Gallup Sun

WASHINGTON D.C. — U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., pushed the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary-designee Brooke Rollins to share her plan to address the rising cost of eggs driven by the ongoing highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak Jan. 10. Heinrich points to tools, such as HPAI vaccines, that the USDA could develop and deploy to help tackle the outbreak and lower food prices. Under the Trump administration, the avian flu outbreak is stressing poultry and egg producers’ ability to make a living and forcing working families to pay more at the grocery store for eggs and poultry products.

“As a U.S. Senator and member of the Appropriations Committee, my constituents...

WASHINGTON D.C. — U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., announced that his Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act to permanently classify fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs, under the Controlled Substances Act, passed the U.S. House of Representatives Feb. 7. This permanent scheduling will give law enforcement the tools they need to keep extremely lethal and dangerous drugs off our streets and ensure scientists can research and better understand these substances.

Heinrich, with U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, introduced the HALT Fentanyl Act in the Senate during the week of Feb. 3. The bill now awaits Senate passage, before heading to the...

WASHINGTON D.C. — U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., joined 25 Senate Democrats to urge Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins to immediately secure veterans’ personal information provided by the VA or other agencies to Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency Feb. 7. This call follows Musk’s takeover of the U.S. Treasury’s payment system, which includes private information of veterans and their families, and reports of DOGE employees accessing VA computer systems at the Department’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

In a letter, the senators demanded that Collins deny and sever Musk and DOGE’s access to any VA or other...

Dear Editor,

Members of the Senate Education Committee considered three bills Feb. 7 that could have impact on colleges of education and educator preparatory programs in the areas of reading and math, and a piece of legislation which increases the cap on return-to-work earnings.

First, the easy bill – Senate Bill 133 raises the earnings cap for educators returning to work from $15,000 to $25,000 for those who are returning to work without suspending their ERB benefits.

We support that this legislation may decrease the number of vacancies, however we should continue to monitor the impacts SB 133 may have on the pension fund, as this policy may have a negative impact of up to $1.2...