Terrell: Martinez Would Appoint Block's Replacement

Steve Terrell

Roundhouse Roundup - Breaking news: Nobody new called for Jerome Block Jr.’s resignation on Wednesday. Well, no one that I know of. I haven’t checked my Twitter feed in a couple of hours. Bipartisan requests for Block to quit the state Public Regulation Commission began flowing last week when the story broke about an investigation into thousands of dollars in questionable charges to a state gasoline card issued to Block, among other possible misdeeds. So far, Block hasn’t responded to those urgings, nor the possibility that the Legislature might consider impeaching him. Gov. Susana Martinez, who is among those who say Block should step down, would have authority to name a replacement for him until the next election. She hasn’t talked with any potential successors, her spokesman said Wednesday. “If the seat does come open, we would go through a swift and thorough process to find the right replacement,” Scott Darnell said in an email. It’s probably not going out too far on a limb to think that a Republican governor would want to appoint a qualified Republican to the $90,000-a-year job — even though the GOP didn’t even field a candidate in this Democratic-leaning PRC district in 2008, when Block was elected. If Block departed and Martinez appointed a Republican, it would shift the political balance of the elected regulatory body, giving the R’s a 3-to-2 edge. Read full analysis here: News New Mexico

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Tribes Concerned About Medicaid Overhaul

Sidney Squier

Veritas New Mexico - Human Services Department (HSD) Cabinet Secretary Sidonie “Sidney” Squier got a skeptical reception at her meeting Wednesday with representatives from eight New Mexico Indian tribes, several of whom voiced concern that her agency’s Medicaid overhaul would create new barriers to American Indians’ access to health care. The tribes should have a substantive role in the Medicaid restructuring process, several tribal representatives said. State law requires HSD and other agencies to consult with the tribes before changing policies affecting their members. But Wednesday’s three-hour meeting at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque — HSD’s only scheduled Medicaid consultation with the tribes — was held during a week of seasonal Pueblo ceremonies and on the same day as a state redistricting consultation with tribal officials. As a result, only eight of the state’s 22 tribes were officially represented at the meeting. Read full story here: News New Mexico

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Terrell: Susana's Softer Touch

Steve Terrell

Roundhouse Roundup - Gov. Susana Martinez shares the spotlight with Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval in a Politico article about Republican governors "who have accomplished some of the same conservative policy goals as their higher-profile counterparts with a fraction of the backlash." Martinez and Sandoval, the piece says, "have fought to keep their heads down and the ideological stakes low. In a nation clamoring for compromise and political civility, theirs is a model to watch." “That’s where we sort of lost our way,” said Martinez, asked about the confrontational, ideological conservatism of the new wave of Republican leaders. “I am a conservative but we shouldn’t allow single words to really define us.” Politico points out that while new GOP governors like Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Rick Scott of Florida and John Kaisich of Ohio have their poll numbers in the toilet, Martinez and Sandoval are still popular in their respective states. Read full column here: News New Mexico

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Senators Udall and Bingaman Sign Letter Rejecting Latest Compromise Effort - Shutdown Looms

Tom Udall

Both of New Mexico's U.S. Senators, Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall signed a letter to House Speaker John Boehner yesterday threatening to vote against a compromise bill he was busy trying to get GOP support for in his own chamber.

Jeff Bingaman

To date this year, Udall and Bingaman have joined fellow Democrats in defeating President Obama's budget. The final tally was 97-0 against the Obama budget, meaning not a single Democrat in the U.S. Senate voted for the president's proposal. Next came Paul Ryan's budget, which would have made major structural changes to entitlement spending. Again, Udall and Bingaman both voted against the Ryan budget. Next came a proposal from the House to Cut, Cap, and Balance the budget over time. Udall and Bingaman voted against that plan too.

Martin Heinrich

Now New Mexico's senators are not waiting around to simply vote "NO" to the next compromise proposal that will keep the government running. Yesterday they decided to sign a letter and send it to the Speaker telling him that they will not vote for his compromise proposal. In the meantime, would-be senatorial candidate and house member Martin Heinrich from New Mexico, who has also voted against two budget reform proposals in the house is likely to make it three "NO" votes in a row today when the latest effort to end the impasse reaches the house floor.

