Crooked Bough News Round-up

— New Mexico agency seeks $50M boost to insurance program as finding private insurance gets harder

 

at 11/22/24 4:36pm

A screenshot of a webcam showing downtown Ruidoso around 8:30 p.m. on June 17 as the South Fork Fire looms and drivers flee. The state's insurance regulator is seeking $50 million from state lawmakers to expand its own "insurer of last resort," as it becomes harder to get private property insurance across the state. (Photo Courtesy Village of Ruidoso)New Mexico’s insurance regulator is asking lawmakers for $50 million to expand what its staff calls its “insurer of last resort,” as homeowners across the state report private property insurers continue to cancel their policies, refuse to renew them or hike up premium prices.  The Office of the Superintendent of Insurance is seeking the one-time appropriation at next year’s legislative session, as it rolls out a pilot program increasing coverage in Lincoln County. That area was hit hard by fire and floods this year.  The money would allow the state to increase payouts for property owners from its state-run insurance company, which they said has proved a lifeline for property owners seeking to rebuild or stay insured in fire-prone areas.  The OSI has had a state-run insurance program, known as the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements, or FAIR Plan, since 1969. The nonprofit insurance organization is there for New Mexicans who are unable to secure insurance in the normal marketplace.  Recipients have to be denied by two private insurers to qualify, according to Alice Kane, the state superintendent of insurance.  Fires making home insurance unaffordable, impossible, NM lawmakers say A one-time infusion of $50 million would represent a huge increase in funding for the nonprofit, which is largely funded by premiums. It has operated off of about $4.5 million in revenues in recent years, according to recent tax filings. The program also was slightly in the red last year, generating $4.6 million in revenues – mostly premiums  and spending a little more than $5 million, including $3.7 million in claims.  The program still has about $9.8 million in assets, despite the small loss, according to its filings. The OSI did not respond to a request Friday from Source New Mexico for more details on how an expanded FAIR Plan would work The current program caps payouts at $350,000 for homes and $1 million for commercial properties, Kane told lawmakers at a meeting of the Legislative Finance Committee on Thursday.  With the help of the additional funding, Kane said, an expanded FAIR Plan could increase coverage to $1 million for homes and $2 million for commercial properties. It would also serve as a “backstop” in case a catastrophe occurs before the state can collect enough in premiums to make the program sustainable.  That increase in coverage makes sense given the increase in home prices, Kane said. While $250,000 might have paid for an “amazing house” back in the 70s and 80s, “the numbers have gone up dramatically” since then, she said.  More than 1,000 homes were destroyed due to the South Fork and Salt fires and ensuing floods this summer, according to local estimates. Some residents have reported difficulty finding any private insurance coverage as they seek mortgages to rebuild. Federal mortgage providers like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accept New Mexico’s FAIR plan, Kane said, which is a big help for those trying to rebuild.  It’s unclear how many policies across the state have been canceled or were subject to huge price hikes, but the office said the number has increased statewide.  The office has circulated a handout showing some counties saw huge increases in home insurance premiums between 2020 and 2023, ranging between 41% and 47% in Hidalgo, Roosevelt and Curry counties. On average, New Mexico premiums increased by 16% in the same time period, and the average annual premium is $1,817.  Despite the uptick in cancellations and non-renewals, insurance companies remain largely profitable in New Mexico, according to the OSI. Still, insurers here did have losses in 2016, 2017 and 2022. The two biggest wildfires in state history occurred in 2022.  Nationally, insurers have paid out more in claims than they received in premiums over the last decade, according to the OSI. 

[Category: Environment & Climate Change, Gov & Politics, disasters, insurance, Office of the Superintendent of Insurance, wildfires]

— Abortion bans could reverse decline in teen births, experts warn

 

at 11/22/24 2:40pm

Students wait for a bus outside Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago. Teen birth rates have been falling for decades, but abortion bans threaten to undo that progress, experts say. (Photo by Scott Olson / Getty Images)Houston OB-GYN Dr. Hillary Boswell says she has seen how abortion bans affect teenage girls: More of them are carrying their pregnancies to term. “These are vulnerable girls, and it’s just heartbreaking to see the number of pregnant 13-year-olds I’ve had to take care of,” Boswell said, referring to the change since Texas prohibited abortions after six weeks in September 2021. In June 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Texas enacted a total abortion ban. “They would come in, and they would be very distressed,” said Boswell, who spent the past decade treating underserved women and girls at community health clinics. Not being able to help them get an abortion when they wanted one, she said, “was so hard — and so against everything that I trained for.” In the year after Texas began implementing its six-week abortion ban, teen fertility rates in the state rose for the first time in 15 years, according to a study released earlier this year by the University of Houston. Overall, the increase in teen fertility in Texas was slight: only 0.39%. But the University of Houston researchers said the change was significant, because it reversed a 15-year trend and because the national teen fertility rate declined during the same period. They also noted that the increases were larger for Hispanic teens (1.2%) and Black teens (0.5%), while the rate for white teens declined by 0.5%. New abortion-rights measures in 7 states could trigger legal, legislative challenges So far, the Texas data is the first evidence that abortion bans might lead to an increase in teen births. But as abortion restrictions have spread post-Roe — 13 states now have total bans — some providers and other experts predict that other states will see increases. If so, the nation’s nearly 30-year trend of declining teen births could be in jeopardy. Boswell and other providers note that teens are having a harder time accessing contraception and abortions — and they fear the incoming Trump administration could make it even more challenging for teens, whose pregnancies are riskier and who disproportionately sought abortions before the Supreme Court overturned Roe. “In a lot of ways, Texas is sort of a microcosm of what we’re going to see in other parts of the country,” said Dr. Bianca Allison, a pediatrician and assistant professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. “Historically, it has always felt like young people — those who are minors but of reproductive potential — are left out of the conversation of reproductive autonomy and rights.” Access to pills People seeking abortions have been relying on the broader availability of telehealth for medication abortions, which now account for nearly two-thirds of all abortions. The number of abortions in the U.S. has increased since the fall of Roe, largely because more people are using the easier-to-access method, according to the Society of Family Planning. But the Trump administration could make it harder to procure the pills by reversing a current U.S. Food and Drug Administration policy that allows them to be sent through the mail. Some anti-abortion groups want the Trump administration to enforce the Comstock Act, a long-dormant 1873 law they believe could be used to make it a federal crime to send or receive abortion medication. States also could require in-person physician visits for abortion medication, effectively barring patients from accessing it via telemedicine. And Louisiana last month began classifying mifepristone and misoprostol — the two medications used in nonsurgical abortions — as controlled substances, making it a crime to possess them without a prescription. A Texas state lawmaker has proposed similar legislation in his state. More women are seeking sterilizations post-Dobbs, experts say “I would absolutely predict that we will see a reversal in our progress of reducing teen pregnancies,” said developmental psychologist Julie Maslowsky, an associate professor at the University of Michigan who studies adolescent reproductive and sexual health. “If someone does not want to be pregnant, they should have all the options available to them to prevent pregnancy,” Maslowsky said. “And the majority of teens do not desire a pregnancy.” Teenage girls tend to have less money, less access to transportation and less independence than adult women. That makes it harder for them to cross state lines for abortion care, or to obtain and pay for abortion medication. A medication abortion can cost as much as $800, according to Planned Parenthood. Many teens have trouble ordering abortion medication online because they don’t have credit or debit cards or a safe place where the pills can be mailed, said Rosann Mariappuram, senior reproductive rights policy counsel at the State Innovation Exchange, a nonprofit that advocates for progressive policies. Abortion funds that help people who can’t afford the care have been struggling to keep up with demand. Thirty-six states require parental consent or notification before a minor can get an abortion, creating another barrier. And teens are more likely to have irregular menstrual cycles, which makes them less likely to notice a missed period. Overall, about a fourth of women might not realize they’re pregnant at six weeks, which is the gestational time limit for abortions in Florida, Georgia, Iowa and South Carolina. It's just heartbreaking to see the number of pregnant 13-year-olds I've had to take care of in the last three to four years. – Dr. Hillary Boswell, Houston OB-GYN In addition, a law in Texas that went into effect in April mandates that family planning clinics get parental consent for minors seeking birth control. Lawmakers in Oklahoma and Indiana have argued that IUDs and emergency contraceptives are types of abortions, and thus should not be covered by insurance or shouldn’t be available, said Mariappuram. “That conflation of contraceptives with abortion care is just evidence that they’re coming for contraception,” she said. Health risks, diminished prospects Teenage girls from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to become pregnant. There have been persistent racial disparities in the national teen birth rate, with rates at least twice as high among Black, Hispanic and Native American girls. And while the average age of a girl’s first menstrual period has been declining for all girls, the trend is particularly pronounced among racial minorities. “These downstream impacts [of abortion restrictions] are not the same for everyone,” said Mayra Pineda-Torres, an assistant professor of economics at Georgia Tech who specializes in gender and inequality. “The reality is that, still, there is a racial component here that may be exacerbating racial inequalities or this inability to access abortion services.” Helping a minor travel for an abortion? Some states have made it a crime. Teenage motherhood often derails a girl’s education and diminishes her long-term financial prospects. And pregnancy poses particular health risks for teens: They are more likely to experience serious complications, including blood pressure-related disorders such as preeclampsia, and their babies are more likely to be born underweight. For those reasons, the American Academy of Pediatrics says teens should have access to legal abortion care. But to abortion opponents, teen pregnancies and births are preferable to teen abortions. Joe Pojman, founder and executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, said the state has programs designed to help families, including teen parents, take care of their children. “[The program] teaches them a variety of things, like how to manage a budget, how to apply for a job, how to basically make that child self-sufficient to be able to function,” Pojman told Stateline. “We don’t want to encourage a child to be responsible for taking the life of her own unborn child,” he said. Last month, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a lawsuit with fellow Republican attorneys general in Kansas and Idaho that asked a Texas judge to order the FDA to reinstate restrictions on mifepristone. They argued that lower teen birth rates harmed their states by shrinking their population, costing them federal money and congressional representation. But some studies suggest the opposite. The federal government cites research showing that teen pregnancy costs taxpayers about $11 billion per year because it leads to more public spending on health care and foster care, higher incarceration rates of teen parents’ children, and lower levels of education and income. “Pregnancy is not benign,” said Allison, the North Carolina pediatrician. “It’s not a joyful, welcome thing for a lot of people across the country.” YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE. SUPPORT

[Category: Abortion Policy, Gov & Politics, Health, abortion, health, teen pregnancy]

— Abortion foes strategize to get Trump to ban some abortions while keeping his pledge

 

