Latest news with #BillSoules
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Some lawmakers go outside district boundaries with capital outlay funding
May 4—SANTA FE — It's a long haul from Albuquerque to Angel Fire, but that didn't stop several metro-area lawmakers from allocating some of their capital outlay dollars this year for construction of a new veterans' wellness center in the high mountain village. In all, more than 25 Republican legislators chipped in a combined total of $1.2 million for the facility during the 60-day legislative session, even though most of them live far from Angel Fire. "I thought it was worthwhile," said Sen. Jay Block, R-Rio Rancho, a first-term senator and U.S. Air Force veteran who said other veterans in his district could benefit from the new facility. Meanwhile, five lawmakers — a mix of Democrats and Republicans — allocated a total of $355,000 for the Fort Sill Apache Tribe to build a new fire station in Luna County between Deming and Las Cruces. One of those lawmakers, Sen. Bill Soules, D-Las Cruces, said he's made it a point to support tribal projects in southern New Mexico, even if they're not located within the boundaries of his Senate District 37 seat. "I've always provided some funding for whatever project they've got going on," Soules told the Journal, referring to the Fort Sill Apache, who won a 2011 court order to establish a reservation in New Mexico. "They're the ones who were in this area historically," he added. While New Mexico lawmakers generally tend to bring home the "pork," or capital outlay dollars, for road construction, water projects, sports fields and other projects in their districts, it's not uncommon for them to also fund outside projects. Some funded projects are located far from legislators' districts, such as the $500,000 allocation for a new high school football field in Texico made this year by Sen. Joshua Sanchez, R-Bosque. There are no rules that funded projects must be located within a legislator's district boundaries, and until recently, it was difficult to tell how most lawmakers divvied up their available capital outlay funds. While attempts to overhaul the state's capital outlay system have been unsuccessful at the Roundhouse, lawmakers agreed in 2021 to disclose how each legislator divvies up their funding. But that disclosure — in the form of a published list — is not made by the Legislative Council Service, the Legislature's administrative arm, until 30 days after the session's end. How the capital outlay system works Under the state's system for funding public works projects, each lawmaker gets a certain amount of funding during every regular legislative session to distribute for projects. The governor also receives a share. This year's bill, House Bill 450, provided each House member with $2.5 million in available funding. Senators got a slightly larger share of nearly $4.2 million each. In all, the bill appropriates about $1.2 billion for roughly 1,400 projects around New Mexico, though Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham vetoed a number of smaller projects from it last month. Money appropriated under the capital outlay bill generally has to be spent within three years, though lawmakers can extend that deadline by reauthorizing approved projects. 'Everybody asks for money' A review of this year's capital outlay allocations shows top-ranking senators from both political parties gave money to projects outside their districts. Senate Minority Leader William Sharer, R-Farmington, allocated $50,000 for the veterans' wellness center project in Angel Fire and another $50,000 to bolster efforts to build a New Mexico Sports and Cultural Museum in Albuquerque. For her part, Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, gave money to several projects outside her district, including $100,000 for a student-led green initiative at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas and $200,000 for improvements to the Navajo Preparatory School in Farmington. She said those funding decisions stemmed from meetings at the state Capitol and friendships she made with students at the schools. "I try to limit the funding that goes outside my district — I think we all do," Stewart said in an interview, while emphasizing the vast majority of the 31 projects she funded are located within her district. But Stewart also said this isn't the first year she's supported projects outside her district, saying she's also done so in past years. Lawmakers say the volume of requests they get for proposed infrastructure projects around the state is higher than ever, even as the state's cash-flush budget situation has allowed for more money to be spent on capital outlay projects in recent years. "Everybody asks for money," said Stewart. "It's unbelievable." As for the project in Angel Fire, the National Veterans Wellness and Healing Center plans to use the $1.2 million it secured to build eight cabins for veterans who travel to northern New Mexico to take part in weeklong retreats, said Markus Podell, the group's president and post-traumatic stress disorder program director. Podell said he went "office to office" during the legislative session asking lawmakers to support the project, which he said will allow the group to avoid having to rent out an entire condominium complex to house retreat participants.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House committee advances vocational teacher salaries bill
A teacher addresses students in a classroom. (Photo credit: Getty Images) A Senate bill that would include vocational teachers in the tiered minimums for teacher salary rates unanimously passed its first House committee Monday. The House Education Committee quickly gave Senate Bill 343, sponsored by Sen. Bill Soules (D-Las Cruces), a do-pass vote, sending it to the House Appropriations and Finance Committee next. The bill would amend parts of the School Personnel Act, which addresses hiring and firing practices related to licensed school employees, as well as designating teacher salaries based on their level of licensure. Minimum salary tiers would change to include vocational teachers, who teach topics such as culinary arts, auto repair and health sciences. According to the LESC's bill analysis, the estimated average salary for vocational teachers was about $10,000 above the minimum salaries for each tier during fiscal year 2025. Soules told Source NM that the bill stems from concerns from several local school districts, including Las Cruces Public Schools, where the personnel office interpreted the current law and chose not to pay vocational teachers a higher salary rate. 'It's almost a nothing burger type of bill,' Soules said. 'It just makes it very clear that the intent of the law is that vocational teachers can get paid at the higher rate.' The current salary minimums are $50,000 for a level one teacher, $60,000 for level two and $70,000 for level three. However, House Bill 156 this session proposes increasing each salary tier by $5,000. The bill passed the House floor last week by a vote of 62-1 and was referred to the Senate Finance Committee. Rep. John Block (R-Alamogordo) was the one lawmaker to vote in opposition. Kersti Tyson, K-12 program director for the LANL Foundation, voiced her support for the bill during the committee meeting and pointed to the benefits for vocational teacher, or career technical education teacher, recruitment. 'We hear from many schools across the state that they have challenges recruiting and retaining CTE teachers. This bill will help with this by ensuring an equal minimum salary,' Tyson said. 'This will signal a commitment to CTE programs and make teaching more attractive to industry experts.' According to the LESC bill analysis, schools across the country have reported more difficulty in filling CTE or vocational teaching positions compared to academic subject positions, particularly in 'high-demand' areas such as information technology, health sciences and engineering where experts are paid significantly more in their industries compared to teaching the subject. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Resolution to eliminate education cabinet secretary position advances
