Seeks to Secure Adequate Funding to Improve Agency’s Mission

SANTA FE— New Mexico Department of Veterans Services Secretary Sonya L. Smith who was appointed to the position in October, testified before the New Mexico Legislature’s Legislative Finance Committee Nov. 16, seeking approval of the agency’s proposed $4.9 million budget for fiscal year 2022.

Secretary-Designate Smith testified that the amount is needed to carry out the vision for the agency’s mandate of assisting the state’s approximately 154,000 veterans and their families.

“Our veterans deserve our agency’s very best efforts—especially after dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,”...

SANTA FE — The Office of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Nov. 12 announced her new chief of staff would be Matthew L. Garcia, as John Bingaman will step down to pursue other opportunities.

Bingaman served in the role since the outset of the administration,

Garcia previously served as the governor’s general counsel, leading the administration’s legal representation and strategy. Prior to that, he worked as one of the state’s top civil rights attorneys; earned his law degree from the University of New Mexico as well as a master’s degree from Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Mass. He also completed a Fulbright Fellowship at the Helsinki School of Economics.

Bingaman...

ALBUQUERQUE— Citing new data that big drug companies have taken advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to raise prices on hundreds of medications, AARP New Mexico, Health Action New Mexico and a statewide coalition of health experts, patient advocates and consumers launched New Mexico Consumers for Affordable Prescriptions Nov. 17, calling on legislators to ensure all New Mexicans have access to affordable medications.

“New Mexicans continue to struggle to afford the prescription drugs they need,” Barbara Webber, Executive Director of Health Action New Mexico, said. “Drug costs were out of control before COVID, but it is even worse now. No one should have to choose between their...

Week ending Friday, November 13, 2020

COVID-Susceptible

Canadian researchers warn that whales and other marine mammals could become infected with COVID-19 through inadequately treated sewage effluents.

While no such cases have been reported, scientists at Dalhousie University say their genomic mapping determined that almost all whale, dolphin and porpoise species have the same or higher susceptibility to the coronavirus as humans. “Many of these species are threatened or critically endangered,” said Dalhousie’s Graham Dellaire. “In the past, these animals have been infected by related coronaviruses that have caused both mild disease as well as life-threatening liver and lung...