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.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) — A leader in the New Mexico Republican Party was arrested Wednesday, accused of a deadly hit-and-run in Las Cruces.
Former Treasurer of the Republican Party in New Mexico, Kimberly Ann Skaggs, 54, was arrested Wednesday and charged with leaving the scene and tampering with evidence, jail records show.
Police documents show the charges stem from a deadly hit-and-run crash that happened Monday afternoon, which killed 40-year-old bicyclist, Andrew Brown.
Investigators believed Skaggs was involved after an investigation revealed that Skaggs allegedly was driving fast in the area, fled the scene after the crash and then tried to hide the vehicle from authorities.
RECOMMENDED: Las Cruces couple arrested on murder, child abuse charges in neighbor’s stabbing death
The investigation
According to police documents, a witness at the scene of the crash– 850 N. Fairacres Rd.– described seeing a dark blonde-haired woman flee in a black Cadillac Escalade SUV.
Afterwards, investigators said they saw on Flock cameras– A.I. powered license plate readers– a black Cadillac Escalade traveling near the site of the crash minutes before the incident.
READ MORE: Dona Ana County expands Flock license plate cameras as officials cite crime-solving gains
The license plates showed that the vehicle belonged to Skaggs and that, in September 2025, the Las Cruces Police Department had given her a citation for “racing on streets-exhibition driving.”
Investigators stated that a business on Picacho Ave. captured what they alleged was the same black Cadillac Escalade driving fast.
Then, the documents described how investigators tracked down the Escalade using OnStar’s live GPS tracking, discovering the SUV was at a property on the 5000 block of Northwind Road, which investigators said the Dona Ana County Assessors Office confirmed is a property owned by Skaggs.
On Tuesday, at around 6:41 p.m.– over 24 hours after the deadly hit-and-run– investigators executed a search warrant on the property and described finding the black Cadillac Escalade behind a home, under a red metal carport.
Investigators noted damage on the SUV consistent with the crash, highlighting that there was blood splatter near one of the front tires, markings on the front bumper consistent with hitting a bicycle and parts missing, which investigators said were the same parts found at the scene.
Dona Ana County jail records show Skaggs was booked on Wednesday afternoon and remains jailed without a bond.
RECOMMENDED: Noises in an empty Mesilla home led to discovery of burglar naked in bathtub
About Skaggs
On the official website of the Republican Party of New Mexico, Skaggs was listed as the treasurer before she was removed.
KFOX14/CBS4 has reached out to the Republican Party to learn more and are waiting for a comment regarding the arrest.
Also, according to election statistics, Skaggs ran for State Representative in District 36 in 2022 and 2024, losing both times to Democrat Nathan P. Small.
Sign up to receive the top interesting stories from in and around our community once daily in your inbox.
SANTA FE, N.M. – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asked Attorney General Raúl Torrez to investigate whether any Drug Enforcement Administration agents broke state law when pills reached New Mexico streets.
In a statement, Lujan Grisham said, “make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities.”
The governor also shared a timeline from 2022 to 2025 that she said shows when she asked federal officials for help with New Mexico’s fentanyl crisis and violent crime.
Lujan Grisham said the first request came on June 21, 2022, when she wrote to then-Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray and asked for 50 additional federal agents.
She said she wrote to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland on Sept. 15, 2022, asking for more agents, resources and support for New Mexico law enforcement.
Lujan Grisham said she wrote Garland a second time on Aug. 8, 2023, with the same request.
What came next?
About a month later, Lujan Grisham said she sent Garland a third letter and said New Mexico needed more federal law enforcement to curb violent crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking.
She said her most recent request came on Sept. 4, 2025, when she wrote to former Attorney General Pam Bondi and again asked for additional agents and resources.
The governor’s statement says those requests span several years as she pressed the federal government for more help in New Mexico.
Full statement from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham:
“I am appalled by reporting this week by the Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal that revealed federal authorities made a deliberate decision to let hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills flood into New Mexico communities, despite knowing that fentanyl is so lethal the White House has designated it a weapon of mass destruction.
