New Mexico
NM Legislature Recap Jan. 29: Blizzards of of snow and white coats • Source New Mexico
Snow blanketed the New Mexico Capitol on Wednesday, but inside was a sea of cherry red and silver honoring the University of New Mexico, which also released a scrum of white-coated medical school physicians to roam the halls.
The state Senate unanimously confirmed one of its former colleagues, Greg Nibert, to a six-year term on the utility regulating body, the Public Regulation Committee. Nibert, a former legislator in both chambers, was ousted in the June primary by Sen. Pat Boone (R-Elida). Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed Nibert earlier this month, selecting him from a pool of 32 applicants, according to a press release from the PRC.
A bundle of behavioral health bills will face further consideration after a three-hour Senate Health and Public Affairs committee meeting. While members approved Senate Bill 1, which creates a $1 billion fund for behavioral health 10-0, the committee ran out of time to consider related bills, and wanted to further evaluate and potentially amend them.
The committee will evaluate Senate Bill 2, an appropriations bill for an additional $140 million for seven agencies and grants for communities, and Senate Bill 3, which directs the courts to develop behavioral health regions, coordinate meetings and develop regional plans on Monday.
The Senate Education Committee passed three bills through in the morning and bumped another three to Friday after the committee ran out of time before lawmakers were expected on the Senate Floor at 11 a.m. The bills they advanced:
- Senate Bill 60 to establish a high school water management pilot project from Sen. Michael Padilla (D-Albuquerque) passed unanimously and heads to the Senate Conservation committee.
- Sen. Pat Woods (R-Clovis) sponsored Senate Bill 8, which puts aside $5 million for a school loan repayment program for veterinarians, passed 9-0, and now heads to Senate Judiciary.
- Senate Bill 11, from Sen. Crystal Brantley (R-Elephant Butte) requests districts adopt policies to store cell phones during the school day and offers $10 million in funding for reimbursement. It passed 7-2 and heads to Senate Finance.
Lawmakers rolled Senate Bill 10, the Anti-Hazing Act proposed by Sen. Harold Pope (D-Albuquerque), to Friday’s Senate Education Committee meeting, following a request from committee members to consider amending the bill to take out provisions related to primary school students. Another anti-hazing bill is in the works, as well.
The committee also pushed to Friday: Senate Bill 13, the State-Tribal Education Compact Act, proposed by Sen. Benny Shendo (D-Jemez Pueblo) (read more about that bill here) and
Senate Bill 19 from Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D-Las Cruces), which would require the Higher Education Department to develop a 10-hour training for new university regents and those who have more than one year left in their term as of June 20, 2025.
To keep track of all these bills and the ones below, make sure to check Source New Mexico’s bill tracker. And please reach out to us if there’s any information you’d like us to include on it: [email protected]
Bill watch
The Senate Judiciary Committee heard three public safety bills on Wednesday afternoon: Senate Bill 18, which would create the crime of SWATing, Senate Bill 32, which would raise the penalty for possessing a stolen firearm, and Senate Bill 70, which would add 11 new crimes to the definition of racketeering.
The committee did not vote on any of the bills because Chair Sen. Joseph Cervantes (D-Las Cruces) said any crime-related legislation that passes through his committee will likely be “rolled” together into an omnibus bill.
Water protection bills will be heard by the Senate Conservation Committee at 8:30 a.m. Thursday. Read more about them here.
The House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee will hear another batch of public safety bills Thursday afternoon, including elevated sentences for shooting threats, possessions of weapon conversion devices, penalties for vehicle thefts and use of juvenile records in firearm background checks. Lawmakers will also discuss the Artificial Intelligence Act.
Word on the street is there will be a special address to both chambers tomorrow. We’ll keep you posted.
Source NM reporters Patrick Lohmann and Austin Fisher contributed to the writing and reporting of this article.
New Mexico
New Mexico (NMAA) High School Boys Basketball State Championship Brackets, Schedules – March 7, 2026
The 2026 New Mexico high school boys basketball state championships begin on Saturday, March 7, with 40 games in the first round of action.
High School on SI has brackets for every classification in the New Mexico high school basketball state brackets. The championship games begin on March 14 at the University of New Mexico – The Pit.
