after President Donald Trump followed through on his threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on March 4, as per the province's contract disclosure database. All of the vendors sell software or other information technology services, many of which government officials said could not be sourced elsewhere. Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan accused the government of failing to do 'the heavy work behind the scenes' and find Canadian alternatives. 'We are exposing Wab Kinew and this NDP government for what they really are — smoke and mirrors,' Khan told reporters after question period on Thursday. Three of the contracts were direct awards, meaning vendors in Canada and elsewhere could not bid on them. The largest is worth $1.8 million. It was signed with Actian, a software development firm in California. The other two involve First Databank, a Washington, D.C.-based company that runs drug and medical device databases, and the Iowa department of transportation. Both were for computer services and amounted to about $150,000 each. New Technology Minister Mike Moroz said the province wants to give preferential treatment to Canadian suppliers and introduced legislation to cement that goal, but it is not always possible. 'In order to ensure Manitobans can access the services they currently rely on, some contracts have been extended with American firms,' Moroz said in a statement. Bill 42, introduced earlier this session, establishes a 'buy Canadian policy' for government purchases. The major contract with Actian was a renewal to ensure continued operation of existing software for essential services, Moroz said. The minister indicated a recent $1.8-million deal with Texas-based Aurigo Software Technologies was initially awarded prior to the new direction on procurement practises. A spokesperson for his office indicated a $206,000 top-up to the existing contract with EAP Global was to continue helping post-secondary institutes administer online courses. Provincial officials were preparing to release more information about the remaining three contracts to the Free Press prior to a media scrum with Kinew on Thursday. Both the bureaucracy and cabinet communications teams were directed not to release further details after the premier spoke to reporters — despite the fact he did not offer any answers. Kinew dodged more than a dozen questions about why his government is continuing to issue major contracts to U.S. firms. He insisted the province is buying Canadian and repeatedly mentioned Khan in his replies to accuse the PC leader of supporting Trump. Khan called the premier's behaviour 'embarrassing.' Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. 'Manitobans deserve better,' he said. '(Reporters) ask legitimate questions and he is giving you lies for his answers. It's shameful.' Earlier in the day, Trade Minister Jamie Moses introduced a bill that would proclaim June 1 as 'Buy Manitoba, Buy Canadian Day.' Bill 47 establishes new rules that would reduce red tape to increase trade with other governments in Canada that are reducing barriers as well. — with files from Carol Sanders Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
NM Gov calls out lawmakers for inadequately addressing needs of New Mexico children
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed two bills this week concerning New Mexico children, but called out lawmakers for missed opportunities. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM) Bills requiring the regulation of cell phones in schools and that hospitals have a safe care plan for substance-exposed newborns were signed into law this week, but Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham used the bills to point out lawmakers' missed opportunities. Lujan Grisham signed 22 bills into law on Thursday, including Senate Bill 11, which requires local school districts and charter schools to adopt a wireless communication device policy; and Senate Bill 42, which requires hospitals have a plan of safe care in place when newborns are found to be exposed to controlled substances and requires their parents to participate in the Comprehensive Addiction Recovery Act program. In a memo explaining her decision to sign SB11, the governor said that while it was a 'first step' toward regulating cell phone use in schools, she was 'profoundly disappointed' that lawmakers chose to amend the bill to make compliance optional for local districts. The amendment loosens the wording around the Public Education Department's minimum requirements for local policies. 'Once again, however, the Legislature squirmed out of taking a meaningful step to improve education under the auspices of local control,' the governor wrote. 