Latest news with #LeoJaramillo
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Today at the Roundhouse, March 14, & recap
Mar. 14—There are eight more days for legislators to craft law in the 2025 regular session. Here are a few debates and bills to watch out for on Friday, March 14, and a recap of Thursday. Medical malpractice: Medical malpractice changes, Senate Bill 176, are first on the agenda for Senate Health and Public Affairs in the afternoon. The committee debated the bill Wednesday but didn't vote on it. Cellphones in school: The House Education Committee will hear Senate Bill 11, an anti-distraction measure, in the morning. It would require New Mexico school districts to adopt policies around cellphones and other wireless communications devices in schools. Thursday recap Lowrider license plates: A bill creating a New Mexico lowrider capital of the world special license plate passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote. Sen. Leo Jaramillo, D-Española, danced to the song "Low Rider" by War before a vote on the bill, Senate Bill 327, and said the license plates could be a source of community pride for Rio Arriba County residents. Slot Canyon Riverlands: Southern New Mexico residents could look forward to a new state park should House Bill 219 get through the Senate and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. The proposal to develop Broad Canyon Ranch, about 20 miles north of Las Cruces, as a state park with camping passed the House floor. CTE: The House passed two bills encouraging technical education, including the creation of a structural timber grading certification program, House Bill 553, and studying career and technical education programs in the state, House Bill 433. Where the bills stand SB176: Must pass the Senate Health and Public Affairs, Senate Judiciary and Senate Finance committees, then the full Senate, then House committees and the full House, then the governor's desk. SB11: Passed the Senate. Must pass the House Education and House Judiciary Committees, then the full House, then the governor's desk. SB327: Passed the Senate. Awaiting House committee assignments, then must pass the full House, then the governor's desk. HB219, HB433, HB533: Passed the House. Awaiting Senate committee assignments, then must pass the full Senate, then Lujan Grisham.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Mexico Senate to judge parole reforms
Concertina wire tops a fence at a detention facility. (Getty Images) A proposal to modernize New Mexico's parole board and change the way its members can consider an incarcerated person's request for parole is headed to the state Senate. Sens. Leo Jaramillo (D-Española) and Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) and Rep. Nicole Chavez (R-Albuquerque) are sponsoring Senate Bill 17, which introduces evidence-based practices when the board is considering whether to release someone who is serving a life sentence in prison. SB 17 also clarifies crime victims' role in its deliberations and creates a process for removing members to protect their political independence. The Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee on Feb. 6 voted 8-1 to pass the bill, and the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 12 voted unanimously to send it to the full Senate. The bill has support from the Parole Board itself, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, and the Law Offices of the Public Defender. The legislation also changes the guidance to parole board members about how they should consider incarcerated people's requests for parole. Rather than asking parole board members to focus on the incarcerated person's conduct that led to their conviction, the bill would require them to instead focus on how they have acted since they went behind the New Mexico Corrections Department's walls. In other words, the bill would guide parole board members to evaluate the incarcerated person's conduct after a judge sentences them to figure out if they have shown they are ready to be released back into their community. It would also require the board to hear from victims' families or representatives in the case before making a decision. Over the past year, the board has gone through 'numerous' changes in membership, Director Roberta Cohen told lawmakers on Feb. 6. The bill would prohibit the governor from removing a member unilaterally, but allow the governor or the board to remove members for incompetence, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. This story originally misidentified Nicole Chavez's position. Source regrets the error. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
South China Morning Post
14-02-2025
- Automotive
- South China Morning Post
US cradle of low-rider cars looks to promote its custom wheels
Lifestyle Travel & Leisure Published: 4:15am, 15 Feb 2025 Lawmakers in New Mexico are embracing the US state's culture of transforming customised low-rider cars into rolling canvases of artistic expression and a source of community pride. House and Senate lawmakers designated February 11 as Lowrider Day at the state capitol, marked by celebrations of Latino tradition and history. Proposed legislation would go farther by creating special number plates in tribute to low-riders. Legislators including state senator Leo Jaramillo are also drafting a bill this year that would enshrine the low-rider as New Mexico's state vehicle – alongside the roadrunner as state bird and the spiky yucca as state flower. Lawmakers also envision a future low-rider museum in the car-crazed city of Española, 20 miles (32 kilometres) north of Santa Fe. A 1987 Pontiac Grand Prix low-rider owned by Joan Medina outside the state capitol in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Photo: AP Jaramillo says the Upper Rio Grande Valley emerged as the cradle of low-rider car culture in the 1960s, as Vietnam war mechanics brought their skills to bear on customised cars. Decades later, an MTV crew documented New Mexico low-rider traditions and labelled the Española valley as the 'low-rider capital of the world'.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NM legislative roundup Feb. 11: ¡Pala power!