New Mexico (NMAA) High School Basketball State Championship Brackets, Schedule – March 7
No. 1 Volcano Vista vs. No. 16 Santa Fe – 03/07, 6:00 PM MT
No. 8 Las Cruces vs. No. 9 Albuquerque – 03/07, 4:00 PM MT
No. 5 Hobbs vs. No. 12 Organ Mountain – 03/07, 6:00 PM MT
No. 4 La Cueva vs. No. 13 Atrisco Heritage Academy – 03/07, 6:00 PM MT
No. 3 Rio Rancho vs. No. 14 Mayfield – 03/07, 4:00 PM MT
No. 6 Sandia vs. No. 11 Farmington – 03/07, 5:00 PM MT
No. 7 Centennial vs. No. 10 Carlsbad – 03/07, 5:00 PM MT
No. 2 Cleveland vs. No. 15 Alamogordo – 03/07, 5:00 PM MT
No. 1 Highland vs. No. 16 Grants – 03/07, 6:00 PM MT
No. 8 Belen vs. No. 9 Portales – 03/07, 5:00 PM MT
No. 5 Taos vs. No. 12 St. Pius X – 03/07, 6:00 PM MT
No. 4 Del Norte vs. No. 13 Valencia – 03/07, 7:00 PM MT
No. 3 Hope Christian vs. No. 14 Pojoaque Valley – 03/07, 6:00 PM MT
No. 6 Albuquerque Academy vs. No. 11 Goddard – 03/07, 5:00 PM MT
No. 7 Gallup vs. No. 10 Silver – 03/07, 5:00 PM MT
No. 2 Artesia vs. No. 15 Bloomfield – 03/07, 6:00 PM MT
No. 1 St. Michael’s vs. No. 16 Wingate – 03/07, 4:00 PM MT
No. 8 Tohatchi vs. No. 9 New Mexico Military Institute – 03/07, 3:00 PM MT
No. 5 Santa Fe Indian vs. No. 12 Sandia Prep – 03/07, 4:00 PM MT
No. 4 Navajo Prep vs. No. 13 Hot Springs – 03/07, 3:00 PM MT
No. 3 Cobre vs. No. 14 Ruidoso – 03/07, 4:00 PM MT
No. 6 Bosque vs. No. 11 Cottonwood Classical Prep – 03/07, 6:00 PM MT
No. 7 East Mountain vs. No. 10 Robertson – 03/07, 6:00 PM MT
No. 2 Tularosa vs. No. 15 West Las Vegas – 03/07, 6:00 PM MT
No. 1 Texico vs. No. 16 Clayton – 03/07, 5:00 PM MT
No. 8 Tucumcari vs. No. 9 Mora – 03/07, 5:00 PM MT
No. 5 Mesilla Valley Christian School vs. No. 12 Dulce – 03/07, 4:00 PM MT
No. 4 Santa Rosa vs. No. 13 Eunice – 03/07, 4:00 PM MT
No. 3 Mesa Vista vs. No. 14 Hozho Charter Academy – 03/07, 5:00 PM MT
No. 6 Rehoboth Christian vs. No. 11 Oak Grove Classical – 03/07, 5:00 PM MT
No. 7 Escalante vs. No. 10 Menaul – 03/07, 5:00 PM MT
No. 2 Pecos vs. No. 15 Mescalero Apache – 03/07, 6:00 PM MT
No. 1 Logan vs. No. 16 Quemado – 03/07, 4:00 PM MT
No. 8 Cliff vs. No. 9 To’hajiilee – 03/07, 5:00 PM MT
No. 5 Alamo Navajo vs. No. 12 Grady – 03/07, 5:00 PM MT
No. 4 Melrose vs. No. 13 Elida – 03/07, 5:00 PM MT
No. 3 Cimarron vs. No. 14 Pine Hill – 03/07, 5:00 PM MT
No. 6 Roy/Mosquero vs. No. 11 Mountainair – 03/07, 6:00 PM MT
No. 7 Magdalena vs. No. 10 Springer – 03/07, 3:00 PM MT
No. 2 Fort Sumner/House vs. No. 15 Gateway Christian – 03/07, 6:00 PM MT
The number of confirmed measles cases in New Mexico increased to six after the state’s Department of Health confirmed Wednesday a new case inside a local jail in Las Cruces.
A federal inmate being held in the Doña Ana County Detention Center is the latest person to have tested positive for measles. The New Mexico Department of Health said others may have been exposed to the highly contagious disease from this confirmed case if they visited the U.S. District Court building in Las Cruces on Feb. 24.
State heath officials are now urging anyone who was at the courthouse that day to check their vaccination status and report any measles symptoms from now until March 17 to a health care provider.
“The New Mexico Department of Health continues to urge people to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination,” Dr. Chad Smelser, New Mexico’s deputy state epidemiologist, said in a statement. “Vaccine is the best tool to protect you from measles.”
Measles spreads through the air and people who contract the virus may experience symptoms such as runny nose, fever, cough, red eyes and a distinctive blotchy rash. These symptoms can develop between one and three weeks after exposure.
All of the six confirmed measles cases in New Mexico so far are federal detainees.
The first measles case was detected in the Hidalgo County Detention Center on Feb. 25, when a detainee, whose vaccination status was unknown, tested positive for the disease by the New Mexico Department of Health’s Scientific Laboratory.
Two days later, a second federal inmate in the same jail tested positive for the virus alongside two detainees in the Luna County Detention Center and another in the Doña Ana County Detention Center.
Both the Luna County and Doña Ana detention centers are local jails that also serve as holding facilities for federal immigration enforcement.
New Mexico health officials said they are the state’s first confirmed cases of this year, following a statewide outbreak in 2025 that sickened 100 people from mid-February to mid-September.
With two measles cases reported on each of the three local jails, Smelser said that the New Mexico Department of Health has sent vaccination teams to all three facilities.
State health officials are also “coordinating with all the facilities to assure all quarantine, isolation, testing and vaccination protocols are followed to minimize risk of measles spread.”
According to the NBC News measles tracker, more than 1,000 cases have been counted nationwide just in the first two months of this year. That’s nearly half the amount of cases confirmed in the United States in all of last year.
As 2026 already stands as one of the three worst years for measles infections in the country since 2000, another measles outbreak was confirmed this week in Texas inside the nation’s largest immigration detention facility.
On Wednesday, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson told NBC News that a least 14 cases of measles were confirmed inside Camp East Montana, which is located on the Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso.
The people who tested positive for measles have been “cohorted and separated from the rest of the detained population to prevent further spread,” the ICE spokesperson said.
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