at 11/21/24 4:32pm

Donald Trump spoke at the March for Life rally in January 2019 during his first term as president. (Photo by Mark Wilson / Getty Images)The 2024 election results created complicated new realities for reproductive rights in the U.S., with Americans even in a few red states overwhelmingly voting to protect the right to have an abortion while also overwhelmingly electing anti-abortion representatives in state houses, courts, Congress and the White House. With a Republican trifecta coming to the nation’s capital in January, anti-abortion activist groups are planning for the first potentially friendly presidential administration since the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated a 50-year federal right to terminate a pregnancy. They aim to end other federal and state protections while vastly expanding restrictions on reproductive health care. Though many anti-abortion leaders are skeptical of President-elect Donald Trump’s commitment to their cause, they say they are willing to compromise to maintain influence in his administration. Some groups are strategizing how to end-run Trump’s campaign pledge not to enact any federal abortion bans — by heavily restricting medication abortion or trying to ban a common abortion procedure. “I don’t think we have a champion here for pro-life causes,” said longtime anti-abortion organizer Rev. Patrick Mahoney. “What we have here is someone who will not work against us and try to crush us. We will not see pro-choice federal judges.” The director of the Christian Defense Coalition and the chief strategy officer of Stanton Public Policy Center told States Newsroom that he is not a supporter of Trump and disagrees with his rhetoric on immigrants. But Mahoney said he is happy Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris lost. The vice president had vowed to try to restore federal abortion rights and throughout her career has advocated for reproductive rights. As California attorney general, she prosecuted anti-abortion activists charged with illegally recording abortion providers about a decade ago. “We can have an opportunity now to begin the second phase after Roe was overturned,” Mahoney said. “We knew overturning Roe was only a starting line, not a finishing line.” Live Action president Lila Rose was one of the few prominent anti-abortion leaders who called out Trump before the election, after he criticized Florida’s six-week abortion ban and vowed to veto a federal ban. In late August, Rose told Politico she would write in a presidential candidate and would encourage her millions of followers to do the same if Trump did not change course. On her podcast, the millennial activist recently revealed that she met with Trump and asked him to say he would vote against Florida’s abortion-rights amendment, which he did. Days before the election, Rose endorsed Trump on X. Live Action did not respond to an interview request. Nationally, three out of 10 abortion-rights measures failed: Florida’s proposed amendment had the highest threshold to clear, but got 57% out of the required 60% of the vote. It would have reversed the ban that reproductive rights advocates say has decimated abortion access in the Southeast. Another anti-abortion leader willing to compromise with the incoming president and Congress is Steven Aden, general counsel at Americans United for Life, the policy shop behind many state and federal abortion restrictions. Aden said he was disappointed the Republican Party removed from its platform a previous commitment to a federal ban. However, he said his group was still able to inject critical language into the current platform that effectively supports states establishing fetal personhood through the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which grants equal protection under the law. The platform also says Republicans “will oppose Late Term Abortion,” a political term used to refer to abortions in the second and third trimesters, the rarest but most restricted types of abortions in the U.S. “We had direct input into the Trump campaign and framing the pro-life language in the party platform,” Aden told States Newsroom. “The platform language was much pared down, but we believe that the pro-life language preserves the essence of the party’s position on the pro-life issue, and we’re proud of that, and look forward to continuing to work with the incoming Trump administration.” Federal reproductive rights protections in question Early into his term, Democratic President Joe Biden began reversing blocks on federal funding domestically and globally for reproductive health organizations that also provide or refer for abortions. Leading up to and following the Dobbs decision, the Biden administration loosened restrictions to the medication abortion regimen, a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol, which has become the most common way of terminating pregnancy in the U.S. during the first trimester. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed abortion medication to be obtained via telemedicine and dispensed directly at pharmacies. Nearly half the country has partially or fully banned abortions. But abortion numbers have risen since before Dobbs, researchers have reported, attributing the increase in part to expanded access to telemedicine abortion and to more people using online abortion clinics that mail abortion drugs from states with so-called shield laws to those with bans. Anti-abortion groups Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and Students for Life of America recently unveiled memos asking the Trump administration to pull regulatory levers that especially target abortion drugs. Under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, regulations could include: The FDA reinstating medication abortion restrictions, such as requiring multiple in-person appointments and revoking telemedicine. Or altogether revoking the 2000 approval of mifepristone. Reversing guidelines that under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, emergency departments at hospitals enrolled in Medicare — even in states with abortion bans — must offer pregnant patients the medical treatment necessary to stabilize an “emergency medical condition.” This law is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit deferred by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year. In sharp contrast to the mainstream medical community, anti-abortion advocates argue these guidelines are unnecessary and would allow doctors to broadly interpret a health emergency to mean anything. When asked about stories of alleged denied care, maternal deaths, and doctor confusion related to state abortion bans, Aden chalked up the problem to a misinterpretation of state laws, which he said should be clarified to address these problems, while noting several times, “I’m not a doctor.” Americans United for Life’s recommended health-exception language in part says abortion should be allowed “to preserve the life of a pregnant woman or to address a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.” “That’s a health exception with teeth,” Aden said. “It doesn’t allow for a free-ranging, quote unquote, ‘mental health’ exception that would swallow the rule.” Funding a study on the potential health effects of abortion pills in the water system from patients miscarrying in their toilets after taking medication abortion drugs. Anti-abortion leaders like Mahoney said they were disappointed with Trump’s pick for HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has previously said he supports abortion rights. But Mahoney said he’s hoping to appeal to Kennedy’s skepticism of FDA drug approvals. “How do chemical abortions being flushed down the drain affect our water supply? We’re definitely going to push hard on that,” Mahoney said. Revoking a rule requiring health clinics that receive federal family planning Title X grants to offer referrals for abortion clinics, which is also the subject of an ongoing federal lawsuit. It is already prohibited to use federal funds for abortions unless the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or has become fatal. Activists also want to defund Planned Parenthood, the largest reproductive health center network, and extend tax credits to anti-abortion pregnancy centers. Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which manages the country’s largest health programs, is Dr. Mehmet Oz, who opposes abortion. The U.S. Department of Justice could: Enforce part of the 19th century Comstock Act to prohibit the mailing of abortion-inducing drugs. Aden said enforcing this law would likely mean cracking down on online abortion clinics like Aid Access. Revoke or refuse to enforce the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act,  enacted because of the sometimes-violent anti-abortion protests of the 1980s and 1990s. One of several activists sentenced to prison for staging a clinic blockade in Washington, D.C., Lauren Handy was also involved in obtaining aborted fetuses outside the same clinic. Trump had indicated he would potentially pardon Handy and fellow blockaders. Activists have said they will also ask the DOJ to investigate the doctor at the abortion clinic from where Handy obtained the fetuses, of whom she and other activists have accused, without evidence, of infanticide. The U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs could: Revoke policies that expanded abortion access for veterans and members of the Military. The U.S. Agency for International Development could: Reinstate the so-called Mexico City Policy, which barred federally funding international organizations that provide or refer for abortions. As they brace for the potential impact of Dobbs without a federal safety net, reproductive justice activists are working to expand access and fight anti-abortion laws, while also protecting new state wins. The election results did not change the fact that most people want abortion access, said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, during a recent media press briefing organized by the progressive Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Donald Trump won the election, but so did abortion, and people need to hold this incoming administration to its word that it would not restrict abortion,” Graves said. “We have to square the idea that millions of people in the United States voted for reproductive freedom … but they also will be experiencing a situation that will become even more dire, and that people will feel scared and hopeless in this period.” Arguments for a national abortion ban Aden said AUL would support a federal “dismemberment” bill, referring to a proposed ban on a common second-trimester abortion procedure known as dilation and evacuation, or D&E. This procedure involves dilating the cervix and removing the contents of the uterus, typically performed beginning around 12 weeks. It would be a way to effectively get a 12- or 15-week ban without calling it that. Despite its safety and efficacy record, the D&E procedure has been banned in several states, over the objection of the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. It’s part of an old anti-abortion playbook, which under Republican President George W. Bush resulted in a federal ban on another later abortion procedure — dilation and extraction, or D&X — by reframing it as “partial-birth” abortion, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in 2007’s Gonzales v. Carhart decision. Abortion foes describe D&Es as a gruesome procedure, or as Aden puts it, “tearing 13-week-old humans apart limb from limb.” Anti-abortion doctors recommend more risky and invasive procedures like C-sections, even when the abortion is medically indicated. If D&Es are banned, there would be fewer options for later abortions, which are sometimes necessary, said reproductive-health legal expert Rachel Rebouché, dean of Temple University School of Law in Philadelphia. She noted that some of the U.S. Supreme Court justices have indicated support for abortion restrictions for reasons of preserving fetal dignity rather than preserving maternal health. “That litigation, from the anti-abortion perspective, depends on saying the fetus is a person with rights that attach at a certain point, if not from conception,” Rebouché told States Newsroom. “Dobbs opens the door wide open for those kinds of regulations. … But the question is, is there a role for the federal government to enact a nationwide ban that would curtail the rights of states that have not gone the way of Idaho or Texas or others?” Aden said that for now AUL will be more focused on the incremental approach to abortion restrictions, as well as calling for expanded child and prenatal tax credits and other social supports. The attorney, who was 11 when Roe was decided in 1973, is expecting another half-century of litigation over abortion with the hopes that one day the U.S. Constitution gives personhood rights to the unborn, regardless of the stage of that pregnancy. Aden said a so-called Human Life Amendment is likely impossible in the near term, needing approval from two-thirds of both houses of Congress. He said U.S. culture is not there yet. “It would require a cultural sea change in the way that the majority of Americans view human life in the womb,” Aden said. “That’s our second generational goal. Having won our first generational goal of overturning Roe, we’d love to see the day when every life is welcomed and protected in law. And if that’s through a constitutional amendment, then we’re here for that.” GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE

[Category: Abortion Policy, Election 2024, Gov & Politics, Health, abortion, politics]

— Western University officials facing possible ethics probe over ‘wasteful’ spending of $360,000

 

at 11/21/24 4:23pm

State Auditor Joseph Maestas (right) told Source New Mexico he expected a “microscope” is going to be focused on Western New Mexico University leadership. (Photo by Daniel Montaño / KUNM News)A review that found “wasteful spending and improper use of” more than $360,000 in public funds by the head of Western New Mexico University has now caught the attention of state ethics officials.  New Mexico State Auditor Joseph Maestas sent the findings of his office’s investigation this week to the State Ethics Commission. The commission, an independent agency that oversees campaign finance, lobbying, government spending and conduct, automatically generated a letter Wednesday, saying it would take a closer look.  And that’s likely all the commission will say, at least for a while. Ethics probes are made public once a settlement or a civil case in state court is filed. Informal complaint reviews are not public, said Amelia Bierle, the spokesperson for the commission.  “All complaints, reports, files, records – all of that is confidential,” Bierle said in a phone interview. “We aren’t able to say anything more than that was an auto-generated letter sent out upon receipt of the referral.” The information submitted by the auditor’s office would be subject to further review as part of an informal complaint, and could include public records requests, interviews with witnesses or additional questions, the commission stated.  Western New Mexico University President Joseph Shepard and his wife, former CIA agent and one-time Congressional candidate, Valerie Plame, were subjects of a December Searchlight New Mexico story that showed the couple had spent tens of thousands in public money on international trips, wine, flowers and high-end furniture over five years. In response to a request for comment, Western New Mexico University’s communications office sent out a written statement from governing Board President Mary Hotvedt. Hotvedt writes that the auditor raises “serious concerns that have been addressed by Western New Mexico University leadership.” In the statement, she lists that the governing board has reviewed cost disparities and updated policies to align with state regulations, initiated an independent cost-benefit analysis of international initiatives and engaged third-party auditor for an ongoing special audit. Additional emailed questions to Hotvedt went unreturned Thursday.  State agencies took notice in January, issuing letters stating the trips violated guidelines and, in the state auditor’s case, announcing a further look into the school’s books.  Western New Mexico’s governing board has backed Shepard in public meetings, and in July gave him a bonus for “exceeding expectations” at his performance evaluation. That same month the board also adopted to its travel policy and approved a new policy to allow reimbursement to the university president’s spouse or domestic partner for travel. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Shepard collects an annual salary of $365,000 with contract options of $50,000 bonuses for good performance.  Earlier this week, Maestas released a letter of concern to the university’s governing board, finding that between 2018 and 2023, there were several instances of wasteful spending including:.  Almost $215,000 over 402 instances of noncompliant domestic and international travel. Nearly $150,000 spent in 91 total transactions on a university credit card. Providing an expense account and university credit card to a non-university employee, in this case Plame, the president’s wife. The use of the university credit card to purchase luxury furniture violated university policies that limit and require approval if items cost $1,000 or higher. The auditor’s office found the spending violated university policy and the President’s employment contract. “Further, University management and Board failed to uphold their fiduciary responsibilities, by neglecting to adhere to the corresponding elements as established in the University’s policies, procedures, and rules regarding travel, per diem, and procurement,” the auditor’s letter said. The letter said the office was “encouraged” that the university’s governing board updated its policies in July and commissioned an external audit.  In an interview with Source NM, Maestas said the next steps are up to investigative agencies, such as the State Ethics Commission. “We are not an enforcement agency,” he said. “We have a duty to inform and notify.” Maestas cautioned that he expected a “microscope” is going to be focused on Western New Mexico University leadership.  “I think the biggest change needed is to truly lead by example and establish that tone at the top,” he said. “Emphasize the importance of adhering to these internal controls, policies and procedures because if they’re not adhered to, it opens the door for fraud, waste and abuse.”

[Category: Education, Gov & Politics, education, ethics, public funds, spending, western new mexico university]

— Fed’s recent rate cuts could improve borrowing options for state and local government projects

 

at 11/21/24 4:07pm

A Connecticut Department of Transportation crew works on an Interstate 95 bridge on Nov. 05, 2023, in Westport, Connecticut. The Federal Reserve’s rate cut earlier this month could mean lower borrowing costs for state and local governments and bring changes for housing development, tax revenue and road, water and sewer construction. (By John Moore / Getty Images)The Federal Reserve’s second consecutive key rate cut could mean more than just lower borrowing costs for the average consumer — state and local governments stand to benefit, too. Lower interest rates may bring changes for housing development, tax revenue, debt refinancing and bread-and-butter projects like roads, water and sewer, state and local government officials told States Newsroom. The Fed’s cut earlier this month followed an aggressive rate-hiking campaign to beat down inflation, and it came years after the last time the U.S. central bank lowered interest rates. Key borrowing rates now stand at 4.5 to 4.75%, and inflation has cooled to 2.7%. Economists expect another rate cut in December. Fed cuts interest rates heading into end of Biden White House and looking to Trump’s 2nd term “On average, the lower the interest rates are expected to help stock market returns if historical trends hold,” said Liz Farmer, who focuses on budgets, fiscal distress, tax policy and pensions at The Pew Charitable Trusts. “So generally, you would expect a more positive effect on your average pension portfolio that has a good amount invested in equities.” This change means states and localities will have lower borrowing costs, which will make it easier to make big long-term changes in infrastructure, to see higher sales tax collections as a result of more spending, and it is likely to result in better pension performance in an environment where stocks tend to respond to lower rates, fiscal policy experts at Pew say. In 2021 and 2022, states had record high revenue growth due in part to federal pandemic aid and the impact of the federal aid on workers and businesses, according to Pew. But that kind of growth was unsustainable. Recently, nearly all states have entered into a slower revenue growth environment, said Brian Sigritz, director of state fiscal studies at the National Association of State Budget Officers, a professional membership group for budget and finance officers. More than three dozen states had a fall in revenue in fiscal year 2023, Pew’s analysis found. At least five states experienced budget shortfalls in fiscal year 2024, the think tank explained. “States overall are remaining in a strong fiscal position. It’s just that we’re starting to see slower growth compared to what we did see for those a couple of years after the start of the pandemic,” he said. “That was really a unique set of circumstances where we had the additional federal aid provided by all the different COVID relief bills and at the same time where state revenue growth was growing so strongly, and that led to very strong growth in tax collections.” Sigritz said that states, which have to almost entirely use borrowing for infrastructure and capital projects, will benefit from lower borrowing costs as a result of the Fed rate cuts. David Schmiedicke, finance director for the city of Madison, Wisconsin’s finance department, said he’s hopeful that the lower cost of borrowing will reduce the cost of public infrastructure when seeking construction bids. “We’re seeing a lot of development, even with the higher rates. Madison is an attractive place to live. People from around the country are moving here,” he said. Rebecca Fleury, the city manager for Battle Creek, Michigan, said interest rates affect key services the public relies on, including fire departments. “[Interest rates] have an impact on our ability as a city of 52,000 to provide the full services that we do. Every little bit impacts us, because we have to buy fire trucks,” she said.“If there’s a decrease in one of our three largest revenue sources, we feel it.” But there are both pluses and minuses to the cut in the federal funds rate, Schmiedicke said, as it brings down the interest income states receive. “It probably will reduce the amount of investment income the city receives on its cash balances. We saw that go up dramatically in 2022 and 2023, so that’ll probably come down as the Fed cuts rates,” Schmiedicke said. Different tax policies also change how states and localities experience the Fed rate cuts. H.D. Palmer, deputy director for external affairs and principal spokesman on fiscal and financial issues for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, said that the lower interest rates are overall positive for the nation’s largest state because of the concentration of technology firms there, its progressive tax rate, and the taxing of capital gains and stock options as personal income. “When the markets are doing well, those types of firms that are concentrated in California do well and in consequence, our revenues do well,” Palmer said. The Alabama Department of Finance told States Newsroom that it is closely following the Fed’s actions as it “closely follows all actions that could impact our citizens and the State’s revenues.” But the state agency said it may take some time to see any of the effects of recent rate cuts. “While recent changes in the federal funds rate may lead to increased state revenues, absent a significant change in the rate, the impact on revenues and expenditures would not likely be seen immediately. We will continue to monitor and assess all economic indicators to ensure steady, sustainable, conservative growth for the benefit of all Alabamians,” the department said in a statement. Schmiedicke said Wisconsin is very reliant on property taxes because although state law allows a statewide sales tax and counties can impose a 0.5% sales tax, cities other than Milwaukee have not been able to do so. The state also has strict limits on property tax increases. “We could see more development in the city and that could definitely help with our overall property tax base, as well as if it results in more travel and room taxes,” he said. As states and localities wrestle with how to provide more affordable housing, with nearly half of renters having to spend more than 30% of their income on housing, lower interest rates could help spur more building. Fleury said the costs of loans and labor and materials has been “astronomical,” making it hard for developers to build. Although she said Battle Creek would love to take advantage of Low Income Housing Tax Credits, it’s challenging to fund projects. “I think that a lower interest rate could really help us get farther along in our housing plans,” she said “If you can’t get your project to pencil within what they’re able to fund or finance, we just never make the list.” Despite lower interest rates creating a better environment for affordable rent and homes, states will likely continue to spend a lot of energy on housing programs, Sigritz said. Governors’ budget proposals and state of the state speeches have prioritized affordable housing more and more in the past few years, he said, and he expects this to continue. “Housing affordability is not an issue that’s going to go away overnight, and there’s still a need for more housing,” Sigritz said. “It takes a while to build additional housing even in the lower-interest environment.” This article has been updated to correct the name of the organization where Liz Farmer works. It is The Pew Charitable Trusts.

