Justice Department charges man with arson at New Mexico Telsa dealership and GOP headquarters- AP News
The Justice Department has charged a man with vandalizing a Tesla dealership in New Mexico and setting fire to the headquarters of the state Republican Party, according to court records unsealed Monday.
A criminal complaint charges Jamison R. Wagner, 40, with federal arson -related crimes in the fire last month and the vandalism in February at a Tesla dealership in Bernalillo, where authorities found two Tesla Model Y vehicles ablaze as well as swastika symbols on windshields and spray-painted graffiti messages including “Die Elon" and “Die Tesla Nazi.”
Elon Musk is the billionaire CEO of Tesla and a close ally of President Donald Trump who has helped engineer a massive downsizing of the federal government and purge of employees.
The arrest is part of a federal crackdown on what Attorney General Pam Bondi has described as a wave of domestic terrorism against property carrying the logo of Musk’s electric-car company. Bondi previewed the arrest Thursday during a Cabinet meeting to highlight federal law enforcements' efforts to go after vandals in recent weeks who have been targeting Tesla.
Wagner is also charged in connection with a fire last month at the Albuquerque headquarters of the New Mexico Republican Party. The fire badly burned the entrance and caused extensive smoke damage throughout the office, authorities said. Republican representatives also found spray paint on the side of the building about 50 feet (15 meters) from the entrance, saying “ICE=KKK,” according to New Mexico Republican Party Chair Amy Barela.
In a statement Monday, Barela thanked federal investigators for the arrest and called the fire "an attack on the democratic process and the values we hold dear. We are relieved that no one was harmed and are committed to ensuring that justice is served.”
During a search of Wagner’s home and garage on Saturday, investigators found eight assembled suspected incendiary devices, black and red spray paint and a cardboard stencil with the phrase “ICE=KKK” that had red spray paint on it, according to court papers.
Wagner was ordered to remain detained pending a detention hearing. An attorney for him did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Justice Department has charged four other cases against people accused of using Molotov cocktails to destroy Tesla cars and fire stations. The FBI last month created a task force to coordinate investigate efforts around the attacks with officials at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Bondi has suggested prosecutors will make no plea deals with those charged in the Tesla attacks, telling the president at the White House on Thursday that “there will be no negotiations, at your directive.”
NM Gov heads to Asia- Source New Mexico
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will be in Asia for approximately two weeks, her office announced on Friday. The governor, who departed Saturday, is leading an economic delegation to Singapore and Japan, according to a news release, with an eye toward strengthening business relationships; highlighting “New Mexico’s leadership in advanced energy technologies and computing; and exploring natural gas export opportunities.
“This mission represents a tremendous opportunity to showcase New Mexico’s energy innovation and advanced technology sectors to key international partners,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “We’re focusing on creating jobs and attracting investment to our state while strengthening relationships with companies already doing business in New Mexico.”
The governor’s itinerary includes:
• meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to discuss economic partnerships and opportunities for foreign direct investment in New Mexico.
• meeting with the chair of Temasek Holdings, which has investments in New Mexico’s border region.
• an energy roundtable in Singapore and tour of “innovative infrastructure projects”
• meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Japan to discuss energy and technology partnerships
• a briefing at the U.S. Embassy in Japan, as well as a reception for Lujan Grisham
• a technology and energy roundtable and meetings with Japan’s premier energy policy experts.
In addition to the governor, New Mexico Economic Development Director Rob Black and Caroline Buerkle, deputy chief operating officer in the Office of the Governor, will be on the trip, which is being paid for by The New Mexico Partnership.
Lujan Grisham leaves Asia on April 29, joins the New Mexico Amigos for meetings in Los Angeles and then returns to New Mexico.
U.S. Rep. Vasquez decries president’s order to militarize parts of U.S.-Mexico border in NM- Source New MexicoU.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-New Mexico) on Monday called militarizing the U.S.-Mexico border “misguided and wasteful,” following President Donald Trump’s direction late last week authorizing a military buffer zone stretching from California to New Mexico.