Sen. Bill Soules (D-Las Cruces) chairs the Senate Education Committee. (Photo by Leah Romero / Source NM) A proposal to amend the New Mexico Constitution and reconfigure public education governance passed the Senate Education Committee Friday and advances to the Senate Finance Committee. Senate Joint Resolution 3, sponsored by Sen. Bill Soules (D-Las Cruces), chair of the Senate Education Committee, received a do-pass by a vote of 7-2 by committee members. The Senate Rules Committee previously advanced the bill without recommendation. The resolution proposes amending the state Constitution to shift oversight of the Public Education Department from a governor-appointed cabinet secretary to a superintendent of public schools hired by a public schools board. If the resolution passes, it will be up to voters to decide during the next general election. Soules pointed out to committee members Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's administration has had five public education cabinet secretaries thus far. 'Education needs consistent leadership at the top,' he said during the meeting. The Senate Education Committee adopted an amendment to SJR 3 Friday, to make sure there is still a separate Public Education Commission in place to authorize charter schools in the state. The state school board would be made up of 10 elected members and five appointed by the governor. They would determine department policies and appoint a superintendent. The proposed structure is how governance was organized up until former Gov. Bill Richardson's administration, when voters approved a constitutional amendment creating a cabinet-level position to lead the Public Education Department. Former Sen. Steven Neville (R-Aztec) and President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque) introduced a similar resolution in 2023, which passed the Senate but died before a House vote. Representatives from the New Mexico School Board Association, New Mexico Coalition of Educational Leaders, New Mexico School Superintendents, Albuquerque Teacher Federation and a current Public Education Commissioner all spoke in favor of the resolution. 'It's very important that a superintendent go beyond three years in order to enact change within his district. It's no different at the state level. Matter of fact, it's very much more important,' Martin Madrid, president of the New Mexico School Superintendents Association, said during the meeting. 'In my short tenure as the president since June, I've had to build a relationship with two separate secretaries.' Members of NewMexicoKidsCAN, the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, New Mexico Chamber of Commerce, Think New Mexico and Teach Plus New Mexico voiced their opposition to changing the governance of public education in the state as a way to address shortcomings in student performance. 'I worry it will include more chaos as we make all of these transitions,' Amanda Aragon, executive director of NewMexicoKidsCAN, said. 'I think you need look no further than the local school board elections in your own districts to know that school board elections are becoming really, really political.' Mariana Padilla, secretary designate of the Public Education Department, also voiced her opposition to the bill, noting that the time and resources it will take to restructure the department 'would be much better spent on focusing on the educational initiatives and needs of our students and our educators.' 'There is no body of research that indicates that a state school board structure is a better governance structure,' Padilla told committee members. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill proposing changes to the Mathematics and Science Education Act advances this week
Sen. Bill Soules (D-Las Cruces) chairs the Senate Education Committee. (Photo by Leah Romero / Source NM) Lawmakers advanced a bill Wednesday that proposes statewide requirements for math instruction in K-12 schools and professional development for teachers Senate Bill 235, sponsored by Sen. Bill Soules (D-Las Cruces), makes changes to the Mathematics and Science Education Act, including requiring school districts to create professional learning plans, assess students for difficulties in learning math before they finish second grade, provide interventions for students with learning difficulties and notify parents of their child's learning difficulties. The bill will also require that the Public Education Department monitor math instructional materials, create a leadership framework and set minimum course requirements for teacher licensure. Soules presented the bill to the Senate Education Committee, which he chairs, on Wednesday and received unanimous support from members. SB 235 now goes to the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee. Soules said the state has worked hard in recent years to support structured literacy in public schools and improve literacy among New Mexico students, but the same attention has not been given to mathematics. Deficiencies in both math and reading were highlighted in the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit by the late District Judge Sarah Singleton. 'It's now time that we start talking about math and the very low performance of students in New Mexico in the math area,' Soules said during the meeting. 'We've sort of pushed it aside.' 'Advancing the Science of Reading Act' gains unanimous support in Senate Education Committee The bill received ample support from attendees, including representatives from the Higher Education Department, Public Education Department, New Mexico School Board Association, New Mexico Coalition of Educational Leaders, Albuquerque Teachers Federation, Think New Mexico, Kids Can, Teach Plus New Mexico, Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, NM Partnership for Math & Science Education and New Mexico MESA. Higher Education Department Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez shared her personal struggle with math as a young student and applauded the bill's attention to screening for math learning difficulties. 'I have dyscalculia, and unfortunately, it took many years of struggle to figure that out,' Rodriguez told the committee. 'I still went to college, but there are many other children in New Mexico who will go their entire life of schooling thinking they may not be college material or may not enter a trade program because math is too hard.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