[Category: Economy, Gov & Politics, economy, Federal Reserve, housing, infrastructure, interest rates, taxes]

— Environmental group, feds and irrigation district reach settlement in silvery minnow suit

 

at 11/21/24 5:01am

Silvery minnows are placed in an oxygenated tank for transport upstream after being rescued in the San Acacia reach in June 2022. Fish who are rescued from pools have a much lower survival rate that fish pulled from running water. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)A big fight over a small, endangered fish that lives in the Rio Grande has come to a resolution, as a federal judge in New Mexico OK’d a settlement Tuesday proposed by the parties. U.S. District of New Mexico Magistrate Judge Gregory Fouratt approved an agreement between WildEarth Guardians, an environmental and conservation nonprofit based in Santa Fe, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a middle Rio Grande irrigation district. The deal ends a 2022 lawsuit brought by WildEarth Guardians alleging the federal government mismanaged the Rio Grande and promoted unsustainable water uses, which violated provisions of the Endangered Species Act to restore habitats for the silvery minnow and two other species. Feds, irrigation district say keep your wheels off of the silvery minnow The dual strains of climate change and human diversions for irrigation are contributing to the Rio Grande drying more frequently, especially the crucial stretch of river between Cochiti Dam and Elephant Butte, where silvery minnow live. The 4-inch long minnow, is unlike most freshwater fish. Silvery minnow directly spawn into the water in the spring, and the fertilized eggs slip downstream, a method more common to marine fish. When the river was slower and shallower, the minnow was prolific along Rio Grande from Española to Gulf of Mexico. Federal and local irrigation projects straightened the river, making it deeper and faster, and built dams that prevented fish from moving freely in the river. Now, the short-lived fish is limited to one reach,which dries almost completely each year. After years of population decline, the fish was named an endangered species in 1994. The minnow holds an important role as an indicator of the Rio Grande’s health, said Daniel Timmons, the wild rivers program director for Wild Earth Guardians. “The Rio Grande through Albuquerque used to support sturgeon and catfish that were 200 pounds. And today, the river is barely able to support a 4-inch minnow,” he said. “If its not able to support a minnow, its not able to support the entire web of life.” The settlement makes some immediate changes, such as outlining specific provisions of the the Middle Rio Grande Water Conservancy District to fallow 2,500-3,500 acres farmland for the next four years or offer imported Colorado River water to keep in the riverbed. Other provisions, such as the agreement to start the process for new federal conservation measures – called a Biological Opinion – will take four years. While the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be “driving the bus” to produce a new Biological Opinion; there will be more opportunities for public comment as part of the agreement. That’s unusual, he said, adding that Biological Opinions are often made behind closed doors. “I’m hopeful the agencies will be more transparent throughout the process and will be engaging the public to make sure it’s more of a participatory process than it has been in the past,” Timmons said. The federal government also agreed to pay $41,000 for WildEarth Guardian’s legal fees. Currently, federal wildlife officials are going to continue using conservation measures from the 2016 Biological Opinion in the interim, said Debra Hill, a supervisory biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Rio Grande Basin. One of the goals is to make the 87 conservation measures from the 2016 opinion less vague and more focused, she said. The settlement shows that government agencies will have to work together to address creative solutions as the Rio Grande is expected to shrink further from climate change, she said. “We are really going to have to figure out how to work with what is limited, and so it’s going to take working together as much as we can,” Hill said. Hill called the minnow a “canary in a coal mine,” for life on the river. “If were starting to see that a fish doesnt have what it needs to survive in the Middle Rio Grande, we need to, as a society, realize that water is the same water that we rely on,” Hill said. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE

[Category: Environment & Climate Change, climate change, endangered rivers, endangered species, Endangered Species Act, Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, silvery minnow, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]

— New Mexico Department of Health secretary out, governor’s health policy advisor in

 

at 11/20/24 4:29pm

New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Patrick Allen resigns from his position after nearly two years. (Photo provided by the New Mexico Department of Health)New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Patrick Allen will step down from his position Wednesday after leading the department for just shy of two years, according to the governor’s office. A reason for Allen’s departure was not given in the news release provided by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office. The governor appointed Allen to the position in December 2022. Allen could not be reached for comment. Allen succeeded David Scrase, who stepped in as acting secretary when Kathy Kunkel retired in 2020.  Robert Nott, DOH director of communications, said he doesn’t “know the reason for his resignation,” but was “surprised” by the announcement from the governor’s office.  Lujan Grisham’s health policy advisor, Gina DeBlassie, will take over as interim cabinet secretary, according to the news release. DeBlassie has worked as Lujan Grisham’s health policy advisor for two-and-a-half years.  According to her LinkedIn account, DeBlassie previously worked as chief operating officer for InnovAge, a health care delivery company offering PACE or Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly in Colorado, California, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Virginia. She left in January 2022, after nearly 12 years with the company. InnovAge is currently a defendant in a federal class action civil lawsuit in which the company and several former executives are accused of securities fraud. The lawsuit was filed in October 2021 and is pending in the Colorado District Court. DeBlassie earned a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Phoenix. This is the third change in Lujan Grisham’s cabinet leadership in as many months – the Public Education and Aging and Long-Term Services departments received new leadership in September. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE

[Category: Gov & Politics, Health, Gina DeBlassio, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, InnovAge, New Mexico Cabinet, New Mexico Department of Health, Patrick Allen]

— University of New Mexico graduate workers demand administration to stop using deadnames

 

at 11/20/24 4:01pm

Faculty members, graduate students, health care workers and custodians showed up to rally for better wages at UNM on May 10, 2023. (Photo by Megan Gleason / Source NM)A union representing graduate student workers at the University of New Mexico is demanding that the institution stop forcing transgender students to use their deadnames in internal systems, including email and course registration. The group, known as United Graduate Workers at UNM, started distributing a petition calling on the school administration to recognize trans people’s chosen names and gender markers this week. “It’s so painful for a lot of trans people to be referred to as their previous name that people call it ‘deadnaming,’” teaching assistant and union leader Max Pagano said Wednesday, the end of Transgender Awareness Week. “It’s such a denial of basic personhood to not be called the name that you want to be called.” Pagano said the system students, faculty and graduate teaching assistants use to register for classes allows them to change the displayed name but it resets every semester. “It’s not easy to figure out how to change it, so most people don’t even know how,” they said. Other graduate workers told Pagano they set up their official university email addresses with their chosen names this year, but about a month into the semester, without any warning or consent, the names associated with those email addresses were all reverted to their legal ones. The union said in a news release that this contradicts UNM policy that prohibits gender-based discrimination and commits the school to respecting people’s preferred form of self-identification, “including a name other than a legal first name and the pronoun that aligns with their gender identity.” The union also suggested that the university is violating a 2019 state law which allowed New Mexicans to designate an “X” gender marker on state documents for those who are nonbinary or prefer not to disclose their gender. However, the union said in the five years since the law was passed, the University of New Mexico has not updated their internal systems to allow for an “X” gender marker for students and employees. Cinnamon Blair, a spokesperson for UNM, said Wednesday that while every UNM system may not have the technical capability of supporting affirmed names and pronouns, the school has “made strides in enabling this functionality wherever possible.” “While we have made progress in supporting preferred names and pronouns, we acknowledge that there may be areas where our implementation can be improved,” Blair said. “Like many institutions, UNM faces complex challenges in fully integrating these functions across all our systems and processes.” Blair said the school’s information technology workers are “actively engaged in this process and working to identify and address these limitations.”  “We remain committed to creating an inclusive environment where all individuals feel respected and valued, and we will continue to work diligently toward fully implementing our policies and improving our systems to support this goal,” she said. This doesn’t just affect trans people, Pagano said, it also affects anyone who gets married and changes their name or international students who choose an English name as opposed to the one they’re given in their native language. UNM grad students are taking action as transgender rights come under attack at the U.S. Capitol. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday banned transgender women from using women’s restrooms in parts of the federal Capitol complex. Johnson’s order followed the election this month of Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, a Delaware Democrat who will become the first openly trans member of Congress. The advocacy group LGBTQ+ Victory Institute called the Republican Johnson’s order “bigoted and transphobic” and noted Wednesday was Transgender Day of Remembrance. The Human Rights Campaign reported Tuesday that 36 transgender people have died violently in the past year. “It’s been really disturbing to see the way that attacks on trans people has become one of the hot button issues or talking points among conservatives right now,” Pagano said. “In light of this, it’s especially important for UNM to step up and affirm their commitment to their marginalized students.”

[Category: Civil Rights & Immigration, Education, Gov & Politics, civil rights, discrimination, gender discrimination, trans rights]

— Heinrich questions FEMA chief over delays for those who lost everything in northern NM wildfire

 

at 11/20/24 3:13pm

A small group of protesters drove south to Santa Fe in late October to protest in front of the main office for the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire Claims Office, frustrated with delays in payments for those who lost their homes in the fire. U.S. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) questioned FEMA leader Deanne Criswell about the issue Wednesday. (Photo by Austin Fisher/ Source NM)U.S. Sen Martin Heinrich continued the New Mexico congressional delegation’s push to compensate victims of the state’s biggest-ever wildfire Wednesday,  questioning the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator about why people who lost everything are still  waiting two years later.  The Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Claims Office, which FEMA oversees, is in charge of paying out about $4 billion to compensate victims of the 534-square-mile wildfire that was the federal government’s fault – caused by two botched prescribed burns on federal land. The agency has paid out about $1.5 billion so far. The deadline to apply for compensation for the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire is Dec. 20.  But Heinrich (D-NM), speaking at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, challenged FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell about whether that money is going to families whose homes or livelihoods were destroyed by the fire. The delegation has repeatedly called on FEMA to make payments more quickly and make the program fairer.  “What can FEMA do differently so that the folks who literally lost everything in the fire are not the last to get their compensation?” he asked. Criswell responded that the office has increased its staffing throughout the year and that payments have increased as a result. “But we know we have more work to do. We continue to bring in our staffing and ensure that we have the right amount of people, the right amount of resources,” Criswell said. Internal FEMA smoke map shows large area where northern NM residents need little to prove losses Claims from people who lost their homes tend to be more complicated and individualized, which means they take more work from more staff to process, Criswell said. That’s where the increased staffing has helped, she said.  It’s not clear how many people who lost their primary residences are still waiting for compensation from the fund. Several hundred homes were lost in the fire. About 145 households qualified for FEMA housing assistance in the fire’s aftermath, which meant their primary residences were destroyed or unliveable. The office has not provided that figure to Source New Mexico despite multiple requests. And, according to a Heinrich spokesperson, it also has not given it to members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation.  The delegation sent a letter Nov. 1 asking for that figure and for answers to 12 other questions about the status of the claims process, citing some progress but saying “improvements to the Claims Office’s processes and best practices are still sorely needed.” The letter also asked the claims office how it was handling fair compensation for “culturally and structurally unique” losses, including adobe homes, and how it was ensuring food loss payments are made equitably. A recent Source New Mexico story revealed the office pays men more than women for food lost in the fire.  The food-payment issue and perceived lack of payments to those who lost their homes were among the reasons a small group of protesters gathered in late October in front of the FEMA headquarters. They called on the agency to prioritize total losses before paying out other types of damage.  As of late September, the office had paid out around $400 million in claims to about 4,200 people and businesses for smoke damage, a process the claims office designed to be quick and simple and one that applies to a roughly 2,200-square-mile area around the burn scar.  The rest of the $1.5 billion spent so far has gone to local governments, including $100 million to the City of Las Vegas, N.M., to replace its drinking water system, as well as for reforestation on private land and to businesses, nonprofits and tribal governments.  Claims office pays men more than women for food lost in state’s biggest wildfire A FEMA spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.  $1.5 billion more pending Criswell’s appearance comes as President Joe Biden is seeking Congress’ approval on a package of disaster-related funding, including $40 billion to FEMA, as his presidency comes to an end.  Included in that $40 billion request is $1.5 billion for the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire victims. If approved, that would mean the victims were awarded $5.45 billion in compensation for the 340,000-acre wildfire, minus administrative costs.  Heinrich asked Criswell what the additional money would be needed for.  Criswell said she’d seen an “independent actuarial report” that showed the total losses to the fire exceeded $5 billion. So, while she said her office can pay the claims that have been submitted to date, the claims office needs the extra money to pay what it expects future claims will cost.  Without the additional funding, “I will not be able to meet the claims down the road based on what I believe is an accurate report from this independent actuary,” she said. A claims office spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for the independent report. Heinrich’s office deferred comment to FEMA. 