Creating that zone would mean migrants crossing the border into the U.S. would be trespassing on a military base and could then be held by military personnel and transferred into the custody of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. However, members of the military having direct contact with migrants could be a violation of federal law.
“Deploying military assets to the border, during a record time of low crossing numbers, is a misguided and wasteful use of military resources and taxpayer dollars,” Vasquez, who represents border towns in New Mexico’s 2nd congressional district, told Source NM in a written statement. “As a lifelong border resident who has spent years working with border stakeholders, I can tell you that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work—and in some places, including parts of New Mexico’s Bootheel, this kind of made-for-TV stunt does little to nothing to solve our nation’s broken immigration system.”
The strip of land Trump directed the military to occupy is known as the Roosevelt Reservation and stretches from the southwestern edge of California through southern Arizona and ends at New Mexico’s border with Mexico and Texas, near El Paso. The zone also stretches 60 feet north of the border.
Vasquez told Source that investments in border security should be “strategic” and beneficial to border communities, the economy and the country as a whole.
“Militarizing the Roosevelt Reservation won’t solve the humanitarian crisis or improve public safety, it will take warfighters away from real national security threats like Russia and China,” Vasquez wrote.
Vasquez was among 48 members of Congress who last week signed onto a letter by U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) calling for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to reinstate several immigration oversight offices that were closed in late March. The offices include the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman; the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties; and the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, all of which are required by Congress and advocate for the humane treatment of migrants in federal custody.
“The closure of these offices raises serious questions about DHS’s transparency and compliance with the law,” the letter states. “This will have impacts far beyond detention: it will cut off avenues for the public to file complaints about DHS policies and practices from airport screenings to ICE raids against schools, hospitals, and religious centers.”
In a statement last week, Vasquez called the closure of the oversight offices; potential violations of due process against people in custody; and unsanitary detention conditions “un-American.”
Meow Wolf CEO Jose Tolosa to step down; former Walt Disney exec to lead in the interim- Albuquerque Journal
The CEO who helped Meow Wolf expand into the Texas market and who led the company during a time of financial uncertainty and layoffs will step down at the end of the month.
Jose Tolosa, CEO for more than three years, will be replaced in the interim by board member and former Walt Disney Co. executive Rebecca Campbell, Meow Wolf officials said Monday. An external search is underway for the next successor.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built together, and I’m confident the company is poised for an even more magical and mind-expanding future,” Tolosa said in a statement. “With a strong foundation now in place, I’m proud to pass the baton and excited for what’s next — for Meow Wolf and for me.”
Tolosa joined Meow Wolf leadership in January 2022, a time when the company was preparing for its expansion to Texas; an exhibition, “The Real Unreal,” in Grapevine opened in 2023 and Houston’s “Radio Tave” opened in October. Meow Wolf also announced an exhibition is to open in Los Angeles next year and, just last month, said it will open a New York City exhibition at Pier 17 in the historic Seaport.
But Tolosa’s success in leading the expansion into Texas was also marred by last year’s layoffs, when the company cut more than 200 workers across its operations. Last April, the Santa Fe-based company let go of 159 workers and in December announced it would cut another 75 as it looked to dial down on expenses.
Meow Wolf officials said Tolosa plans to stay with the company in an advisory role through the end of May to “support the transition and ensure continuity following a period of significant growth and transformation for the company.”
Campbell joined the board in January 2024 after more than two decades of experience at Walt Disney, where she held roles like chair of international content and operations, and president of Disneyland Resort and the company’s ABC-owned television stations.
“Meow Wolf’s bold creativity and community spirit are what drew me in from the start,” Campbell said in a statement. “I’m honored to support the team through this transition and excited to help build on the incredible foundation already in place.”
New Mexico expands health insurance coverage for diabetic foot ulcer treatments- Source New MexicoMore New Mexicans will be able to receive treatment for diabetic foot ulcers, thanks to a first-in-the-nation requirement for some health insurance plans to cover the costs.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on April 7 signed into law House Bill 233, which requires state-regulated health insurance plans to pay for medically necessary treatments for diabetic foot ulcers starting in 2026.