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Susana’s gamble paying off so far

From Capitol Report New Mexico.com - As the legislative session ended in March, Gov. Susana Martinez took a calculated risk. She could make an exception to her no-taxes pledge and OK a $128 million plan approved by both houses of the legislature to shore up the state’s unemployment fund or she could line-item veto the hike and hope that New Mexico’s struggling economy could improve enough on its own to keep the fund solvent. Martinez rolled the dice and vetoed the bill in early April. Now, less than four months later, her gamble has paid off — so far. As Associated Press reported last Friday (July 22), the finances for the unemployment compensation fund are improving and should remain in the black through March of 2013. “We’re cautious but we want to keep going in the direction we’re headed in,” Gov. Martinez told Capitol Report New Mexico on Tuesday (July 26). The big reason for the fund bouncing back is New Mexico’s drop in unemployment rates. Back in January and February, the jobless percentage was stuck at 8.7 percent. But in every month since then, the rate has dropped across the state and according to statistics released Monday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, New Mexico’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.8 percent for June. Read more

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Does Udall Hope Nobody Remembers What He Says?

Yet another vote to raise the debt ceiling and keep the government running was killed yesterday. It was done with the help of four of the five members of the New Mexico congressional delegation. Only Congressman Steve Pearce cast a compromise vote to keep the government running. A bill, which passed in the U.S. House, was linked to the cutting and capping of spending, and also sending a balanced budget amendment to the states for approval. Let's analyze what these ominous NO votes by Ben Ray Lujan, Martin Heinrich, Jeff Bingaman, and Tom Udall could mean to New Mexico citizens? Below is a list of three possible consequences.

1. More than 360,000 New Mexicans could be in danger of not receiving Social Security checks depending on what the Obama administration decides to spend social security tax revenue on.

2. Over 300,000 Medicare recipients and service providers could be left in the lurch depending on what President Obama decides to spend Medicate taxes on.
3. Over 174,000 New Mexico veterans would face the prospects that their benefits disrupted depending on which government projects President Obama chooses to fund instead.

Just a few days after NM Senator Tom Udall had gone on the record to suggest the problem was a partisan one, he chose to vote along party lines and only with fellow Senate Democrats, to move the New Mexicans he represents much closer to the three consequences listed above. In doing so he said NO to keeping the government running and NO to restructuring the runaway spending nightmare in Washington. Udall also suggested recently that it was time to do.......“What is right for New Mexicans. We must increase the debt ceiling, and we must do it by Aug. 2.” Yesterday Udall had the opportunity to do just that. And instead he voted to prolong the crisis. Does he hope nobody is listening to what he says before he votes?

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LCPS - Austerity for Teachers, Not Central Office

Stan Rounds

Las Cruces - Only a few scant months since teachers and school principals were told that the Las Cruces Public School district was essentially broke and that every pencil and eraser would have to be counted to make sure there is enough money to open the schools in August of 2011, it has been revealed that former LCHS principal Nyeta Haines' salary this year, as "principal on special assignment" at the district's central office, will be $92,000. Many observers believe all the austerity trumpeting directed towards professional educators at LCPS, that were also accompanied by nods directed towards Santa Fe, were for show. This summer, LCPS Superintendent Stan Rounds is reportedly growing the size of his administrative staff again. In addition to adding Haines, administrator Herb Torres, who was feted in a good-bye bash as a recent retiree, has also been rehired by LCPS as a special consultant. According to News New Mexico sources, this count is up to at least four "special assignment principals" now drawing salaries at the central office of LCPS.

Susanna Martinez

Earlier this year conflicts between the Martinez administration and the Albuquerque Public Schools over resource management issues were widely reported. Similarly, it appears that these administrative expansions at the LCPS central office seem to directly contradict the objective of creating an administrative austerity philosophy that was encouraged by new Governor Susana Martinez in the wake of the state's budget woes. We also have reports that the additions to the size of the administrative staff at LCPS have not gone unnoticed by school teachers who are deeply frustrated by what many of them perceive to be duplicity and a complete lack of shared sacrifice.

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Terrell: Wilson Getting it From All Sides

Heather Wilson

Roundhouse Roundup - Former Congresswoman Heather Wilson is getting it from all sides concerning her refusal to take a clear position on the Paul Ryan budget proposal. That's a situation she's used to being in. But if that recent PPP poll is anywhere near correct -- that she's got a wide lead among Republicans to win the GOP primary -- it might not be concerning her all that much. Her Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. John Sanchez, just issued a statement saying she "hasn’t changed much from the liberal member of Congress she used to be." That's referring to a statement Wilson recently made in Politco: "I don’t agree with some of the things in his budget plan. There are a lot of things in there that cause some concern.” That's similar to what she told me in May. "I don't agree with everything in the Ryan plan, but I give him a lot of credit for trying to have a serious debate about saving Medicare. Democrats have not offered one single idea to save Medicare." Read full story here: News New Mexico