Democratic Sen. Leo Jaramillo (center) from Española joins irrigators and acequia managers in a march around the New Mexico Capitol on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (Danielle Prokop / Source NM) Mayordomos and other acequia advocates from across New Mexico gathered at the Roundhouse on Tuesday, carrying shovels and signs calling on lawmakers to expand a recurring stream of funding for the historic waterways. New Mexico has more than 700 of the vital irrigation channels, and recent wildfires and other disasters have caused millions of dollars of damage to them far beyond what lawmakers have approved so far. Specifically, acequias will need $68 million in the coming decades to fix damage caused by disasters or harden against future ones, according to a recent rough estimate. To that end, the New Mexico Acequia Association is pushing House Bill 330, which would create a recurring infrastructure fund for acequias and land grants. You can read more here about what acequia leaders are seeking this session. Association Director Paula Garcia told Source New Mexico in a phone interview Tuesday that the extra funding is vital amid federal delays in funding acequia restoration and even freezes. Her association had a $200,000 'equity in conservation' grant from the National Resource Conservation Service it used to provide technical assistance to acequias in Lincoln and Rio Arriba counties, which were affected by fires and floods last year. New Mexico's acequias outline 2025 legislative priorities The grant was frozen, Garcia said, probably due to some kind of 'misunderstanding that it had to do with diversity.' It was a major source of funding for the small nonprofit, she said. In fact, 'We used that funding to help everybody,' she said. 'For under-served, rural areas.' Approximately 75 acequias sustained damage in the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire, and Garcia estimated that 10 of them, at most, had received the major construction they needed to repair from past damage or prepare for future floods. Around the time the acequia demonstration occurred Tuesday, lawmakers in the House Agriculture, Acequias and Water Resources Committee were hearing a bill allowing the funding of the Strategic Water Supply. Lawmakers narrowly approved the bill, which would approve up to $75 million to be spent as the state creates a market for the sale of treated brackish and produced water. Garcia said her association has not taken a position on the strategic water supply, but she did share some concerns that she's brought to the attention of the bill's sponsors. For one, she's concerned that brackish water more than 2,500 feet below the surface isn't subject to the same water rights application process as water closer to the surface. She is also seeking assurances that no produced water will be granted a discharge permit that would allow it to flow into rivers or farmers' fields via acequias. Proponents have repeatedly said no such permits would be allowed. 'It's a very significant leap in the way water management is being handled in New Mexico, so it should be done very carefully,' she said. The Senate Tax, Business and Transportation unanimously approved the Medical Psilocybin Act, which would create a program for New Mexicans to establish a program for medicinal use of psilocybin mushrooms. The House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee in the afternoon voted unanimously in favor of Rep. Marian Matthews' House Bill 111, which would require first responders in emergencies to make a 'reasonable effort' to find qualified service animals if they are missing. The committee also approved a proposal that would strengthen New Mexico's protections for journalists from unfair subpoenas by state government officials.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
New Mexico celebrates hydraulics and heritage with lowrider car holiday
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — State lawmakers are embracing New Mexico's time-honored culture of transforming customized lowrider cars into rolling canvases of artistic expression and a source of community pride. House and Senate lawmakers designated Tuesday as Lowrider Day at the state Capitol, marked by celebrations of Latino tradition and history. Proposed legislation would go farther by creating specialty license plates in tribute to lowriders. Legislators including state Sen. Leo Jaramillo also are drafting a bill this year that would enshrine the lowrider as New Mexico's state vehicle — alongside the roadrunner as state bird and the spikey yucca state flower. Lawmakers also envision a future lowrider museum in the car-crazed city Española, 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Santa Fe. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Jaramillo says the Upper Rio Grande Valley emerged as the cradle of lowrider car culture in the 1960s as Vietnam War mechanics brought their skills to bear on customized cars. Decades later, an MTV crew documented New Mexico lowrider traditions and labeled the Española valley as the 'lowrider capital of the world.' Lowrider enthusiasts on Tuesday parked vehicles near a statehouse entrance, including a vintage Pontiac Grand Prix in sparkling-fuchsia paint and an eyepopping, orange Cadillac with golden wire-rim wheels. 'It's more than just a moving piece of art. It's also STEM in motion, the science of hydraulics, the mixing of paint,' said Jaramillo said. "When I speak to kids in Española about lowriding, I always remind them about the science behind it." Democratic state Rep. Cynthia Borrego said lowriders are intertwined with memories of growing up in small-town New Mexico and cruising in cars on weekends during the 1970s and '80s. In recent years, New Mexico cities including Albuquerque have rolled back ordinances that restricted 'cruising," by labeling it as a nuisance. Today, Borrego said, entire families embrace lowrider traditions. 'People bring up their kids, knowing how to work on cars, how to show them,' she said. 'It does sort of became a family thing.' On the House floor on Tuesday, state Rep. Art De La Cruz of Albuquerque reminisced about his first car — a 1964 Chevrolet Impala and makeshift lowrider. 'We couldn't afford these fancy hydraulics. ... All we could do was put weights in the back of the car' to lower the suspension, he said. 'I put cement sacks in there. It worked. It didn't hop.'