In a news release on April 8, the American Diabetes Association applauded the new law and said it makes New Mexico the first U.S. state to require state-regulated health insurance plans to cover these treatments.
Diabetes-related foot ulcers affect approximately 15 to 25% of all people with diabetes at some point in their lifetime, the ADA said in the news release, and 15% of people with a diabetes-related foot ulcer will require an amputation.
In New Mexico, approximately 217,400 adults, or 13.1% of adults in the state, have diagnosed diabetes, with an estimated 9,800 adults receiving the diagnosis each year, according to the state Department of Health’s analysis of HB233.
Diabetic foot ulcers can lead to loss of the ability to walk, infection, hospitalization, lower-extremity amputation and death, according to a review article in the ADA’s journal Diabetes Care.
Christine Fallabel, the ADA’s director of state government affairs, told Source NM that people with these ulcers have found that insurance does not cover the specialized podiatric treatments to fight the infection and save the foot.
Other states have not tried to introduce similar legislation, Fallabel said, because there is a lot of stigma around diabetes and foot health, and policymakers generally don’t know about the problem.
Fallabel, who has lived with Type 1 Diabetes for the last 25 years, said one of those treatments, called topical oxygen therapy, has resulted in a 71% reduction in amputations, an 88% reduction in hospital visits and a six times higher likelihood of healing within three months, she said.
“There’s really good data coming out about targeting diabetic foot ulcers with this high-pressure oxygen therapy that, until this bill was signed, most insurers wouldn’t cover for one reason or another,” Fallabel said.
Other services that podiatrists could try and would be covered by health insurance under the new law could also include antibiotics or physical therapy, Fallabel said.
State-regulated health insurance plans include a range of private health insurance plans managed by the state government, Fallabel said. It does not include Medicare or Medicaid patients, she said.
Some state Medicaid programs cover these kinds of treatments but New Mexico’s does not, Fallabel said. During the recent legislative session, some lawmakers expressed interest in returning in a future session to change the Medicaid program to cover these treatments too, she said.
Former House majority leader files suit alleging APD needlessly damaged her home - Olivier Uyttebrouck, Albuquerque Journal
Former state House majority leader Sheryl Williams Stapleton alleges in a new lawsuit that Albuquerque police used “unwarranted and excessive force” and damaged her home in 2022 when they served a warrant for a relative.
The lawsuit is unrelated to federal charges Stapleton faces for allegedly misusing federal funds intended for vocational programs at Albuquerque Public Schools.
The lawsuit stems from an all-day SWAT standoff at Stapleton’s home in Southeast Albuquerque on March 25, 2022, that led to the arrest of David Lee Hendrickson, then 43, on a warrant for aggravated assault. The charge was later dismissed.
The lawsuit alleges that two Albuquerque Police Department officers “did not take appropriate and reasonable actions to execute the warrant.” Stapleton told the officers that Hendrickson suffered from “serious medical conditions that might interfere with his ability to understand and comply with the officer’s orders,” it said.
Instead, officers “escalated the situation” by taking actions that included “shouting and brandishing weapons,” the suit contends. Police also released noxious gas in Stapleton’s home and caused thousands of dollars in damages to windows, door and furnishings, it said.
The 2nd Judicial District Court lawsuit, filed against the city of Albuquerque, seeks unspecified damages and alleges police failed to follow APD procedures in violation of Stapleton’s constitutional rights. The suit was filed March 25, three years to the day after the SWAT action.
Staci Drangmeister, a spokeswoman for Mayor Tim Keller’s administration, had no comment last week about the suit. She said the city attorney’s office will respond to the suit in court. Stapleton’s attorney, Frank T. Davis, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Court records show that Hendrickson, now 46, was indicted on a charge of aggravated assault for allegedly pointing a firearm at motorists at an intersection in Southeast Albuquerque on Jan. 20, 2022.
Prosecutors dropped the charge in May 2022 after police found that Hendrickson had been carrying a toy gun that was not considered a deadly weapon under state law, court records show.