'That is all well and good until this same body blames the Public Education Department-and not the local bodies-for poor educational outcomes of New Mexico students. I once again encourage the Legislature to hold local school districts accountable for educational outcomes. Our students deserve it.' Lujan Grisham had a similar response in her veto message about House Bill 65, which would have clarified that local school districts have the authority to determine the number of instructional days in their school calendar. Instead, she voiced her support of a 2024 PED rule – which has not been enforced – requiring local districts to have a minimum of 180 days in their calendars. PED's 180-day school calendar rule back in the courts In another memo this week, Lujan Grisham explained that she chose to sign SB42 because of its requirement that parents of substance-exposed newborns receive treatment through the Comprehensive Addiction Recovery Act program. However, she called out lawmakers for continuing an 'unwarranted vendetta' against the Children, Youth and Families Department, particularly for including amendments to the bill, which require department employees to backup electronic device data daily, monthly and annually. 'If the Legislature actually wanted to help children and CYFD, it would have fully funded the agency so that it could hire all the staff it needs to succeed,' Lujan Grisham wrote. 'The Legislature seems to be of the opinion that adding ever increasing administrative burdens on an agency that they refuse to fund at required levels will make children safer. They also seem to believe that piling on criticisms for problems that they bare some responsibility for creating will absolve them of their own neglect. They are wrong.' She went on to encourage lawmakers to consider becoming foster parents or apply for a job or volunteer position with CYFD. 'It is far too easy to stand on the sidelines and criticize CYFD. I hope the Legislature will commit not only to fully funding CYFD, but also to do their part on an individual level to help make a difference in children's lives,' Lujan Grisham wrote. The governor voiced similar criticism of lawmakers, as well as Attorney General Raúl Torrez, before the end of the session when she signed House Bill 5 into law, establishing the Office of the Child Advocate. She pointed out lawmakers seem to continuously 'condemn' CYFD and its employees, and 'refuse to fully fund the agency to hire enough staff then criticize [the department's] vacancy rates and unmanageable workloads.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Today at the Roundhouse, March 13, & recap
Mar. 13—With bill debates lasting into late in the evening, it's clear legislators feel a ticking clock with the 60-day session nearing adjournment. Here are a few debates and bills to watch out for on Thursday, March 13, and a recap of Wednesday. Net-zero emissions: A proposed innovation in state government fund, Senate Bill 83, wants to send money to state agencies to help them achieve net-zero emissions and implement sustainable economic policies. It goes before the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee in the morning, though it currently lacks a budgetary appropriation. CARA: Senate Bill 42 would move the primary oversight of the state's Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, or CARA, program away from the Children, Youth and Families Department and to the Department of Health. It's No. 5 on the Senate floor calendar. Wednesday recap Game commission reform: Senate Bill 5, an attempt to overhaul the state Department of Game and Fish, passed the House on a 42-26 vote after hitting the three-hour debate limit. It goes back to the Senate for concurrence, since a House committee amended the bill with cleanup language and different licensing fees. House Republicans failed to amend the bill twice on the floor. Veterans property taxes: A bill implementing property tax changes approved by New Mexico voters last fall is headed to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's desk. The measure, House Bill 47, passed the Senate on a 39-0 vote Wednesday. It would expand an existing property tax exemption for veterans, starting in the 2025 tax year. Get your camera out: It's Film and Media Day, courtesy of Santa Fe labor union IATSE Local 480. Where the bills stand SB83: Passed Senate. Must pass House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources and House Appropriations and Finance Committees, then the full House, then the governor's desk. HB5: Passed Senate and House. Goes back to Senate for concurrence, then to governor's desk. HB47: Passed Senate and House. Headed to Lujan Grisham's desk for final approval.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
CYFD reform package advancing quickly; other bills make slower progress