[Category: Environment & Climate Change, Gov & Politics, Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon fire]

— From jurisdictional issues to lack of resources, Indigenous women testify on MMIW crisis

 

at 11/20/24 1:52pm

A panel of women testifying Nov. 20, 2024, to the House Appropriations Committee oversight hearing on Investigating the Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women listen as Maulian Bryant (left) spoke about the challenges her Penobscot Nation faces in accessing resources to find missing people. From left to right: Mary Jane Miles, Cheryl Horn, Abigail Echo-Hawk and Eugenia Charles-Newton. (Screenshot via YouTube / House Appropriations Committee)Paul Begay, Anne Curley, Ella Mae Begay and Everett Charley are the names of only a handful of Navajo people missing that Navajo Nation Council Delegate Eugenia Charles-Newton shared as she addressed a congressional committee hearing on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People. “These are a few of the names I wanted to read aloud, so they know they are not forgotten,” Charles-Newton told the House Appropriations Committee oversight hearing on Investigating the Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. The victims are both men and women, but it is Native American women who disproportionately go missing and are murdered in cases that are rarely solved, if they’re investigated at all. The Bureau of Indian Affairs estimates that there are approximately 4,200 missing and murdered Indigenous peoples cases that have gone unsolved. She said that the total number of known people missing from the Navajo Nation is 75, and they do not know the number of Navajo people who have been murdered. “It’s unaccounted for because we lack the manpower to track those cases properly, and we also lack the infrastructure to record all cases,” she said. Charles-Newton was one of five Indigenous women who testified to the committee on Nov. 20, and each shared their experiences working and advocating for missing and murdered Indigenous people in both rural and urban settings. As part of the testimonies, each woman also provided recommendations on how federal agencies can better support MMIP efforts. Many of the concerns highlighted in the hearing related to continued jurisdictional issues among federal, state, and tribal entities, the lack of readily available resources for investigations involving MMIP cases, the need for more comprehensive data collection regarding Indigenous peoples and accountability among federal agencies. “My inner being agonizes over the lack of worth given to Native women and the senseless acts that lead to their harm,” said Mary Jane Miles, vice-chairman of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee and member of the Nez Perce tribe. “In the past, people in power have not cared about Native women, but their families and tribes do care.” GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE Over and over again, the women who testified spoke about the jurisdictional confusion that, many said, is ultimately used as a way to pass the buck and avoid doing the police work required to seek justice for the victims. Cheryl Horn, a member of the Assiniboine Tribe of Fort Belknap who sits on the Montana Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force, spoke about the difficulty in getting any help from the tribal, county and federal law enforcement agencies when two of her nieces went missing. “None of these jurisdictions want this case,” said. “I don’t want jurisdiction used as an excuse not to do it, which is what I’m seeing in Montana.” Likewise, Urban Indian Health Institute Director Abigail Echo-Hawk told the committee that the “maze of jurisdiction is just an excuse” that allows law enforcement “to not pay attention to those they don’t care about — and those they don’t care about look like me and the other women on this panel today.” Charles-Newton drove home exactly how jurisdictional confusion has failed Native victims, telling the committee about her own kidnapping and brutal repeated rapes when she was just 17 years old. She said she accepted a Coca-Cola from a man she knew, only to wake up later, tied up in a shack and held for more than a week. “He raped me repeatedly, he beat me, he broke my ribs, broke my cheekbones. He tried to carve his initials into my pubic area,” she said. And although Charles-Newton knew who her rapist was, and told police over and over, she said all they kept asking her about was where the shack was located, a question she couldn’t answer. Because of that, jurisdiction was never settled, and her rapist was never prosecuted — and now she represents that man as a Navajo Nation delegate. No one came to search for her, she said, because tribal police told her family that she’d just gotten tired of living in her tribal community and had left. That was an excuse, Charles-Newton said, but her family believed it because they have been conditioned to believe the police. “Nobody wants to solve these cases. They just want to say that it’s closed,” she said. “I wish we had law enforcement where everybody took their jobs seriously.” Navajo Nation Delegate Eugenia Charles-Newton testifies on Nov. 20, 2024, to the House Appropriations Committee oversight hearing on Investigating the Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. (Screenshot via YouTube / House Appropriations Committee) The tendency to blame Indigenous women who are victimized — conditioned by decades of stereotypes that treat Native people, and especially Native women, as less than human — makes it that much more difficult to get non-tribal law enforcement to respond to the cases the same way they would if the victims were white women, Echo-Hawk said. “This cannot depend on one person, on one organization. It must be a systematic approach that upholds accountability,” she said. It is something we’ve been calling for, but no one has been willing to take up the cause.” Maulian Bryant, a member of the Penobscot Nation in Maine and the incoming executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance, said the failure to recognize the crisis taking place on tribal lands and against Native Americans living in urban centers is only the latest trauma visited upon Indigenous people by the U.S. government. Things like the American government stealing land from Native people and then forcing them into boarding schools, where they literally had their culture beaten out of them, have left Indigenous people “less than human” and “invisible.” “It’s so much more than laws and jurisdiction, it’s where we’ve been placed in society,” she said. “We love this place and we need it to love us back.” Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, called the hearing as part of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees funding for the Department of Interior. More than 40% of American Indian and Alaska Native women are raped in their lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For Indigenous women between the ages of 10 and 24, homicide is the No. 3 leading cause of death. For Indigenous women ages 25 to 24, it is the fifth leading cause of death. “Forty percent of all victims of sex trafficking are identified as American Indian and Alaska Native women,” Simpson said. “In 2023, over 5,800 American Indian and Alaska Native females were missing – and 74% were children. This is tragic and unacceptable.” Simpson said that, as part of the FY2025 House Interior appropriations bill, the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ public safety and justice programs received a $191 million increase, including an additional $141 million for criminal investigation and police services. Simpson said the bill also provided an additional $13.5 million for a total of $30 million for the missing and murdered Indigenous women’s initiative, which focuses on helping address the MMIP crisis, including resources for criminal investigators, software platforms and evidence recovery equipment. “These steps are just the beginning,” he said. The goal of the hearing is not to point fingers, Simpson said, but to solve a problem. “We want to know what’s working and what’s not working, things that might need to be changed and that is the purpose of this hearing,” he said, because as the appropriations committee, it is their responsibility to fund many of those programs. Echo-Hawk spoke to the committee on behalf of the Indigenous people living in urban areas who continue to be impacted by the crisis yet still do not have access to resources promised through the Savanna’s Act and Not Invisible Act. “These people are suffering in the same ways the tribes are suffering,” Echo-Hawk said of Indigenous people living in urban settings. Echo-Hawk, who is a member of the Pawnee Nation and serves as the executive vice president of the Seattle Indian Health Board, touched on three major topics related to the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples: the Department of Justice’s failure to implement the Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act, the need for a national alert code for missing and endangered Indigenous people, and the importance of holding the military accountable for violence against Indigenous people. “Please ensure that there is accountability for urban Indian populations as we move forward in doing everything we can to achieve justice,” Echo-Hawk said. Savanna’s Act is an effort to improve the federal response to missing and murdered Indigenous peoples, including increasing coordination among federal, state, tribal and local law enforcement agencies. The Not Invisible Act was signed into law in 2020, and it requires the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Interior to establish the Not Invisible Act Commission, a cross-jurisdictional advisory committee that will develop recommendations to address the public safety challenges associated with missing and murdered Indigenous peoples. The commission was formed in May 2022, and it held field meetings in June 2022, which helped it compile a recommendation report for the Departments of Justice, Interior, and Congress in November 2023. Some of those recommendations included tracking and reporting MMIP and human trafficking cases, coordinating tribal-state-federal resources to combat MMIP and human trafficking, and identifying, reporting, and responding to instances of MMIP cases and human trafficking. “For those of us serving in the urban setting, the promises of the Savannah’s Act and Not Invisible Act have never come,” Echo-Hawk said. She noted how she has often interacted with law enforcement agencies that acknowledge a crisis happening among Indigenous people, but they do not know how to adequately address it because they do not have the resources to do so. Echo-Hawk pointed out that the commission for the Not Invisible Act took two years to be appointed, and the process for appointment and data collection was rushed. As a result, many Indigenous people within urban communities were unable to share their experiences with the commission. “They need to do better,” she said. “Our urban communities must be involved and we have to ensure that all of our people, regardless of where we live, have the opportunity to see justice.” Montana Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force member Cheryl Horn testifies on Nov. 20, 2024, to the House Appropriations Committee oversight hearing on Investigating the Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. (Screenshot via YouTube / House Appropriations Committee) To address violence against Indigenous women by the military, Echo-Hawk shared her personal experience of being victimized as a young woman by an active-duty military man. Echo-Hawk called for accountability within the Department of Defense, stating that department leaders need to make current data readily available on human trafficking, sexual assault, domestic violence and homicide of both active-duty military who are affected and those who are perpetrators in the active-duty military. “We need to know what the impact is of the military on this crisis and of those active-duty service members who deserve safety,” she said, adding that Indigenous people make up over 1% of those in active-duty military service, and this crisis impacts them. U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, said that it is a complex crisis, and there has been growing awareness and focus on resolving unsolved cases as well as understanding and addressing other contributing factors, such as drug and human trafficking, domestic violence, poverty, housing issues and more. “They’re all equally important to confront the scale and severity of this issue,” she said. “That is why it’s imperative we pass a full-year interior appropriations bill and not have programs constrained by operating under a continuing resolution.” Pingree pointed out several initiatives that have been put in place to address the ongoing crisis, including the establishment of Operation Lady Justice in 2019 to pursue these unresolved cases; the creation of a missing and murdered unit within the BIA Office of Justice Services in 2021, which was established to provide leadership and direction for cross-department and interagency work; and the 2023 launch of the DOJ’s missing and murdered Indigenous regional outreach program, which permanently placed 10 attorneys and coordinators in five designated regions across the United States to help respond to cases. Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okalahoma, said that Indigenous women and girls continue to be disproportionately targeted by dangerous predators. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data indicates that Native women and girls experience a murder rate 10 times higher than the national average,” Cole said. “Tragically, I have seen these stats first hand in my home state of Oklahoma, which ranks No. 2 on the list of the top 10 states with Native American and Alaska Native missing persons cases.” Cole said that while the statistics are alarming, data collection on the issue is still lacking, and solving the MMIP crisis will require sufficient awareness and resources. “Because of the extreme lack of resources, statutory roadblocks, and several other barriers, this crisis won’t be solved without the work and partnership of leaders of the federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement,” he said. YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE. SUPPORT

[Category: Gov & Politics, Native America, Police & Prison, crime, homicide, missing and murdered indigenous relatives, missing and mutrdered indigenous people, MMIW, MMIWR, public safety]

— New Mexico Broadband Office wants $70M for satellite, high-speed internet

 

at 11/19/24 4:49pm

Two towers providing cellular broadband and data service to rural areas on stormy day. (Photo via Getty Images)As people wait for new high-speed internet to get installed along power lines or beneath the ground, New Mexico’s broadband agency wants to use public funds to cover some of the cost of getting high-speed internet from space. The New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion on Tuesday asked the Legislative Finance Committee for $70 million to help cover the cost of connecting to satellite high-speed internet. The committee makes budgetary recommendations to the full Legislature. About 95,000 households in New Mexico are either too remote to receive high-speed internet or do not have the money to pay for it, said Drew Lovelace, the broadband office’s acting director. Those include parts of Albuquerque but also more mountainous or remote areas in the eastern and western parts of the state, Lovelace said. Over a five-year period while high-speed internet lines are built, the money would pay for a $600 satellite receiver to get connected, along with $30 toward the $120 total monthly bill. The program is called Accelerate Connect New Mexico. The only satellite internet provider in the market right now with satellites close enough to the planet’s surface to do high-speed internet is Starlink, Lovelace said. There are other companies with satellites farther away into space, but as far as he’s aware, none of those provide a fast enough connection speed. Starlink is owned by billionaire Elon Musk, who has been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to lead a not-yet-defined commission to evaluate government spending. Sen. Benny Shendo (D-Jemez) asked Lovelace about what he thinks could change with the new presidential administration, especially since Starlink “used to have the inside track on these conversations.” Lovelace responded in part by saying federal money for high-speed internet is already obligated to the state of New Mexico, and it would take an act of Congress to change that. “There’s a lot we can think about and prepare for — what’s nice to think about with infrastructure is that whether you have an R or a D behind your name, if you do not have connectivity, you want connectivity,” Lovelace said. Lovelace said according to data Starlink has shared with his office, there are only about 200 places in New Mexico that couldn’t get satellite coverage. As an example, he said, those places might be too deep within a valley for the signal to reach. If the Legislative Finance Committee includes the requested money in the state budget for Fiscal Year 2026, and lawmakers vote to pass the budget, the money would become available to the agency in July 2025. Lovelace said it would take another six months to hire a satellite high-speed internet provider and actually start the program.

[Category: Economy, Election 2024, Gov & Politics, high speed internet, infrastructure, internet]

— Biden seeking an additional $1.5 billion for Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire victims

 

at 11/18/24 5:52pm

Acres of charred trees jut out from freshly fallen snow on the 340,000-acre burn scar of the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire, pictured in February 2023. President Joe Biden is seeking $1.5 billion more for fire victims, which would bring the total awarded to $5.45 billion, if Congress approves it later this year. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM)President Joe Biden’s last-ditch effort to adequately fund the country’s natural disaster response includes an additional $1.5 billion for victims of New Mexico’s largest-ever wildfire, according to a letter his office released today.  If Congress approves his request, that would bring the total compensation awarded to $5.45 billion, which is more than half the state budget of New Mexico. Congress in late 2022 previously awarded $3.95 billion in two separate bills. The extra money is “essential to fully meet the claims that are eligible for compensation,” said U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez  (D-NM) in a statement Monday afternoon.  The deadline to apply for compensation for the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire is Dec. 20.  The Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire began in the spring of 2022 after the United States Forest Service ignited two prescribed burns under unfavorable conditions that escaped and merged to become the biggest fire in state history. The blaze caused billions of dollars in damage, destroyed several hundred homes and burned through an area the size of Los Angeles.  Along with the compensation money, Congress in 2022 passed the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act, which tasks the Federal Emergency Management Agency with setting up a claims office to fully compensate victims of the fire.  Biden administration asks Congress for $98.4 billion in disaster aid after stormy year As of Oct. 18, the claims office had paid out $1.5 billion of the fund, including payments for burned homes, lost business revenue and reforestation. Those who suffered losses in the fire have until Dec. 20 to apply.  The additional $1.5 billion Biden is requesting would come from a proposed $40 billion funding boost to FEMA’s Disaster Recovery Fund, according to Biden’s request letter.  That’s the fund that pays for immediate assistance for all types of disasters, including wildfires and floods, for individuals and local governments. Biden’s request, which totals about $100 billion, comes in the waning days of his presidency, before Democrats in the Senate and the White House cede control to Republicans early next year.  It’s likely lawmakers and staff will release an emergency spending bill in early December when both chambers return for a three-week session after the Thanksgiving holiday. “It is absolutely critical that these communities know that their government has not forgotten them,” White House budget director Shalanda Young said Monday in a briefing with reporters. Leger Fernandez and U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, also a Democrat, championed the compensation bill and issued statements calling on Congress to keep the additional funding and for FEMA to pay it out quickly.  Lujan spokesperson Adan Serna told Source New Mexico the delegation successfully convinced the White House the additional money was needed, especially given the uncertainty of the next Congress. “This is one of the last few bills that is likely to pass before the end of the year, and obviously were going to be in the minority, and so were just being proactive with this extra funding request,” Serna said. “And President Biden and his team listened.” The additional money wasn’t sought for a particular type of compensation or because lawmakers felt there was a single area of loss that wasn’t being compensated, Serna said. Instead, it was to make sure the office had sufficient funding ahead of an uncertain future.  Judge says hes leaning toward nixing FEMA rule denying fire victims payment for emotional losses  “The pitch was really to make sure that we do not end up where the money has run out and all of the victims have not been paid out,” Serna said.  The request for additional funding comes about a month after a federal judge hinted he would likely side with fire victims in a lawsuit against FEMA for its decision not to pay compensation claims for so-called “noneconomic” damages, which are similar to pain and suffering payments in a civil lawsuit.  If the judge rules as he suggested he would, victims’ lawyers estimate that noneconomic losses could amount to about $400 million on top of billions in economic losses suffered in the fire. Members of the delegation have previously criticized the office in the past for delays in issuing payments. Leger Fernandez, in her statement, said in addition to Congress awarding the additional funds, “we must hold FEMA and the HPCC Claims Office accountable for making their process faster and more responsive, ensuring all New Mexico families whose lives have been upended by this disaster make a full recovery. Extension still pending Lujan and Leger Fernandez are also seeking to further extend the application deadline, which was already extended a month from mid-November to Dec. 20. An extension would have to occur in a separate act of Congress, Serna said. Lujan is exploring different packages of legislation where an extension would be included, Serna said. Serna said he hopes that the “incredibly collegial” Senate, where Lujan has many relationships across the aisle, would not block a vote to extend the deadline for partisan reasons.  Still, he said, there are no guarantees that the deadline extension will pass.  “Our message really is that people need to apply, like, today,” he said.