The suit identifies Hendrickson as Stapleton’s son, who was living with her under pretrial supervision at the time. Court records identify Stapleton as Hendrickson’s aunt and “mother figure.”
Stapleton was not suspected of any wrongdoing in the incident, police said.
The suit contends that the night before the SWAT action, Stapleton told Hendrickson’s pretrial officer that Hendrickson would appear the following day to check in.
According to an affidavit filed in 2nd Judicial District Court, Stapleton had been notified that Hendrickson’s GPS tracker had run out of batteries and that he had not been in contact with pretrial officials. Stapleton told authorities that some of the charging equipment for Hendrickson’s GPS tracker had been left at a hotel where he had lived previously.
A chance to protect and serve: New law allows eligible non-citizens to serve in law enforcement - Gregory R.C. Hasman, Albuquerque Journal
Local officials are excited about a recently signed bill allowing non-citizens in New Mexico to serve in law enforcement if they are authorized to work in the United States.
On April 7, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law Senate Bill 364, which allows people with work authorization from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to serve as sheriffs and police officers.
Currently, only U.S. citizens can serve in those capacities, Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson Franchesca Perdue said in a news release.
“The change will expand the pool of eligible law enforcement candidates and give more people opportunities to serve their communities as officers,” Perdue said.
Bill co-sponsor Sen. Cindy Nava, D-Bernalillo, said in a statement that SB364 is “more than a public safety bill.”
“It opens the doors for people like my brother Eric, a DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipient who dreamed of serving our community but was forced to leave New Mexico to do so,” she said. “Now, others like him will finally have the chance to protect and serve the state they call home.”
Nava co-sponsored the bill with House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, and Sens. Craig Brandt, R-Rio Rancho, Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, and Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces.
The bill also addresses law enforcement retention in New Mexico, Nava co-wrote in a letter to the Journal.
“With fewer recruits entering the profession and more officers retiring or leaving for other opportunities, law enforcement agencies have struggled to maintain adequate staffing levels,” she said. “SB364 opens the door for individuals who might otherwise have never considered a career in law enforcement — people who are already working, living and contributing to our communities but were previously excluded from this essential work.”
Tortillas fall flat in New Mexico, but will California add Bigfoot to its list of state symbols? - By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
A proposal to designate the tortilla as New Mexico's official state bread had unanimous support from lawmakers. On Friday, though, it ended up falling flat.
It wasn't because Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham isn't a fan of the round wraps that have long been a staple of Mexican, Central American and Southwestern U.S. cooking. It was because she believes lawmakers missed opportunities to debate bills that deal with weightier matters as the state faces extraordinary challenges.
"Of course, I enjoy celebrating our unique culture," she wrote in her veto message, ticking off numerous official state symbols and songs that New Mexico has adopted over the years.
"The question should not be how many more symbols we can collect — but whether we are meeting the moment with the gravity it demands," she continued. "We are living in perilous and unprecedented times. The stakes for our state have never been higher."
New Mexico's lawmakers were hardly alone in wanting to pad their state's list of symbols this legislative season. Georgia lawmakers recently passed a bill to recognize cornbread as their state's official bread. The Oregon Legislature, meanwhile, is considering adopting the T-bone steak as an official symbol. And there's a proposal in California to name Bigfoot the state's official cryptid — a creature that has never been proven to exist.
Striking a balance?
Legislating isn't always about taxes, tariffs and other serious issues. Lawmakers sometimes yearn for levity and the rare chance to find common ground.
With the push to adopt the tortilla, which was proposed by Las Cruces fourth-grader Adaline McIntosh, lawmakers debated the kinds of flour needed for the perfect specimen. Their conclusion: It depends on the meal. They also got a history lesson from state Sen. Benny Shendo, a member of Jemez Pueblo tribe who explained that the first bread in what is now New Mexico was made by Pueblo people who cooked blue corn paste on a hot stone.
State Sen. Cindy Nava talked about growing up on her mother's homemade tortillas.
