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Friday, Apr 19th

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Viewpoints

Trump Administration should postpone oil, gas lease sales until prices stabilize

Friday, 03 April 2020 07:03 James Jimenez Executive Director N.M. Voices for Children

ALBUQUERQUE - While New Mexico families are focused on making sure their loved ones are safe and healthy during this fast-moving crisis, other problems are brewing at the state level that may cause pain for years to come. Plummeting oil and gas prices are draining the state budget of funds needed for public safety, health care, education, and more. Actions by the Trump Administration will make this long-term revenue crisis worse.

New leases that will allow companies to drill for oil and gas on federal lands are scheduled to go on sale in May. The lease rates are based on current oil and gas prices, so clearly any leases sold soon will go at bargain-basement prices. As New Mexico...

COVID-19’s impact on concealed handgun licensing in New Mexico

Friday, 03 April 2020 07:02 By Jeremy Myers Secretary Libertarian Party of New Mexico

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, the expiration date of currently issued concealed handgun licenses should be extended for 6 months, to September 16, 2020.

Citizens with a concealed carry license expiring in the next few months have no way to comply with the in-person training requirements of the Department without violating the social isolation dictates of the Governor, and the Department of Public Safety:

“Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the State of New Mexico and the Department of Public Safety offices are now locked to the public.”

https://www.dps.nm.gov/index.php/top-links-for-nm-residents/concealed-carry-licenses

The following...

NMFOG celebrates Sunshine Week

Friday, 27 March 2020 08:04 By Melanie J. Majors Executive Director New Mexico Foundation for Open Government

Democracy depends on a transparent government, yet despite the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act and the Open Meetings Act - laws ensuring the public’s right to learn about their government through access to public records and public meetings - some government officials still regularly ignore the law.

As the nation celebrates Sunshine Week, a national initiative to educate the public about the importance of open government and the dangers of secrecy, the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government wants every New Mexican to remember that open, accountable government is the cornerstone of our democracy.

The Sunshine Week celebration coincides with the birthday of James...

Cutting federal funding for tribal higher education grants is wrong

Friday, 13 March 2020 04:37 By David Conejo RMCHCS CEO Guest Columnist

For the third year in a row the Trump administration has proposed eliminating funding for a Native American college scholarship program which gives assistance to thousands of tribal students across the country. His Bureau of Indian Education is proposing cuts of almost $40 million for the Higher Education Grant Program for the 2021 budget.

The Higher Education Grant Program helps undergraduate students, who are determined to have a financial need. Most of the students served by ONNSFA fall into that category. Need-based students receive $2,500 per term, which helps students cover the balance of tuition and fees, room and board, textbooks, and transportation costs.

Federal funds...

Big oil, gas producers get a break

Friday, 06 March 2020 10:58 By James Jimenez New Mexico Voices for Children

New Mexico kids get shortchanged

We all benefit when New Mexico’s classrooms have the resources they need to educate our children. After all, today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders, entrepreneurs, and workforce. But our educational outcomes are not what they should be, and part of the reason is that we’ve underfunded our schools for years.

Some of the money that supports New Mexico’s education system comes from royalties and rental payments paid by the oil and natural gas industries. Because we understand how fortunate we are to have those natural resources, we tend to forget our responsibility to be the very best stewards of them that we can be. We must ensure that we’re...