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It is Official, Janice Arnold-Jones is "IN"

Janice Arnold-Jones

After forming an exploratory committee several months ago, former News New Mexico co-host and state Representative Janice Arnold-Jones, told the Albuquerque Journal on Friday that she will seek the Republican nomination for Congress in the Albuquerque-based 1st Congressional District. Arnold-Jones served four terms in the New Mexico House of Representatives before making an unsuccessful run in the Republican Gubernatorial primary in 2010. Arnold-Jones will face Albuquerque City Councilor Dan Lewis in the Republican congressional primary. There have also been widespread, but thus far unconfirmed rumors that Jon Barela, who serves as State Economic Development Secretary for Governor Susana Martinez, will make a run for the GOP nod in the C.D# 1 primary. Janice Arnold-Jones has long been connected to New Mexico Congressional District #1 voters. She is a graduate of Albuquerque High School and earned at Bachelor's Degree at UNM in Speech Communication.

Arnold-Jones served as a legislative intern for the Republican members of the Senate in 1974. She was instrumental in the writing and the passage of New Mexico's Criminal Sexual Conduct legislation in 1975. She married John L. Jones, a Santa Fe High School and UNM graduate. Through her husband's career, Arnold-Jones became very familiar with military issues. John Jones served in the US Navy until his retirement a few years ago.



Janice Arnold-Jones in studio

  The Jones' have two children, Robert and Mary Ellen. In November of 2002 Janice was elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives, to serve District 24. She served in the legislature until January of 2011. Her knowledge of computer systems, programming, database structure, and applications was especially helpful during her service in the New Mexico Legislature. Throughout her adult life, Janice Arnold-Jones has researched legislation, written drafts of legislation, and exercised her knowledge of parliamentary procedure in a number of arenas. Arnold-Jones also served as President of the New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Advisory Board and is an Ex-Officio Member Bernalillo County Council of Health Councils. During her time as co-host on News New Mexico we learned that she is passionate about many pressing issues facing the State of New Mexico and the United States including: balancing the federal Budget, creating economic diversity, improving education, and engaging in intelligent management of our natural resources. Arnold-Jones is also a darn good soccer coach.

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KRQE Covers Candidates in C.D 1 Race

Martin Chavez

KRQE TV - The rumors are swirling that some big names are about to jump into the race to replace Rep. Martin Heinrich in Congress. Sources tell News 13 former Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez could enter the Democratic primary for the 1st District Congressional seat as early as July 1. Calls to Chavez's Washington, D.C. office were not returned. If Chavez announces his candidacy, he will face long-time political rival, State Sen. Eric Griego, who joined the race in April. "Chavez is 99 percent in, and that sets up a real hot summer duel," said political blogger Joe Monahan. Former Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, who ran unsuccessfully against Gov. Susana Martinez, also is "strongly considering" a run, according to a source close to her.

Jon Barela

In an op-ed article in the Deming Headlight on Wednesday, Denish pledged to fight for New Mexico families, saying "perhaps in seeking another office." On the Republican side, current Economic Development Secretary Jon Barela could give it another go. "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again," said Monahan. A spokeswoman for Barela said he is open to the idea of running again, after losing to Heinrich last year for the job. Barela would face Albuquerque City Councilor Dan Lewis. Read full story here: New New Mexico

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Terrell: Martinez "Ya Run Ya Resign"

Steve Terrell

Roundhouse Roundup - I think it's safe to say that Gov. Susana Martinez isn't wild about the idea of people in her administration seeking higher office. In fact, if you work for Martinez, don't even think about sticking around if you decide to run for political office. Last month when Lt. Gov. John Sanchez announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate, the governor issued a less-than-friendly statement expressing the concern that a Senate race could become a "distraction," and saying she wouldn't give Sanchez any extra responsibilities in her administration. But that message doesn't apply to Sanchez alone. Martinez's Economic Development Secretary-designate Jon Barela, a Republican who lost a tight race for Congress against Democratic U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich last year, reportedly is thinking of running again in next year's 1st Congressional District race. When asked what Martinez thought about Barela's possible candidacy, her spokesman, Scott Darnell, replied, "Cabinet secretaries understand that they must be focused on assisting the governor in doing the job New Mexicans elected her to do and know they would need to resign if they choose to run for office." Read full story here: News New Mexico

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