"This is much bigger than a simple piece of legislation," Nava told fellow lawmakers. "This is culture and this is cultural awareness that we desperately need."
From cattle to cocktails
Official state symbols date to the late 1800s, as legislatures throughout the U.S. sought to stake cultural claims and foster pride among their residents. First came flowers and flags. Then came fossils and foods, with the practice growing into a clever marketing tool to boost conversation and commerce.
Oregon already has an official state nut, fruit and pie. But adopting the T-bone would recognize the role that cattle has played in the state's development and its contribution to the economy, supporters say.
It's all about Nashville hot chicken in Tennessee, where a proposal calls for making the popular dish an official state food, joining hot slaw and Memphis barbecue.
Whereas some states adopted milk as their official drink, Nevada is considering a less wholesome option, Picon punch. The home of Sin City is weighing legislation that would add the cocktail that traces its roots to Basque immigrants who settled out West to its list of state symbols.
Shooting for the stars
In North Carolina, lawmakers are considering adopting the Moravian star, a multi-pointed decoration that symbolizes the Star of Bethlehem and has become synonymous with Christmas.
Minnesota might adopt a whole constellation, with legislation pending that would add Ursa Minor to that state's list.
Texas, meanwhile, is considering adding the cannon as an official gun. The Lone Star State already has an official handgun — the Colt Walker pistol. But those who introduced this year's resolution say historic weapons such as the cannon are powerful reminders of the state's struggle for freedom. That includes the first battle of the Texas Revolution, when settlers coined the phrase "Come and Take It" during a skirmish with the Mexican military over a bronze cannon.
A nod to nature
Colorado's list of symbols now includes Agaricus julius, a mushroom once mistaken as "The Prince mushroom" that supporters say plays a vital role in high-elevation spruce and fir forests.
Iowa and Michigan are considering adding butterflies to their lists. There are dueling proposals in Michigan, with black swallowtails and monarchs duking it out.
Minnesota lawmakers are mulling adopting an official state fossil — a giant beaver that was about the size of a small bear and roamed the area during the last ice age. It's part of a campaign led by the Science Museum of Minnesota.
California lawmakers are considering adding two things to their state list: solar energy and Bigfoot. California has the country's largest solar market, according to industry groups. As for the legendary creature, Bigfoot's proponents say it's part of popular culture and inspires searches that boost tourism in rural parts of the state.
RFK Jr. wants to target chronic disease in US tribes. A key program to do that was gutted - By Devna Bose, Graham Lee Brewer and Becky Bohrer Associated Press
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent time in tribal communities in Arizona and New Mexico last week highlighting ways they are trying to prevent chronic disease among Native Americans and Alaska Natives, something he has said is one of his top priorities.
But Kennedy didn't appear to publicly address a Native health program using traditional medicine and foods to tackle disproportionate rates of conditions like diabetes and liver disease. The program, called Healthy Tribes, was gutted in this month's federal health layoffs.
Some Native leaders say they are having trouble grasping the dissonance between Kennedy's words and his actions. With little information, they wonder if Healthy Tribes is part of the Trump administration's push to end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. There also is confusion about what and who is left at the 11-year-old program, which was part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, under Kennedy's agency, and doled out $32.5 million a year.
Tribal leaders and health officials told The Associated Press that cuts to the Healthy Tribes program are another violation of the federal government's legal obligation, or trust responsibility, to tribal nations under treaties, law and other acts. That includes funding for health care through the Indian Health Service, as well as education and public safety for citizens of the 574 federally recognized tribes.
But federal funding has long fallen short of meeting those needs, leaving tribal governments to rely on additional grants and programs like Healthy Tribes.
"So many layers of communications of collaboration and partnerships have just been turned off," said Onawa Miller, a Quechan Indian Nation citizen and director of tribal public health for United South and Eastern Tribes, which serves 33 tribes in those regions of the U.S. She said her organization already has received its annual $2 million in Healthy Tribes funding.
Several tribal facilities received an email from a CDC employee April 1 notifying them that the positions of many people who staffed the Healthy Tribes program had been eliminated "as part of the reduction in force efforts at CDC."