[Category: Environment & Climate Change, Gov & Politics, Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon fire]

— Cities, states say they’ll need more help to replace millions of lead pipes

 

at 11/18/24 10:20am

Workers remove a lead service line before it’s replaced by a brass one in Providence, R.I., last year. A new federal rule will require water systems across the country to replace roughly 9 million lead service lines to protect residents from potential poisoning. (Photo by Kevin G. Andrade / Rhode Island Current)A new federal rule will require water utilities across the country to pull millions of lead drinking water pipes out of the ground and replace them, at a cost of billions of dollars. States, cities and water utilities agree that the lead pipes need to go to ensure safe water for residents. But they say they may struggle to do so in the 10-year window required under the rule, and they fear some ratepayers will be hit with massive cost increases to pay for the work. State officials are urging Congress to provide ongoing funding for the lead replacement effort. Local leaders say they’ll need lots of help to meet the deadline. And environmental advocates are calling on states to issue bonds or provide other financial support to water utilities. “It took us close to 100 years to get all of these lead service lines in the ground, and the EPA is asking us to get them out in 10 years,” said Tom Dobbins, CEO of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, an advocacy group for publicly owned water systems. “The [Biden] administration grossly underestimated the cost. Obviously, if the federal government doesn’t provide the funding for this, the ratepayers will have to pay for this. That exacerbates certain communities’ affordability issues.” The new rule, issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in October, requires cities and water utilities to replace all lead service lines — the pipes that run from water mains to private residences under lawns and sidewalks. Because the lines extend under private property, some water system operators say the rule has created confusion over whether utilities or homeowners will be responsible for the replacement costs. The EPA estimates that more than 9 million service lines are made of lead, a neurotoxin that can cause nervous system damage, learning disabilities and other health problems, especially in children. If lead pipes corrode, as in the infamous case of Flint, Michigan, they can poison drinking water. It took us close to 100 years to get all of these lead service lines in the ground, and the EPA is asking us to get them out in 10 years. – Tom Dobbins, CEO of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies While no amount of lead exposure is safe, the federal rule now requires utilities to notify the public and improve corrosion treatment if lead in their water exceeds 10 parts per billion. Some homes in Syracuse, New York, recently tested at 70 parts per billion. “This is a significant public health advance,” said Erik Olson, who leads a drinking water protection campaign with the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental nonprofit. “We’ve known for decades that lead service lines are dangerous, and, unfortunately, a lot of utilities just kept putting it on the back burner.” Under the rule, water systems will have until 2027 to draft a plan for replacing their lead lines, after which they will have 10 years to complete the work. Olson said President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to roll back many environmental regulations, would have a difficult time undoing the lead rule. A provision in the Safe Drinking Water Act prevents “backsliding” for federal protections, he said, and efforts to overturn the rule through Congress could prove deeply unpopular. Money worries The federal mandate comes after some states, including Illinois, Michigan and New Jersey, already issued their own lead replacement requirements and directed funding to their hardest-hit communities. “It’s a challenging goal, but I think we’ve shown it’s achievable,” said Eric Oswald, director of the Drinking Water and Environmental Health Division in the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. “I’m trying to make Michigan the first state to remove all lead service lines.” The federal rule will accelerate Michigan’s timeline, as state regulations gave utilities a 20-year replacement window. But the initial state requirement has given water systems there a head start. Michigan has somewhere between 300,000 and 500,000 service lines, of which it’s replaced about 50,000 so far. Oswald acknowledged that the work will be expensive. States need to keep PFAS ’forever chemicals’ out of the water. It won’t be cheap. In New Jersey, water utilities have replaced more than 25,000 service lines since a state lead law was passed in 2021 (that figure does not include a previous effort that replaced 23,000 pipes in Newark). But the state still has more than 120,000 lead service lines, which it said will cost at least $1.8 billion to replace. “There’s nothing yet that has made me think that it’s not achievable, but right now the focus has been on getting a good inventory,” said Trish Ingelido, director of water supply and geoscience at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. “We’ll have a better sense in the next two years what the replacement rate is looking like.” The EPA estimates that the cost of replacing lead pipes nationwide will be about $45 billion. A separate analysis by the consulting firm Safe Water Engineering, funded by the Natural Resources Defense Council, arrived at a similar figure. But the American Water Works Association, a coalition of water system operators, puts the cost at closer to $90 billion. “This is important on the public health side, but it’s a challenge for local governments,” said Carolyn Berndt, legislative director for sustainability at the National League of Cities, which advocates for municipal governments. “We do see this raising concerns about affordability.” While local governments worry about expenses, the EPA says that the public health costs of lead poisoning are far greater. A federal analysis estimates that the rule, on an annual basis, will prevent 1,500 cases of premature death from heart disease and protect 900,000 infants from having low birthweight. The agency says the savings from avoiding the poisoning of residents will be 13 times greater than the cost of replacing the pipes. The feds have provided $15 billion for lead service line replacement through the 2021 infrastructure law passed by Congress, plus another $11.7 billion in state-administered drinking water funds that can be used for new lines. Some communities have used those federal grants and loans, along with pandemic relief funds, to make significant progress on their lead problem. So far, the EPA says it has distributed $9 billion of the money targeted at service line replacements, enough to change out up to 1.7 million pipes. But many water systems are still working to inventory their lead pipes, leaving them little time to compete for the federal funding that expires in 2026. “[Federal investments] provided significant new funding for this effort, but it’s absolutely not nearly enough for the successful implementation of the rule,” said Ben Grumbles, executive director of the Environmental Council of the States, a nonprofit association of environmental agency leaders. Grumbles noted that state agencies also are facing significant expenses from new federal rules to limit exposure to PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” in drinking water (lead, a naturally occurring metal, is not among the man-made PFAS chemicals). Cities struggle At the local level, leaders are scrounging for funding as best they can. “We’re looking at federal money, we’re looking at bonds, we’re looking at different loans and grants,” said Randy Conner, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Water Management. “We’re making sure we turn over all the couch cushions to find every quarter we can possibly find to put towards this effort.” Chicago has an estimated 400,000 lead pipes, more than any other U.S. city. Because of the sheer scale of the problem, the EPA gave Chicago an extended deadline of 20 years to replace its lines. Even so, that would require pulling out 19,000 lines a year, well more than the city’s current pace of 8,000. That work will cost about $780 million, according to city officials. Conner said the city is hoping for more federal and state support to avoid placing a heavy burden on ratepayers. Lead Pipe Removal Speeds Up as Federal Stimulus Dollars Flow Meanwhile, state and local leaders say Congress is interfering with a key source of money for lead line replacement. Two loan programs, funded by the federal government but administered by states, provide crucial financing for water infrastructure work. State agency leaders deploy the funding based on detailed assessments of community needs. But in recent years, members of Congress have bypassed states’ funding strategies to earmark money for projects in their districts. State agencies say they’re receiving less than half of the pool of money after Congress assigns its favored projects. That has left them less able to help the neediest communities. And many of the congressionally designated projects are lagging because they haven’t gone through the rigorous preparation work required by states. “By diverting so much funding away from the successful [loan programs], disadvantaged communities are less likely to get funding,” said Grumbles, who oversees the coalition of state agencies. Grumbles and others argue that any earmarks from Congress should only be in addition to the baseline loan program funding. Other challenges Costs aren’t the only obstacle water systems are facing. Some are concerned that the rush to replace millions of pipes nationwide will strain the workforce and supply chain capacity. “The limiting factor is going to be the availability of contractors and professionals and materials to do the actual work,” said Robert Boos, executive director of the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority. “That’s going to be a national issue, when you’ve got tens of thousands of communities trying to do this work.” Pennsylvania has boosted clean water funding in its state budget, and it’s trying to tackle the workforce issue as well. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order in 2023 to create a workforce training program for infrastructure jobs, including lead pipe replacement. Olson, the environmental advocate, pointed to Newark, New Jersey, which partnered with a labor union to train local residents. The city replaced all of its 23,000 lead service lines in just over two years. “Creative thinking and political will are really what’s needed,” he said. “This is definitely doable.” Another potential problem is the fact that service lines lie under private property, meaning utilities need cooperation from homeowners to conduct the work. In some cases, they’ve run into opposition from residents or struggled to reach absentee landlords. “People just don’t trust government; they don’t think that anything is free,” said Conner, the Chicago official. “We want them to understand that we’re not coming into their house to give citations.” Environmental advocates also note that service lines’ placement on private property has created confusion over who must pay to replace them. The federal rule does not explicitly make water utilities responsible. “When the city goes to a household and says you have to pay a couple thousand dollars to replace your portion of the lead service line, it may work for higher-income people,” Olson said. “But the studies are showing that lower-income homeowners and landlords will not pay for it. It’s a real exacerbation of environmental injustices.” He pointed to Michigan, which adopted a rule specifying that water systems are responsible for the costs of replacing lines. He also noted that some cities have passed ordinances allowing residents of a home to authorize pipe replacement if a landlord can’t be reached. YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE. SUPPORT

[Category: Environment & Climate Change, Gov & Politics, Health, drinking water, infrastructure, lead pipes, lead poisoning, public infrastructure, water]

— Bernalillo County prosecutor wants tougher laws for young people. Will New Mexico lawmakers agree?

 

at 11/18/24 5:05am

An Albuquerque Police Department SUV sits in the parking lot for the Albuquerque Police Academy. (Photo by Shelby Kleinhans for Source NM) Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman — one of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s top advisors on criminal justice issues — wants New Mexico to focus much of its deterrence efforts on young people.  His plans, if approved, would lead to harsher punishment for children and young adults.  As the lead prosecutor for New Mexico’s population center of Albuquerque, Bregman has outsized influence on the statewide crime agenda. But it’s not clear that fellow Democrats in the Legislature will sign off during the 2025 session on everything he proposed. “Too many people, too many victims, are killed by juveniles in our community,” Bregman said last week to the House and Senate’s Courts Corrections and Justice Committee. “We need all the treatment we can get for these young people and their families, but at the same time, there has to be a little bit of an ounce of consequence.“ Acts committed by New Mexico children that would be designated as a crime under the law, called “delinquent referrals,” increased slightly between 2021 and 2023 but are down since 2019, according to data published by the Children Youth and Families Department’s Juvenile Justice Services division. A broad look at crime In the upcoming session, lawmakers will consider a broader crime package that would create a new trust fund to pay for more drug treatment programs, and revisit previous attempts to rewrite the state’s criminal competency laws, Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque) told the Albuquerque Journal. The crime package is supported by legislative leaders in the Senate as well as the House of Representatives, said Sen. Joseph Cervantes (D-Las Cruces). Bregman said he supports the idea of getting more money into behavioral health treatment but urged lawmakers to go further. Bregman is proposing an overhaul of New Mexico’s Delinquency Act, which governs how the state can hold children accountable for behavior that would be considered criminal if they were over 18. He gave lawmakers a document outlining 35 changes he wants. Taken together, his proposals would make it significantly easier to hold children in juvenile detention centers and to prosecute them as adults. Bregman said his top priority is to expand the list of conduct for which the state can charge a young person as an adult. The law allows the state to prosecute a child as an adult only if they’re accused of first-degree murder. His second priority is to allow the state to incarcerate a child who is convicted of some violent crimes until they are 25 years old. The law requires they be let go on their 21st birthday. Beyond proposals focused on youth, Bregman also wants to increase the penalty for unlawful possession of a gun from a misdemeanor to a felony. He also wants to make it illegal under New Mexico law to convert a semi-automatic firearm into an automatic one using a device usually called a “switch” –  something already illegal under federal law. What do lawmakers think? Rep. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos) told Source New Mexico she can get behind Bregman’s gun violence proposals, but that she needs more time to digest the sprawling pitch on crime committed by young people. Cervantes questioned what it would accomplish to prohibit switches under state law and suggested a better solution would be to go after the businesses making the devices. He and Chandler have tried to open up gun manufacturers to liability claims in civil court, and Cervantes said he will probably introduce something similar next year. “We’re trying to find a way to hold manufacturers of unlawful weapons accountable, and do so civilly,” Cervantes said. Xiuy Soto, a youth organizer with La Plazita Institute, which advocates for reducing youth incarceration in the South Valley in Bernalillo County, said lawmakers should take a more holistic approach to preventing crime committed by young people in the first place.  If more money was put into employing youth, he said, they wouldn’t get caught up in criminal activity.  “We have this backwards system where the youth has to commit an offense to receive resources and alternatives, while others are overlooked until they do something that makes you see them, and they really feel cared for,” Soto said. “That’s a failure of the state, not our youth.”

