ALBUQUERQUE - While New Mexico families are focused on making sure their loved ones are safe and healthy during this fast-moving crisis, other problems are brewing at the state level that may cause pain for years to come. Plummeting oil and gas prices are draining the state budget of funds needed for public safety, health care, education, and more. Actions by the Trump Administration will make this long-term revenue crisis worse.

New leases that will allow companies to drill for oil and gas on federal lands are scheduled to go on sale in May. The lease rates are based on current oil and gas prices, so clearly any leases sold soon will go at bargain-basement prices. As New Mexico...

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, the expiration date of currently issued concealed handgun licenses should be extended for 6 months, to September 16, 2020.

Citizens with a concealed carry license expiring in the next few months have no way to comply with the in-person training requirements of the Department without violating the social isolation dictates of the Governor, and the Department of Public Safety:

“Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the State of New Mexico and the Department of Public Safety offices are now locked to the public.”

https://www.dps.nm.gov/index.php/top-links-for-nm-residents/concealed-carry-licenses

The following...

Democracy depends on a transparent government, yet despite the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act and the Open Meetings Act - laws ensuring the public’s right to learn about their government through access to public records and public meetings - some government officials still regularly ignore the law.

As the nation celebrates Sunshine Week, a national initiative to educate the public about the importance of open government and the dangers of secrecy, the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government wants every New Mexican to remember that open, accountable government is the cornerstone of our democracy.

The Sunshine Week celebration coincides with the birthday of James...

For the third year in a row the Trump administration has proposed eliminating funding for a Native American college scholarship program which gives assistance to thousands of tribal students across the country.  His Bureau of Indian Education is proposing cuts of almost $40 million for the Higher Education Grant Program for the 2021 budget.

The Higher Education Grant Program helps undergraduate students, who are determined to have a financial need. Most of the students served by ONNSFA fall into that category. Need-based students receive $2,500 per term, which helps students cover the balance of tuition and fees, room and board, textbooks, and transportation costs.

Federal funds...