Let me say that again: the Drug Enforcement Administration watched as 74,000 fentanyl pills were delivered to a mobile home park in Albuquerque, and they did nothing. And that’s just one transaction. Shockingly, the federal government stood by while monitoring shipments, tallying exact pill counts, and watching as these deadly drugs hit the streets.
There are no words to describe how reckless and dangerous these decisions were. Make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway. The result: hundreds of New Mexican parents burying their kids. Hundreds of New Mexican kids growing up without stable parents. All while the federal government stood by.
If the justification for letting these pills flood our communities was that it would somehow make New Mexico safer down the road through bigger eventual busts, the results say otherwise. New Mexico now leads the nation in the increase in overdose deaths for the second straight year, despite deaths dropping nationwide.
Today, I wrote to Attorney General Raúl Torrez and asked him to investigate whether any federal agents broke state law when they allowed lethal drugs to remain on our streets, and to prosecute anyone responsible — regardless of whether they are a federal agent or not.
I have spent years working across two administrations — writing letters, traveling to Washington, meeting directly with President Joe Biden and his cabinet, pushing for accountability, asking for more federal agents to be deployed to New Mexico to help fight this crisis.
- On June 21, 2022, I wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray, imploring the FBI to assign no less than 50 additional agents to New Mexico to stem escalating drug trafficking and violent crime.
- On September 15, 2022, I wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland, requesting that the Department of Justice provide additional federal agents, resources and support to New Mexico law enforcement. We asked the department to match the level of investigative, analytical, and technical resources the FBI had deployed in its Buffalo, NY surge.
- On August 8, 2023, I wrote again to Attorney General Garland, renewing my request that the DOJ expeditiously assign more federal agents to New Mexico.
- On September 7, 2023, I wrote to Attorney General Garland for a third time, reiterating my request once more federal law enforcement support to curb violent crime, drug and human trafficking.
- On September 4, 2025, I wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi, once again requesting additional agents and resources.
I have declared the surge of drugs like fentanyl to be a public health emergency. I have deployed the National Guard to both Albuquerque and Española. While my administration was doing everything we could to stem the tide of fentanyl coming into our state, the federal government deliberately allowed it to flood in.
New Mexican lives are not the federal government’s cost of doing business.
I plan to hold the federal government accountable for this disaster and will explore every possible avenue of action against the federal government to right these wrongs.”
The Canyon Venado Fire has grown to 852 acres east of Clines Corners and crews say wind farms in the area are threatened.
CLINES CORNERS, N.M. – The Canyon Venado Fire has grown to 852 acres east of Clines Corners and crews say wind farms in the area are threatened.
The fire is burning just east of Clines Corners, south of Interstate 40.
It forced the closure of eastbound Interstate 40 at Clines Corners on Tuesday night. I-40 reopened Tuesday night. I-40 is back open but smoke still affects visibility.
“We’re on the side of I-40 so drivers have to be pretty cautious. As far as our establishment itself we’re pretty isolated by the freeway itself as a nice fire break,” said Lincoln Tarantino, Clines Corner general manager.
The fire has burned around 852 acres, up from just 20 at this time Monday.
Crews say the fire is not contained and wind farms in the area are threatened.
-
Los Angeles, Ca1 hour agoJury says it is deadlocked in trial of man accused in Palisades Fire
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoScene active as police shoot, kill man on Detroit’s west side
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours agoCivil grand jury report warns of wildfire risk at SF’s Glen Canyon Park
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoIvory Coast advances at World Cup, how to buy Ivory Coast tickets
-
Miami, FL2 hours agoMen used fake credentials to enter Brazil vs. Scotland match at Miami Stadium, deputies say
-
Boston, MA2 hours ago3 arrested after trying to break into downtown building, Boston police say – The Boston Globe
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoRTD to bring back BroncosRide bus service after 5-year suspension
-
Seattle, WA2 hours agoFOLLOWUP: Sound Transit Board finalizes $400+ million spending installment for West Seattle light rail