[Category: Gov & Politics, Police & Prison, crime, criminal justice, delinquency, juvenile justice, policing, public safety]

— The EPA stalled and then a fix for New Mexico oil and gas pollution evaporated

 

at 11/15/24 2:00pm

A drilling rig looms over a county road leading out of Loving, NM. The operation filled the air with the strong scent of petrochemical fumes. (Photo by Jerry Redfern / Capital & Main)It’s a mid-September afternoon in Loving, a village of 1,400 in far southeastern New Mexico. The firm wind blowing out of Texas brings a light grit that settles in the hair and eyes. The wind carries the faint perfume of hydrocarbons — hints of plastic, hints of glue, hints of gasoline — picked up as it crosses the most productive portion of the most productive oilfield in the country, the Permian Basin. As the wind blows north, the dust and chemicals turn the morning sky from a light blue to a hazy white. In a couple of hours the air will carry the sizzling tang of ozone, eyes will burn, lungs will ache, and distant landmarks will lose their detail and filter into shades of light gray. And it’s not even a bad pollution day. Sixty-one years ago, Congress passed the Clean Air Act to control the nation’s air pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency was created, in part, to implement the 1970 update of the act, which was a response to pollution — such as ozone — in the country’s largest cities. Pollution doesn’t happen only in cities, though, and air monitors in New Mexico’s part of the Permian Basin regularly record ozone levels that exceed what’s deemed safe to breathe under the act’s guidelines. And for most of the past year, officials at the EPA told the secretary of the New Mexico Environment Department that a federal fix for Permian Basin’s air pollution was imminent. It took just one day in November to change that. “It is likely no longer imminent,” James Kenney, the state’s Environment Department secretary, said after Donald Trump’s election to a second term. A climate change denier, Trump rides into office again on a platform promising increased fossil fuel production and reductions in federal oversight of the oil and gas industry. During the campaign, he asked oil and gas executives for a billion dollars in exchange for undoing Biden administration environmental rules. And on Monday, Trump named former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to run the EPA and roll back Biden’s climate agenda. “He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions,” Trump said. In his first tweet after the announcement, Zeldin said he will “restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry, bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI,” none of which are part of the EPA’s mandate. Both Trump and Zeldin pledged to protect clean air and water, but in the Permian Basin, the air and water are polluted by the very industry they both pledged to deregulate. Some at the EPA remain optimistic, however. “Our work to implement President Biden’s agenda is undeterred,” said Joe Robledo, spokesperson for EPA’s Region 6, which covers New Mexico. “We are still doing our jobs and will continue to deliver results for the American people.” Others are less optimistic. “The assaults on EPA will likely come from many fronts,” Kenney said. He was appointed New Mexico Environment Department secretary after years working at the EPA in rules enforcement, much of that in oil and gas operations. Kenney said that pressure from the White House, reduced enforcement by national and regional directors and reduced congressional funding “will have the effect of eroding or dismantling the agency.” Furthermore, he thinks the relationship between the state and the federal Justice Department will be turned on its head. “I expect the Trump administration to again weaponize its Department of Justice against states like New Mexico,” Kenney said. Over the past few years, the two agencies regularly partnered to prosecute flagrant oil and gas pollution violators in New Mexico. Kenney thinks the future will look more like a 2019 case during the first Trump administration in which the U.S. Air Force sued the state over the latter’s fight against toxic PFAS contamination on and around an Air Force base in eastern New Mexico. Studies conducted by the National Cancer Institute have linked PFAS exposure to various cancers. “Dismantling environmental protections through federal lawsuits against states is likely if past is prologue,” Kenney said. *** On the outskirts of Loving, Jozee Zuñiga waits to back her truck out of the driveway to her grandmother’s home. A stream of dump trucks blocks the road, carrying dirt for the foundation of a new oil well drilling pad a couple of hundred yards away from the front door — the third one this year. There are already 16 active or newly drilled wells within a mile, all of them on what used to be neighbors’ hay fields and pasture lands. Zuñiga tries to stay balanced. “I know that a lot of good things have come with the industry. You know, a lot of careers, a lot of money. But we’re also seeing a lot of bad things,” she said. “In recent years, we’ve really been completely surrounded and, you know, engulfed in this industry.” The road itself, once paved, is crumbling under the heavy truck traffic. New oil and gas pipelines were recently buried in the right-of-way in her grandmother’s backyard, churning the earth and leaving a strip of gray gravel and dirt 40 yards wide and dotted with pipeline warning stakes. Jozee Zuñiga stands on the oil and gas pipeline right-of-way that runs through her grandmother’s backyard outside of Loving. The white pipes warn of the underground lines. She asked that her face not be shown because she has received threats for her environmental work. (Photo by Jerry Redfern / Capital & Main) “You used to be able to go outside at night, and you could just see a beautiful sky,” she said. “There used to be clear mornings, and sometimes deer even used to come down and come through the area.” On this September day, the Guadalupe Mountains, which usually poke up 30 miles away across the plains, are lost in the haze. At night, it’s as if the brightest stars have fallen from the sky and landed atop the drilling rigs and compressor stations and flare stacks scattered across the rolling plains of the Permian Basin. The oil and gas operations release volatile organic compounds — the same chemicals that make plastic, glue and gasoline smell like they do. The compounds are a gaseous part of the unrefined hydrocarbon cocktail that comes out of oil and gas wells and give the morning air around Loving its oilfield odor. The region’s sun and desert heat bake the compounds into ozone, leaving New Mexicans breathing air pollution linked to nosebleeds, asthma and other respiratory diseases, particularly among the young and elderly. Several of the volatile organic compounds are linked to cancers. So far this year, a group of independent scientists has recorded ozone levels in Loving that exceeded the federal Clean Air Act limit of 70 parts per billion 54 times. The pollution levels they recorded would make Loving the fifth-most ozone-polluted area in the country, ahead of perennial pollution hotspots like New York, Dallas and Houston. Their work also shows that the wind carries the highest ozone levels when it blows into town after crossing the heart of the Permian Basin. This will be the sixth straight year that those levels in New Mexico’s portion of the Permian Basin have exceeded the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone under the Clean Air Act. Three consecutive years is the threshold that could trigger an ozone nonattainment designation from the EPA, leading to a crackdown on the oil and gas industry by enacting tougher rules and greater enforcement to reduce volatile organic compounds and ozone levels. But the EPA hasn’t done that. “We believe in science and we believe in data,” said Kenney, the Environment Department secretary. “And the data suggests that when 50, 60% of the industry is out of compliance with state and federal [pollution] standards, it does not surprise me that the [air] monitors see that.” Before the election, the EPA may or may not have been preparing to drop the boom on the region and mandate changes to clean the air. “May or may not” because Kenney said the EPA told him a declaration classifying New Mexico’s part of the Permian Basin as being out of compliance with the Clean Air Act was “imminent.” But, at the same time, Robledo, the EPA press officer, said the agency was waiting to see if recent state and federal rules were enough to reduce the pollution. New Mexico implemented rules to rein in methane venting, flaring and leaks in the oil and gas industry in 2021 and volatile organic compound emissions (known as ozone precursors) in 2022, and the EPA initiated its own rules to strengthen emission reporting this year. And just this Tuesday, the Biden administration announced a “methane fee” for excess emissions of the climate-damaging gas. Meanwhile, oil production in the Permian Basin has grown more than 35% since 2021. The likely end of the ozone designation process “is very sad and a failure I guess on the EPA’s part,” Zuñiga said. “This nonattainment zone should have been declared months ago … There was more than enough proof to say, ‘Hey, things are not great in this area.’” She said, “Children deserve to be safe. The elderly deserve to be safe. I mean, everyone deserves to be safe, but I think, at this point in time, we should be able to give extra protections to those who can’t protect themselves.” Such protection is the EPA’s mission: “to protect human health and the environment.” It’s the mission of New Mexico’s Environment Department, too, which leads Zuñiga to say, “With our elected officials, we depend on these people … I think it’s their responsibility to protect the people that live here.” New Mexico’s top elected official is Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, and a clause in the Clean Air Act says state governors can ask the EPA for a nonattainment declaration, a process that begins with a simple letter. Questions sent to the governor’s office asking if she was prepared to write such a letter were redirected to Kenney. “She absolutely could do that,” Kenney said. “We fully admit and know that the monitoring data is such that it would suggest the Permian Basin on the New Mexico side — I’m not going to speak for Texas — hits that mark … I think the governor would say that. I would say that. You hear EPA say that.” But, he added, the letter “would effectively go nowhere,” even if Trump hadn’t been elected. That’s because such a letter is only half the fight: The state hasn’t conducted the analyses needed to support a redesignation for the region. Kenney said there are two reasons for that. The first is that the state never budgeted the money for such a study, something he said would cost around $1 million. The second is that the EPA was working on such an analysis. “They’ve done the modeling several times over,” Kenney said. “For about the last 18 months, on a monthly basis, I’ve been asking them, ‘Where are we?’ … They keep telling me … that they are continuing to refine the modeling to establish the boundary areas.” They told him an announcement was imminent. “I have a different definition of ‘imminent’ when I hear that word,” he said. For years, an air monitoring station run by the Environment Department in Carlsbad, New Mexico — a station that also serves as the EPA’s official monitor for the area — has regularly recorded ozone levels well above what the EPA needed to declare a nonattainment zone. In addition to the Carlsbad location, another monitoring station down the road in Loving, operated by a group of air quality scientists and paid for by HEI Energy, recorded even worse air quality since it started its monitoring in 2023. This is the station that recorded ozone exceeding EPA safety levels 54 days so far this year. Despite this, Robledo said a reclassification for the Permian Basin is “at EPA’s discretion.” And he did not directly respond to Kenney’s claim that an EPA nonattainment declaration was imminent. Drew Goretzka, communications director at the New Mexico Environment Department, said that if the EPA had designated the Permian Basin as a nonattainment area, it would lead to a dramatic increase in emissions reporting across the board; more stringent construction permits for new oil and gas facilities; and a mandate under which increases in emissions at currently permitted facilities would have to be offset with equal or greater decreases elsewhere in the nonattainment area. But all of that is unlikely under a second Trump administration. Jeremy Nichols, a senior advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, pointed to both agencies when assigning blame for the state’s oil and gas air pollution — but particularly the Environment Department. “It seems like at every turn all they’ve done is make excuses and blame others for the state’s pollution woes,” he said. “The state is facing its most dire threat to clean air under a second Trump administration. Now is the time for bold and courageous action to confront polluters.” He added, “We’ll see if they rise to the challenge.” Texas will be a spoiler in that challenge. The nation’s largest oil and gas producing state has fought the EPA over redesignating the Permian Basin in the past. While New Mexico has some of the most stringent oil and gas production regulations in the country, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott actively fights any attempt to further regulate the industry. That leads to emissions from oil and gas facilities in Texas’ less-regulated portion of the basin blowing into New Mexico, adding to the pollution numbers. Just after President Biden took office in January 2021, Abbott issued an executive order directing every Texas state agency “to use all lawful powers and tools to challenge any federal action that threatens the continued strength, vitality, and independence of the energy industry.” And when the EPA first proposed the idea of an ozone nonattainment zone in the Permian Basin in the spring of 2022, Abbott railed against “arbitrary and discretionary EPA bureaucrats” and their “draconian regulations.” He later took credit when the Biden administration backed off that EPA proposal in January 2023, as post-COVID inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to increased gas prices. A 2019 report from the research and advocacy group Environment Texas tallied the emissions from self-reported Clean Air Act violations at industrial facilities across Texas. Most came from oil and gas processing facilities, and the Permian Basin region reported the highest emissions of those chemicals — by far. “There’s no way Texas won’t be implicated” in New Mexico’s air pollution, Nichols said. “EPA’s probably going to be more hands-off, so it will likely mean more lawlessness,” he said. “In all likelihood, it will be nongovernmental organizations like ours stepping up to pick up the enforcement slack.” *** Ervie Ornelas stands next to the land near Loving, NM, where he used to find burrowing ground owls with his father-in-law. Today, Chevron is drilling six new wells on the site. (Photo by Jerry Redfern / Capital & Main) Ervie Ornelas looks back on the place where he grew up compared to Loving as it is today. “I was born and raised here, as my father was,” he said. He sits at a picnic bench in Ervell M. Guevara Memorial Park — the village’s only park, named for his father’s best friend, a Marine who died in the Vietnam War. “I’m named after that gentleman,” Ornelas said. And then he points to three new oil wells he can just make out from where he’s sitting. He says he’s been hassled when he’s spoken out against this kind of backyard oil and gas drilling in the past. “I tell everybody I’m not against oil companies,” he said. “I’m all for making money for our town. But what I’m against is what they leave behind.” As he drives a little way out of town, Ornelas passes a 125-foot drilling rig that towers over the road. It envelops passing cars with a potent vapor that smells like a mix of fingernail polish and paint thinner. The resident of the nearest house, which sits about 1,000 feet away, wouldn’t talk about the oil well next door. Ornelas ends up at a spot along the Pecos River where he fished as a kid. Today the spot is covered in garbage and spent gun shells. The river is small, slack and algae-choked. A pile of discarded big-rig tires lies by the road, and oilfield trucks occasionally drive by. Power poles and flare stacks from a pair of new oil and gas wells now overlook the spot. “I liked the old way, the Mother Nature way,” Ornelas said. “Back in the day, it was rugged.” That included wildlife. He drives another mile to a spot where he and his father-in-law used to find burrowing ground owls. “All gone,” Ornelas said. He stands at the barbed wire fence surrounding the land where the owls used to live. It’s been scraped clean, and a pair of cranes assemble six new side-by-side oil wells for Chevron. “It’s all nothing but pure oil stuff now, and that, that was heartbreaking.” Ornelas moved away several years ago for family and work in the bigger city of Carlsbad (population 31,000) to the north. “But I come here every other day, every other day, just to be in my hometown,” he said. “And it don’t even feel like my hometown anymore.” Until four years ago, his mother lived in a small house that overlooked the fields at the edge of town. Then an oil well supply company set up shop across the street. “She couldn’t even talk on the phone outside anymore. It was so loud, you know? And that was sad.” He believes her death was due in part to the dust and fumes that wafted across the street. Ornelas’ son died two weeks before her of a brain tumor. He doesn’t know if the air pollution had anything to do with his death, but, he says, it didn’t help. “The people that really know me know I’m not trying to be malicious. They know I’m worried about my hometown,” Ornelas said. Even so, “I hate to say this. I’m glad my mother’s not here to see what this town has become.”