The American Federation of Government Employees union, which represents thousands of workers at the CDC in Atlanta, said more than 30 civil servant jobs were or are being eliminated. That includes 11 positions in the Healthy Tribes program and others in the larger Division of Population Health.
An email sent to the account of Healthy Tribes director Dr. Julianna Reece, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was met with an automated reply: "Due to the recent HHS reduction in force, I have been placed on administrative leave and will be separated from the agency on June 2nd." Reece did not respond to requests for comment sent to her federal and personal email accounts.
Native leaders call change 'a violation of trust'
Part of the government upheaval in the past several weeks includes top officials at the National Institutes of Health being offered transfers to Indian Health Service offices far from Washington, D.C. The National Indian Health Board also has said the government eliminated key staff and programs at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health's Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health.
The government is required to consult with tribes on decisions impacting them, like mass layoffs in February at the Indian Health Service that were rescinded hours later, and tribal leaders have warned the Trump administration that such consultations are not happening. In some cases tribes can take legal action against the U.S. for failing to meet its trust responsibilities.
"It is a violation of trust, without a doubt," said W. Ron Allen, chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe in Washington state.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not answer questions related to the Healthy Tribes cuts but told the AP in an email that the Indian Health Service was not impacted by this month's workforce reductions and there are no plans to consolidate any of its offices.
Kennedy's swing through the Southwest included a visit to a community health center in metro Phoenix that provides physical and mental health care to Native people and a hike with the Navajo Nation president. He also moderated a panel at the Tribal Self-Governance Conference, held on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona, but didn't take questions from the audience, tribal leaders on stage or journalists.
Allen said he had a constructive conversation with Kennedy, reminding him IHS is already underfunded and understaffed and that tribes rely on additional federal grants and programs.
"Your issue is to reduce the central office, and so we're OK with that, but move the functions that serve the tribes out to the tribes," Allen said he told Kennedy. "Because if we don't have those resources, how are we gonna make our communities healthy? He agrees."
Grants fund traditional medicine practices
Research shows Native Americans have shorter life expectancies than other ethnic groups, and the Indian Health Service says they face higher mortality rates from chronic conditions like diabetes and liver disease.
In Seattle, Healthy Tribes money pays for a program called GATHER, which focuses on integrating traditional tribal medicine practices into health care. Providers at the Seattle Indian Health Board can use medicine made from plants grown in a community garden. A traditional Native medicine apprentice or healer is a part of a patient's care team.
Seattle Indian Health Board President Esther Lucero, a descendant of the Navajo Nation, said her staff meets with people from the CDC and other Healthy Tribes grantees bimonthly to discuss project updates and ensure compliance with grants. But after last week's layoffs, they are having trouble contacting anyone.
"If you can't actually administer the dollars, how are you going to actually get them out to the programs?" she said. "With this current administration, it's almost like every day we receive an unexpected notice, and then we will get a follow-up notice that says ... you need to move forward as usual."
Lycia Ortega, interim CEO of Los Angeles-based United American Indian Involvement, echoed concerns about the ambiguous and somewhat confusing messages. Her organization uses Healthy Tribes money to foster connections between younger people and elders in Native American and Alaska Native communities.
Native communities have had to push back against the Trump administration's efforts to cut programs that might be considered DEI initiatives, she said, with the help of lawyers, policy experts and watchdogs who point out areas where the government might not be honoring the trust responsibility.
Native people "have a distinct political power," said Ortega, a citizen of the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, but "there are policymakers who see tribes as a threat rather than a partner."
Stephen Roe Lewis, governor of the Gila River Indian Community, said he told Kennedy privately that consulting with and engaging in respectful partnerships with tribes is key to fulfilling the federal government's trust responsibilities.
Since the Trump administration began making massive cuts to the federal workforce, many tribal leaders have had to clarify with newly appointed federal officials that services to tribes are not based on race but rather on the political status of tribal nations.
"I made it very clear, we are not DEI — as tribal nations, as a political entity," he said.