As the Roundhouse rounds third base on this year's legislative session, lawmakers are racing to bring home a few measures aimed at reforming New Mexico's troubled child welfare system. The lead runner seems to be Senate Bill 42, a measure unveiled late last week that bundles multiple other bills addressing child welfare issues and which is already headed to the Senate floor after unanimously clearing the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday evening. Other notable measures — such as House Joint Resolution 5, which would completely overhaul CYFD's leadership structure, and House Bill 5, which would establish a new oversight office for the agency — have moved slower. With time left in the session dwindling, it's unclear what will make it through. 'Given the length of time that we have left, it becomes more difficult as each day passes,' said Rep. Eleanor Chávez, D-Albuquerque and a sponsor of HJR 5. SB 42 marks an apparent compromise between Democrats, Republicans and the executive branch. CYFD and the governor have thrown their support behind the bill after being at odds with legislators over other proposals this session, including HJR 5 and HB 5. While the child welfare reform package leaves out large-scale oversight or leadership reforms, it would implement priorities laid out by the Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham during her State of the State address: namely, moving management of the federal Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, or CARA, out of CYFD and holding families accountable to following through with care plans for substance-exposed children. CYFD spokesperson Andrew Skobinsky said in an email the New Mexico Department of Health, which would take over CARA, is 'better equipped to manage the healthcare and medical implications of children born substance-exposed/dependent.' Republican lawmakers and others have also criticized state law for not requiring families with babies exposed to substances to follow through on care plans prescribed to them. SB 42 would bolster the state's response to those families, requiring CYFD to assess whether a family that does not follow through with a care plan is able to keep that baby safe. Skobinsky said that could lead to an abuse and neglect investigation and, possibly, the child being taken into CYFD custody. SB 42 also incorporates other reform efforts, including one requiring identifying information to be released when a child dies or nearly dies while in the care of a foster family under investigation by CYFD. Another would require the agency to enact a plan pursuant to a federal plan allowing states to use more dollars on prevention services. Though the federal Family First Prevention Services Act was passed in 2018, CYFD has yet to have a plan adopting the legislation be approved by the federal government. The agency resubmitted its plan late last year, and hopes to hear back in April. Other measures While SB 42 has backing from leaders on both sides of the aisle, as well as from the governor and CYFD, HB 5 and HJR 5 have less broad support. HB 5, which seeks to establish an Office of the Child Advocate under the New Mexico Department of Justice tasked with monitoring the services CYFD provides to children and receiving complaints about issues at the agency, has faced opposition from CYFD. The agency has argued that while it welcomes oversight and accountability, HB 5 is not the way to do it. Still, the bill, which was identified by House Democrats before the start of the session as a priority for the caucus, has garnered some Republican support. House Minority Leader Gail Armstrong, R-Magdalena, said HB 5 and SB 42 are examples of everyone 'finally on the same page and trying to get something across the finish line.' 'This administration has had six years to fix this, and I think that everyone finally [has] come to the position of, 'They need help, and they need lots of ideas and lots of cooks in the kitchen,' and hopefully we get an answer this year,' Armstrong said in an interview. 'If we don't, it's on the majority — it's not on me.' HB 5 cleared the floor last week and awaits passage in the Senate Judiciary Committee. That said, a similar iteration of HB 5 failed in 2023. But HJR 5, which passed out of the House Judiciary Committee the same day HB 5 and other CYFD-related measures did, has lagged behind its peers and is still awaiting passage by the full House. The resolution is ambitious, asking lawmakers and voters — who would also have to approve HJR 5 should it clear the Roundhouse — to remove CYFD from the Governor's Cabinet and install a commission that would hire a director to manage the agency. In addition to stiff opposition from the executive branch, the resolution also drew concerns from field experts tasked with tracking the state's progress in the landmark Kevin S. settlement, reached after over a dozen foster children sued New Mexico for failing to fulfill its duty to kids in state care. The experts argued in a letter child welfare systems in other states actually benefited from moving away from commission-style governance structures and that keeping CYFD under the purview of the governor better facilitates communication between state agencies. Chávez, however, sees the resolution as a way for the Legislature to take matters into its own hands, noting that several years have passed since the Kevin S. settlement was reached with little to show for them. 'That agency has had some extreme turnover related to politics,' she said. '... The other piece, too, is that — and I don't want to say that any of the secretaries don't work hard — but they don't have the child welfare experience that's needed to guide this agency not just through the current struggles but also provide the kind of leadership that that expertise and experience would provide.'