[Category: Election 2024, Environment & Climate Change, Gov & Politics, Health]

— Advocates from around the country urge lame-duck House to resume payments to downwinders

 

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The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt / States Newsroom)Dozens of groups from 17 states and territories, including Utah, are urging Congress to reauthorize payments to downwinders before the end of the year. On Tuesday, Congress entered a lame-duck session, the period in between Election Day and the start of new congressional terms. And before new lawmakers are sworn in, advocates are hoping the House will vote on a bill that passed the Senate earlier this year to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA, which offers payments to people sickened by nuclear weapons testing, known as downwinders. Congress already has a lot on its plate — before Dec. 20, it needs to pass new spending bills to avoid a government shutdown; it needs to pass an annual defense bill; and it will likely need to replenish the FEMA account in wake of recent hurricanes. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE The House needs to accomplish all that in just 17 days. But advocates are hoping it can also schedule a vote on S.3853, a bill sponsored by Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, which passed the Senate in March after a 69-30 vote. “This year, Congress failed us when it failed to improve RECA and allowed it to expire. But it’s not too late to make it right: pass S.3853 now,” reads an open letter to Congress, signed Wednesday by groups from all over the country, including Utah-based Downwinders, Inc., Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, Latter-day Saint Earth Stewardship, Utah Downwinders and Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment. In addition to Utah, groups from Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Guam, Idaho, Maryland, Missouri, Navajo Nation, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington all signed the letter. Originally passed in 1990, RECA compensated people diagnosed with cancer if they lived in certain counties near above-ground nuclear testing sites in the 1950s and early 1960s. Advocates say the program never went far enough. Studies show that most of the Western U.S. was exposed to dangerous levels of radiation, yet for residents in Utah, only 10 counties were covered. In 2022, Congress passed a bill extending RECA by two years, intent on using that window to expand and improve the program. But reforms never came and in June, RECA expired after Congress failed to extend it. Despite lapse in compensation for downwinders, there are still more than 1,000 pending claims “While we wait for Congress to fix this flawed program, people are getting sicker, and people are dying. We cannot afford to wait again. We cannot be asked to accept more cancers, more deaths, more bankruptcies in our communities while Congress goes back on its promises,” the letter reads. Hawley’s bill would give RECA a major facelift. Called the Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act, it would increase how much compensation downwinders could receive, expand eligibility for certain uranium workers, and widen the current definition of an “affected area” to include all of Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Guam. It would also cover parts of Hawley’s district near St. Louis, where creek water was contaminated by radiation during nuclear weapons development. But the House has been wary of the bill’s price tag — Utah Republican Rep. Celeste Maloy in October told reporters that it likely won’t get a vote. “That adds a lot of new costs. So that bill won’t come up for a vote in the House. The house will not take up a bill that has that much unpaid liability,” said Maloy, calling out the provision that includes Hawley’s district. “We can’t reauthorize it currently because of a Senate bill that ties radiation exposure in Utah from mushroom clouds, together with a superfund site in Missouri,” Maloy said. In the letter penned on Wednesday, the groups pushed back on the notion that the House should ax certain locations that would be eligible for compensation under Hawley’s bill. “Some have callously said that we should kick some communities out of our legislation for the sake of political expediency. But we are not willing to turn our backs on our dying friends and loved ones in other parts of the country, and Congressmembers who ask us to do so should be ashamed,” the letter reads. “There is no fiscal excuse not to support justice for all of our communities.” YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE. SUPPORT

[Category: Environment & Climate Change, Gov & Politics, Health, Downwinders, nuclear weapons, Radiation Exposure Compensation Act]

— New Mexico’s congressional delegation asks feds to wrap up Rio Grande lawsuit

 

at 11/15/24 1:23pm

The cracked riverbed lays exposed in El Paso, Texas, on May 23, 2022. The riverbed below Elephant Butte Reservoir is often empty for most of the year, as the river only runs during irrigation season, which is shortened by drought. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)All five members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation are urging the federal government to “quickly resolve” a decade-old lawsuit from Texas over water rights from the Rio Grande. “In times of worsening drought and precipitation out of line with historical patterns, it is imperative that our communities, municipalities, farmers, ranchers, and businesses have as much clarity about their future water supplies as possible,” they wrote in a letter dated Thursday. They asked for the case to get across the finish line before the end of the year. U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján and Reps. Melanie Stansbury, Gabe Vasquez and Teresa Leger Fernández, all Democrats, addressed the one-page letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Attorney General Merrick Garland. Texas sued New Mexico in 2013, accusing farmers in the southern part of the state of pulling groundwater meant for Texas under the 1938 Rio Grande Compact between those two states plus Colorado, where the river starts in the Rocky Mountains. Colorado agreed to ensure enough water would reach New Mexico, which in turn agreed to pass along enough to Texas. The states in 2022 struck a proposed settlement agreement but the federal government opposed it. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June the case could not be settled without the federal government’s go-ahead. A special master overseeing the case has ordered them to resolve the dispute through mediation by Dec. 16. As of Nov. 7, most of New Mexico was experiencing drought or abnormally dry conditions, and nearly every part of the state had experienced a period of drought in the previous year, the lawmakers wrote. About 13 million people in the U.S. and Mexico rely on the river and its tributaries for drinking water, while an estimated 1.8 million acres of crops and pastures are irrigated by it, they wrote. Delaying the lawsuit’s end any further “imperils the ability of water users to prepare for more common and more extreme droughts in the Rio Grande Basin,” New Mexico’s delegation wrote. .contentHolder .fullwidth iframe { float: none !important; width: 100% !important; border: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; } Texas sued New Mexico over Rio Grande water. Now the states are fighting the federal government.

[Category: Environment & Climate Change, Gov & Politics, climate change, Congress, environment, Rio Grande, water, water rights]

— New Mexico housing agency to again ask for $500 million from Legislature to address housing crisis

 

at 11/15/24 11:16am

Staff of what was once known as the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority pose in front of their new logo and name, Housing New Mexico, after a news conference on Wednesday in Albuquerque. A legislative committee on Thursday endorsed proposed legislation to give Housing New Mexico $500 million to stem the state's housing crisis. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM)Members of the state Legislature will again ask for half a billion dollars for New Mexico’s housing agency this upcoming legislative session, re-upping a big request that the agency says is vital to stem the housing affordability crisis here.  If the last session is any indication, it’s unlikely the Legislature will fund the request at that amount when lawmakers meet in January.  An interim committee overseeing Housing New Mexico, which until recently was known as the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority, unanimously endorsed proposed legislation at its meeting Thursday. The state lacks at least 32,000 affordable homes statewide, and about 20,000 people experience homelessness in the state over the course of a year, according to recent estimates. Legislature and governor tout ‘largest one-time investment in housing’ during 2024 session  The $500 million would go to the agency’s Housing Affordability Trust Fund, which pays for a variety of programs, including down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers, plus housing development and rehabilitation.  The request will come after the Legislature made its biggest one-time investment in housing in state history earlier this year. Lawmakers approved about $200 million, including $125 million in loans for workforce housing development and affordable housing infrastructure, $50 million for the trust fund, $20 million for anti-homelessness initiatives and a couple other small programs. Sen. Nancy Rodriguez (D-Santa Fe), a longtime housing advocate who is retiring at the end of this year after 28 years in the Senate, made the first legislative request for $500 million for Housing New Mexico during the session earlier this year.  She’s introduced bills to bolster the trust fund since as far back as at least 2007, with limited success. The agency got about $21 million combined for the fund between 2005 and 2021. While Rodriguez acknowledged Thursday that “we don’t always get” the full amount, she requests, she touted the fund as necessary for a range of housing services, and she said it has a return on investment of 17-to-1. That’s because it leverages federal and private funding and generates revenue.  Last year, lawmakers ultimately approved $50 million for the agency, which is on top of about $38 million the agency has received annually from severance tax bonds since last year.  Governor tries to save proposed Housing Office by making rare appearance at committee meeting Lawmakers arrived at $50 million as they built a record budget last year. There were dueling requests from Rodriguez, the governor’s office and the Legislative Finance Committee, which recommended $50 million. The governor’s office also sought funding and authority for its own housing agency, which lawmakers ultimately denied.  In the last 16 months, Housing New Mexico has received a little more than $122 million from the Legislature, according to a presentation from director Isidoro “Izzy” Hernandez. Of that money, it has awarded 73% and spent 21% of it. That includes about $15 million in down payment assistance.  If the Legislature funds the full request, which Rodriguez acknowledged “we don’t always get,” Hernandez said the agency would be able to help 10,500 more people on top of the 20,000 the agency already serves. One difference with the half-billion-dollar ask this time around is that the 10% of it would be set aside for local governments. That dedicated funding could serve as an incentive for local governments to change their local zoning ordinances to increase affordable housing density and development, Hernandez said. 

[Category: Economy, Gov & Politics]

— Wildfire survivors appeal to Congress to end federal income tax on settlements, lawyer fees

 

at 11/14/24 3:53pm

Sam Drevo walks by the burned foundation of his mother’s home in Gates following the 2020 Labor Day fires. (Photo courtesy of Tyler Westfall)Western wildfire survivors are calling on Congress to stop playing political football with a bill that would relieve them of federal income taxes on recovery settlements and lawyers fees. To press their point, they’ve sponsored billboards this month in Idaho and Oregon that directly appeal to the two leaders of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee: Oregon’s senior U.S. senator and committee chair, Democrat Ron Wyden, and Idaho’s U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, the Republican ranking member of the committee. In response, Wyden agreed at a town hall at David Douglas High School in Portland last Friday to get the federal Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2023 passed by the end of the year and potentially before Thanksgiving, likely as a stand-alone bill. Both senators have attempted to tuck the bill into opposing tax packages for the last five months. “They have waited long enough,” Wyden said at the town hall. “They have suffered long enough. Life has been uncertain long enough. I’m going to pull out all the stops to get it before the end of the year to them.” A billboard in Portland paid for by the political action committee American Disaster Survivors, which was founded by Western wildfire survivors. (Photo courtesy of Ralph Bloemers) The disaster relief act, which passed the U.S. House almost unanimously in May, and the billboards, which went up early November in Portland, Salem and Medford, were championed by a political action committee founded by survivors of the Thomas, Woolsey and other powerline-ignited fires that burned towns in California during 2017 and 2018. Those communities today are still only partially rebuilt. The bill would exempt disaster survivors in 47 states from paying federal income taxes on their disaster recovery settlements as well as lawyer fees. This includes survivors of wildfires, hurricanes and environmental disasters caused by human error, too, such as the East Palestine train derailment that occurred in Ohio in 2023. It’s similar to a bill that unanimously passed the Oregon Legislature in the spring of 2024 that ended state income taxation on settlements and lawyer fees for wildfire victims. That bill, Senate Bill 1520, was championed by survivors of the 2020 Labor Day Fires, including Sam Drevo, who survived the Santiam Canyon fire that burned down much of the city of Gates in the heart of the Santiam State Forest. He, too, has appealed to Wyden along with Oregon’s other senator, Jeff Merkley, also a Democrat. “I’ve walked the streets of the city of Gates with Wyden and Merkely both, and they know how it’s impacted the community,” Drevo said. Many survivors of the fires were uninsured or underinsured, and are facing steep rebuilding costs — especially in light of inflation over the last couple years. “I’m really hoping that they can step up and be the leaders that they need to be in this moment, and seize the moment,” Drevo said. “As the administration transitions, now is the time. Otherwise, who knows what the priorities are going to be in the next year.” GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE

[Category: Economy, Environment & Climate Change, Gov & Politics]

— New Mexico counties are certifying elections as usual after Trump win

 

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Voters fill out their ballots at the Doña Ana Community College East Mesa Campus in Las Cruces on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo by Leah Romero / Source NM)With Donald Trump winning the presidency, many of the false claims of election fraud that disrupted vote certification in New Mexico and beyond have disappeared, and it’s been business as usual for county boards. Otero County commissioners voted 3-0 on Thursday to certify last week’s election results, and none of them questioned whether they should fulfill their legal obligation to do so. Farther north in Torrance County just the day before, commissioners there did their duty, too. But not long ago, this routinely mundane process didn’t go so smoothly. In 2022, several Republican-led county boards – including in Otero and Torrance counties –  voted against certification of the midterm results. The New Mexico Supreme Court had to order them to do it. Since Election Day, counties have been counting and canvassing, the process of verifying every valid vote is counted. Sometimes that includes asking voters to fix  small mistakes on their ballots, such as forgetting to sign a mail ballot or transposing a numeral in an ID number. In New Mexico, counties with populations smaller than 150,000 people are required to approve the results within 10 days of an election, according to state law. Counties with larger populations have until 13 days after an election to send the results to the New Mexico Secretary of State’s office. Both Doña Ana and Sandoval counties will meet in the afternoon of Friday Nov. 15, while the Bernalillo County Commission is scheduled to meet Monday. Once all 33 counties submit the results, the State Canvassing Board – made up of the governor, secretary of state and the chief justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court – meet on the third Tuesday after the election and declare the official results. Upcoming County Certification meetings: Doña Ana County Commissioners will convene  at the county’s government center on Friday, Nov. 15 at 1 p.m. Sandoval County Commissioners will meet at 3 p.m. on Friday Nov. 15 in the commission’s chambers. Bernalillo County Commissioners are scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 18. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE

[Category: Election 2024, Gov & Politics, Bernalillo County, Doña Ana County, Donald Trump, election certification vote, election denial, Election Results 2024, Otero County Commissioners, Sandoval County, Torrance County Commission]

— A fossil fuel group is working with US tribes to boost LNG exports

 