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Bose reported from Jackson, Mississippi, and Bohrer from Juneau, Alaska. Associated Press writers Terry Tang in Phoenix and Mike Stobbe in New York contributed.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Majority of New Mexico’s annual spending passes governor’s veto test — Austin Fisher, Source New MexicoMost of the public spending that New Mexico lawmakers voted to send up to the state’s governor this year managed to avoid the wrath of her veto pen.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday signed three pieces of legislation into law, establishing the state government’s income and spending over the next year, along with authorizing one-time spending on public infrastructure projects.
“These appropriations bills represent significant investments in New Mexico’s future, from education and healthcare to critical infrastructure,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement.
The governor has the authority to sign legislation while rejecting specific parts that propose to spend public funds, called “line-item vetoes.”
In a news release, the governor’s office said her line-item vetoes “reflect her concerns about long-term fiscal sustainability, implementation timelines, or alignment with the administration’s strategic priorities.”
“The targeted line-item vetoes were necessary to maintain fiscal responsibility while ensuring that we fund our highest-priority projects and initiatives,” Lujan Grisham said.
YEARLY STATE BUDGET
Lujan Grisham signed House Bills 2 and 3, which set the $10.8 billion state budget for Fiscal Year 2026, representing a 6% increase from last year.
She made a series of 87 line-item vetoes to the budget that fall into four categories: parts that “impermissibly attempt to create substantive law;” parts that “attempt to enact general policy;” parts that “intrude into the executive managerial function;” and parts that “unduly restrict appropriations to specified types of expenditures.”
Of those, 14 line-item vetoes total approximately $331 million that will not be spent, approximately 3% of the total. They include:
- $80 million for housing programs in Bernalillo County and $10 million for programs in Doña Ana County, leaving intact $110 million for housing projects in general
- $6 million for bioscience development, contingent on a legislative proposal that did not pass
- $5 million to help doctors working in behavioral health settings to repay loans, leaving intact $20 million for all health professionals
- $5 million to help doctors repay loans, contingent on a legislative proposal that did not pass
- $4.6 million that would have gone through the Public Education Department to tribal education departments
- $4 million for a Sundance satellite festival and academy
- $2.7 million that would have paid for student testing
- $2.5 million for flood control improvements near Hatch
- $1 million for a public safety campus in Chaparral and $2 million for public safety infrastructure in Luna, Hidalgo and Doña Ana counties, leaving intact $10 million for public safety infrastructure in general
- $2 million for rural airports
- $1.65 million that would have covered start-up costs for the Department of Justice to establish an Office of the Child Advocate, contingent on a legislative proposal that she signed
- $1 million that would have paid for the Legislative Finance Committee to evaluate the new behavioral health package, and $1 million for LFC to create a children’s future task force, contingent on a legislative proposal that did not pass
- $1 million for career pathways programs at the Higher Education Department
Lujan Grisham also allowed $5 million to go to the Department of Finance and Administration for grants to local governments to close encampments of homeless people, but vetoed language that would have also made the money available to use for streamlined housing placements, campsite services from outreach workers, housing navigators and case managers.
In her message to lawmakers, the governor noted that she also signed other bills that created a behavioral health trust fund, created a Medicaid trust fund, increasing the annual money going to the Early Childhood Education and Care Department to a minimum of $500 million, establishing the Strategic Water Supply, modernizing the Water Quality Act and regulating harmful PFAS chemicals.
NEW INFRASTRUCTURE
Lujan Grisham signed House Bill 450, which authorizes $1.2 billion in new one-time capital outlay project spending on colleges and universities, public schools, health facilities, state parks, a new STEM center, water projects, courts, senior centers, electric vehicle infrastructure, prisons and acequias.
HB450 also sets aside $595 million for local government projects like schools; water and sewer; police; public buildings; health, housing; parks; roads; cultural facilities; transportation; prisons; and military and emergency response projects.
Lujan Grisham wrote that she made a series of line-item vetoes to new capital outlay project money totaling $1.2 million, or approximately 0.10% of the total, that would have gone to projects that “lack proper planning or are not ready to proceed.”