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This pump jack sits next to a home on the Navajo Reservation. The Navajos are among the governments being courted to join the Western States and Tribal Nations coalition, which seeks to increase production of natural gas, or methane, for export to Asia. (Photo courtesy of University of Utah Environmental Justice Clinic)In the Navajo Nation, and for many tribes, sage is a sacred plant burned in ceremonies to promote healing, spiritual protection and connection to the land. But Meredith Benally, who is Diné and the co-director of the environmental group C 4 Ever Green, has noticed the plant is becoming scarce due to climate change, pollution and other stressors. This story was originally published by Floodlight, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powerful interests stalling climate action. It is republished here with permission. For more than 60 years, the tribe has hosted oil and gas fields that have contaminated the surrounding land, water and air in the Four Corners region of Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado. Residents believe the oil and gas wells are contributing to health issues like asthma, and leaks of hydrogen sulfide gas have caused vomiting in children. The wells are also contaminating the sage, said Benally, who lives on the reservation, south of Bluff, Utah. “All the burn off from the oil that they’re extracting, it gets all over the plant. When we use it, were ingesting all of that.” Benally believes fossil fuels harm their culture. “It not just affects us physically and spiritually, but it also affects us mentally, because we have such a strong relationship with the land.” The climate crisis is threatening Indigenous communities in the western United States with drought and extreme heat — while many tribal homes lack clean water and electricity for cooling. The crisis is made worse by oil and gas wells that guzzle scarce groundwater and emit harmful pollution. At a time when the United States must move away from fossil fuels to save the planet, three western tribes, three states — New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — and the Mexican state of Baja California, have signed agreements with an industry group promoting long-term contracts to export gas to Asian markets. The effort could bring revenue to tribes but also exacerbate climate change, which is having devastating impacts on communities in the West. The group, Western States and Tribal Nations Natural Gas Initiative (WSTN), describes itself as a unique collaboration between tribes and state governments. Its goal of increasing drilling of natural gas in the West for export to Asia is endorsed by the Biden Administration led by Rahm Emanuel, a former top aide to President Barack Obama and now ambassador to Japan. It will likely be supported by incoming President Donald Trump’s administration. The gas, which is primarily composed of planet-warming methane, would be super-cooled and compressed for export as liquefied natural gas (LNG) from facilities on Mexico’s west coast. The gas primarily comes from a hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, boom in the United States, including on tribal lands in the West. Fracking involves injecting huge amounts of water, chemicals and sand into the ground to unlock previously inaccessible gas. The group claims that it is reducing global emissions by helping countries to replace coal with methane. But new peer-reviewed research found that greenhouse gas emissions from American LNG exports can be 33% worse than coal. WSTN is part of a larger push for LNG expansion in North America. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the continent’s LNG export capacity — already the largest in the world — is on track to more than double by 2028. That includes LNG export terminals in Mexico that WSTN is backing. The group plans to build new pipelines to the west coast of Mexico. “Permitting for new build construction could take two to three years,” it said in a 2022 presentation. “Tribal Nations’ input (is) crucial and tactical in cutting lead time to construction.” This map from Western States and Tribal Nations shows the coalition’s plans for taking U.S.-produced natural gas and transporting it across the Southwest to an export terminal on Mexico’s Pacific coast. There it would be super-cooled and condensed into liquefied natural gas for export to Asia. WSTN has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ute Tribe in Utah, Jicarilla Apache Nation in New Mexico and Southern Ute Indian Tribe in Colorado. A 2023 document obtained by the Energy and Policy Institute said the group was “currently courting” the largest tribe in the United States, the Navajo Nation. Navajo Nation leadership appeared on a panel as part of a pro-LNG event organized by WSTN. The group also suggested in documents that it could use bonds to underwrite infrastructure — including through the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority. The group met with Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren in late 2023, and there has been no further dialogue, according to the tribe’s public relations director George Hardeen. “WSTN had an introductory meeting with President Nygren and nothing more,” said WSTN Vice President Bryson Hull. Benally believes fossil fuels should remain in the ground. “They should stay in (their) natural state.” The Aneth Oil Field is one of the largest producing fields in the Western United States. It is located in the southeast corner of Utah within the Navajo Reservation. The Navajo Nation, like many Native American tribal governments, relies on revenue from fossil fuels extracted from their lands. (Photo courtesy of University of Utah Environmental Justice Clinic) Who is behind Western States and Tribal Nations? The group began as an effort by the Colorado and Utah state energy offices to develop their gas markets. Later, tribes were invited to join by signing an MOU. The state of Colorado is not a member, but several counties in the state have joined. In 2019, the fossil fuel advocacy group Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) wrote a report that laid out a path for exporting gas from western states to Asian markets via the U.S. West Coast. The report zeroed in on the proposed Jordan Cove LNG facility in Oregon as the “most promising” option, although it faced broad opposition from the public and tribes in the area. One of WSTN’s funders at the time was Pembina Pipeline Corp., the company behind Jordan Cove. WSTN began advocating for Jordan Cove, taking out an ad in the local paper that claimed the LNG facility would create jobs, support tribal economies and help the environment. The ad caught the attention of local Oregonians, who wrote a research paper that found WSTN was closely linked to CEA and consulting firm HBW Resources. They wrote that CEA and HBW have a history of promoting the fossil fuel industry by creating regional campaigns “that are made to appear to have sprung from the grass roots.” Hull said WSTN is not an industry front group but is an organization led by a board of directors appointed by democratically elected state and tribal governments. “The researchers in question were on the opposite side of WSTN regarding Jordan Cove and were therefore biased,” he wrote in an email. When Jordan Cove died in 2021, the group quickly pivoted to another opportunity to export western gas — Sempra Energy’s LNG facilities on Mexico’s west coast. The company owns infrastructure and utilities across Southern California and Texas, and secured export licenses from the U.S. Department of Energy for its Mexico facilities. Hull said the majority of the group’s funding comes from tribal, state and county governments. However, companies can join the group by paying an annual membership fee, as Sempra did in 2020 by paying a fee of $20,000, according to a record obtained by the Energy and Policy Institute. In August 2022, a WSTN delegation visited Sempra’s Energia Costa Azul facility in Mexico — “an excellent opportunity” to see its potential for western gas and LNG exports, wrote founder and CEO of WSTN Andrew Browning in an email obtained by the Energy and Policy Institute. He wrote that the trip would set the stage for a summit planned for later that year. In December 2022, WSTN held a two-day event in Colorado. The event was sponsored by Sempra LNG and featured a presentation by the company about its Mexico facility. The event included potential overseas customers. Ambassador Emanuel and Takeshi Soda, the director of Japan’s Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry oil and gas division, both spoke at the event. According to a WSTN email sent after the event, Soda told the audience that LNG procurement was in a “state of war.” Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, was the keynote speaker, appearing by video, at a 2022 meeting of the Western States and Tribal Nations coalition. Emanuel expressed support for increasing the production of liquefied natural gas, or methane, in western U.S. states and tribal lands for export to Japan. Japan became a major buyer of U.S. LNG after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 forced it to diversify. “Japanese utilities have (become) very deeply entrenched into the LNG market, to the point where theyre not just buying LNG for use in their own plants, but they are trading LNG into the wider market,” explained Lorne Stockman, research co-director at Oil Change International, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting the fossil fuel industry. “Theyve contracted a lot more LNG than they need … and (are now) trading that surplus on markets and profiting from that.” The summit included a panel called “Tribal Perspectives on Resource Development” featuring members of tribes that signed MOUs with the group, along with Navajo Nation Vice President Myron Lizer. According to a WSTN email, the panelists said tribes have energy development interests but are hampered by a “paternal approach” by federal government bureaucracy and “urged immediate reform to layers of red tape.” Energia Costa Azul is the export terminal in Baja California, Mexico, that the Western States and Tribal Nations coalition hopes will serve as the route for increased exports of liquefied natural gas, or methane, to Asia. (Photo courtesy of Sempra Infrastructure) Does WSTN represent tribal communities? Fossil fuels have created both wealth and environmental degradation for some western tribes. Forrest Cuch, a Ute elder and author of “A History of Utah’s American Indians,” was born in the 1950s, before fossil fuel extraction spread across Ute lands. After college, he returned to the reservation. “When I came back, the oil wells were all over the place, and that continues today,” Cuch said. Settlers displaced the Ute people to lands that were thought to be less bountiful but in fact contained fossil fuels under the soil. Oil and gas revenues have helped the tribe fund services, pay attorneys to defend their sovereignty and allowed people to pay off their homes and cars. An environmentalist, Cuch feels torn by the tribe’s relationship to fossil fuels. He has received royalties and benefited from oil and gas-funded tribal services. At the same time, he knows extraction has polluted the air, water and soil. Tribal members have found ulcers in wildlife as a result of water contamination. And the gas flaring contributes to climate change, exacerbating drought and wildfires near Ute lands. A black natural gas line runs next to a blue water line on the Navajo Reservation. The Western States and Tribal Nations coalition hopes the Navajo Nation will join its push to increase natural gas extraction for export to Asia. (Photo courtesy of University of Utah Environmental Justice Clinic) “So its not a clear black-and-white situation out here. Theres always benefits, but also a lot of disadvantages,” said Cuch, adding that he does not speak for the tribal government. All three tribes that signed an MOU with WSTN were already deeply invested in fossil fuels that fund tribal operations. The first to join was the Ute Tribe, which primarily funds its government through massive oil and gas production on its lands. It was followed by the Southern Ute Tribe and the Jicarilla Apache Nation, tribes that are largely dependent on oil and gas revenue. Floodlight reached out to all three tribes but did not receive a response. Historical factors push tribal governments to partner with the fossil fuel industry, said Brenna Two Bears, lead coordinator for the Keep It In the Ground campaign, part of the Indigenous Environmental Network. Historical factors have pushed tribal governments to partner with the fossil fuel industry, says Brenna Two Bears, lead coordinator for the Keep It In the Ground campaign, part of the Indigenous Environmental Network. (Photo courtesy of Brenna Two Bears) Land dispossession and other discriminatory government policies created impoverished conditions on many reservations, said Two Bears, who has roots in the Ho-Chunk, Navajo and Standing Rock tribes. When resources are found on tribal land, there is a history of companies offering benefits in exchange for extraction. “That creates that environment for oil and gas companies, or other natural resource extractive companies, to come in and say, ‘We can provide you with the things that you dont have,’ ” she said. Tribal governments signing agreements does not equate to community support, Two Bears said. “Its really difficult for a lot of communities to be able to have a say in what is happening within their tribe,” she said. “You see something similar in the United States federal government — a lot of what happens isnt coming directly from the people themselves.” Two Bears said many tribes want to exit the cycle of extraction. “Because of the lands that weve been removed to, and our lack of economic support, it all compounds and creates this awful cycle where were trying to get out of it, and the only lifeline we get is from these companies, and then we take it, and then it just makes it worse. It keeps going and going,” she said. In an email, Hull said WSTN “represents neither the people of the sovereign tribal nations nor citizens of the states which have signed the memorandum of understanding that governs WSTN.” “Those governments are duly and democratically elected, and as such, have the sole right to appoint their representatives to the Board of Directors, which leads WSTN,” he said. In a 2023 presentation, WSTN said it is “led by sovereign tribal nations, states and counties” and it is “advancing tribal self-determination.” But Two Bears questioned how the group presents the idea of sovereignty. In her view, sovereignty means the community has the right to reject resource extraction, even if the tribal government supports it. “At the (Indigenous Environmental Network), we view sovereignty as the right to say no,” she said. “But of course, that disconnect between the communities and the tribal governments can be very wide and very hard to close.” A sign warns of the presence of hydrogen sulfide at this hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, well on the Navajo Reservation in southern Utah. This gas can cause sickness or even death. (Photo courtesy of University of Utah Environmental Justice Clinic) Dubious emissions claims WSTN’s central environmental claim is that U.S. liquefied natural gas can be climate-friendly by replacing coal burned overseas. A study that the group commissioned claims that “LNG produced in Rockies basins and exported from the North American West Coast to China, India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan would produce net life cycle emissions reductions of between 42% to 55% if used to replace coal-fired energy generation.” But a leading scientist said this claim is not accurate. “(Fracked) gas going to LNG is probably the worst fossil fuel to be doing in terms of its climate impact,” said Robert Howarth, a Cornell University professor of ecology and environmental biology. Howarth authored a peer-reviewed study that found LNG exports have a greenhouse gas footprint that’s 33% greater than for coal. He said indirect emissions — those from drilling, fracking, processing, storing and transportation — are enormous for LNG compared to coal. The emissions intensity primarily comes from methane, a potent greenhouse gas that traps 28 times more heat than CO2. The Navajo Nation has relied on revenue from oil and gas extraction for more than 100 years. The Environmental Defense Fund estimates that burned, vented and leaked methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from such facilities on Navajo tribal land is equivalent to the emissions from 400,000 vehicles a year. (Photo courtesy of University of Utah Environmental Justice Clinic) Howarth told Floodlight: “Theres no way they accurately captured that and reached the conclusion they did. They’re just plain wrong.” Stockman, of Oil Change International, agreed with Howarth. He said the claim that LNG could lower emissions by up to 55% is “completely inaccurate.” Stockman added that the global transition to renewables is well underway, and it’s incorrect to assume that gas will displace coal. “LNG is more likely to displace renewables, electrification and efficiency going forward than it is (to replace) coal,” he said. Hull called Howarth’s study “highly politicized” and “politically motivated.” Hull defended his group’s study, saying “WSTN commissioned duly credentialed academics to carry out the study, which speaks for itself.” He also pointed to a 2019 report for the National Energy Technology Laboratory that concluded the use of U.S. LNG exports for power production in Europe and Asian markets will not increase greenhouse gas emissions from a life cycle perspective compared to coal extracted and burned regionally. One way that the U.S. gas industry seeks to rebrand as “green” is by using certification programs. WSTN sought to create its own “clean” gas certification program through San Juan College in New Mexico. According to records obtained by Energy and Policy Institute, Sempra LNG supported the effort with a letter that claimed “natural gas from New Mexico will be a critical part of accelerating efforts by buyers in Asian markets to shift their economies away from higher emitting fuels.” Hull wrote in an email to Floodlight that gas “produced with stringent processes” can lower emissions. But Stockman said America’s LNG industry continues to emit huge amounts of methane. “Despite this idea of certified gas lofty claims by industry representatives that the U.S. gas industry is cleaning up, and that U.S. LNG will be the cleanest in the world in some distant time in the future — thats just not happening. And the evidence is clear: the U.S. methane emissions from the oil and gas sector are the largest in the world,” he said. Stockman warned that the earth is close to overshooting the internationally-agreed upon goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. “Any expansion of fossil fuels is undermining our progress towards avoiding complete climate catastrophe,” he said. Back in the Navajo Nation, it’s unclear how much the community knows about the group’s 2023 meeting with the tribe’s president. WSTN set its sights on engaging with the Navajo Nation in 2019. Hull said the group’s board of directors, appointed by states and tribal governments, “encourages conversations with other states and sovereign tribal nations.” In response to environmental concerns from community members, Hull wrote, “WSTN respects all opinions.” If the Navajo Nation wanted to sign an MOU with an industry group, Benally said it would need permission from chapters within the community whose land would be affected. “So its not just tribal leadership making decisions. It has to be the people themselves.”

[Category: Economy, Environment & Climate Change, Gov & Politics, Native America, climate change, environment, LNG, natural gas]

As of 11/22/24 7:35pm. Last new 11/22/24 6:30pm.