She wrote that she also vetoed all capital outlay appropriations under $10,000, because “state and local governments have other means well within their capacities to fund these smaller projects.”
She also vetoed parts of HB450 that are “unnecessarily restrictive” on decisions made by executive branch state agencies, to ensure money goes to the proper place and to guarantee the amounts are enough to complete the intended projects.
OLD INFRASTRUCTURE
The governor also signed Senate Bill 425, which reauthorizes old capital outlay project spending that the state approved in prior years but has not yet been spent.
“We must deploy these resources to benefit New Mexico’s children, families and communities, and this legislation advances that goal,” she wrote.
The governor made 112 line-item vetoes to old capital outlay money in SB425, representing approximately 26% of the 423 total projects in SB425.
Lujan Grisham wrote that each line-item veto was justified because either the money has not been spent; or is already found in the state budget; the bonds for the projects haven’t been issued; or the language would have created unnecessarily burdens on state agencies.
During the recent legislative session, lawmakers said they want to reform the capital outlay process to prevent wasted money on projects languishing for years without coming to fruition.
New Mexico Gov said measles reporting may look different as cases rise — Danielle Prokop and Julia Goldberg, Source New Mexico
New Mexico measles tracking may be more extensive in coming months as cases continue to rise in the state’s southeast corner.
The New Mexico Department of Health on Friday reported two additional measles cases for children ages 0 to 4-years old in Lea County, as well as two additional hospitalizations there. The two new cases are not related to the hospitalizations, NMDOH Director of Communications Robert Nott told Source NM.
Reported measles infections have so far been limited to three counties in the Southeast corner: Lea, Eddy and Chaves counties. Of the 58 total cases, the infections break down into: 15 cases in very young children; 16 cases in school-aged children ages 7 to 17; and 27 cases in adults.
In response to questions from Source earlier this week, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the state would expand its measles reporting, somewhat in line with what was done with COVID-19, as cases grow.
“We’ll do a rate of infection,” she said, “and start to map that out.”
The governor said the health department also would expand its “whole measles education” outreach “because infants to one-year-olds can’t have the vaccine, which means there’s no protection for them, so we have to really think about exposure where they are.” She said people can expect regular briefings on measles and infectious diseases. “It’s a great place for me to pitch,” she said. “Please get a vaccine. If you haven’t had a measles vaccine, get one. If you think you need a booster, get one. They’re free.”
The governor also noted her concern about the federal government’s recent cancellation of billions of dollars in public health grants alongside massive layoffs. “More than 50% of our budget is based in federal funds,” she said, and “public health is a serious issue.”
Nott previously told Source that the state lost approximately $60 million in federal funds. More recently, he confirmed that the department had canceled some contracts with “community providers that provide outreach to underserved communities relating to vaccination efforts and education.”
The department also lost 37 temporary staff, he said, 20 of whom helped order vaccines and checked vaccination records; four of whom worked in IT; and 13 who were community health workers with the department’s Office of Border Health based in Las Cruces.
Measles cases continue to rise elsewhere in the country, more than double the total cases reported in 2024. Texas health officials reported an additional 36 cases there, bringing the total to 541.
Measles is a highly infectious respiratory disease spread through contact with droplets from infected people’s coughs. These droplets can survive for hours in the air. People can transmit measles days before showing any of the symptoms such as fever, red eyes, cough, headache or the spotty red rash on the face and body.
An estimated one in five cases has serious complications warranting hospitalization, including brain swelling, pneumonia or death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Two doses of a vaccine is the best prevention against measles, according to health officials.
Between Feb. 1 until April 10, more than 17,346 New Mexicans received vaccines, including 9,494 children and 7,852 adults. The latest data from Tuesday, shows that New Mexico’s vaccination rate is more than double the same time frame in 2024.
NMDOH is hosting 10 walk-in clinics for eight Southeastern counties, which you can find on the department’s measles webpage, along with vaccine clinic events across the state.