Source New Mexico

The New Mexico Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee voted 6-4 along party lines to advance a bill that would ban the sale of certain guns and require firearms dealers to maintain thorough records of every gun they’ve sold. Read more at SourceNM[dot]com. In the photo: Co-sponsors Sen. Debbie O’Malley (D-Albuquerque) and Rep. Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) on Jan. 28, 2026, spoke before the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee about Senate Bill 17, which would more closely regulate firearm dealers in New Mexico. (Danielle Prokop/Source NM)

The New Mexico Senate voted 36-1 on Wednesday to pass a bill with an emergency clause that could start the process of recouping millions of dollars from Gallup-McKinley County Schools. Lawmakers have been focused on the district’s finances since December, when New Mexico Public Education Department Secretary Mariana Padilla informed them of a $35 million shortfall in her agency’s budget. Read more at SourceNM[dot]com. In the photo: Legislation sponsored by Sen. George Muñoz (D-Gallup) cleared the New Mexico Senate on Jan. 28, 2026. The bill is aimed at recouping money from Gallup-McKinley County Schools after the Public Education Department reported a $35 million shortfall. (Danielle Prokop/Source NM)

Doctors and medical students roamed the halls of the Roundhouse in medical garb and lobbied for proposals, including House Bill 99, sponsored by Reps. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos) and Gail Armstrong (R-Magdalena). HB99, if passed, would remove a provision in state law that allows for punitive damages in medical malpractice lawsuits to come from personal liability of health care providers. Read more at SourceNM[dot]com. In the photo: Health care professionals filled the halls of the Roundhouse on Jan. 28, 2026, for "White Coat Day." (Danielle Prokop/Source NM)

NEW: The FEMA official in charge of a multi-billion-dollar compensation fund for Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire victims and his wife personally received more than $500,000 in fund payments for smoke damage and business losses, according to documents Source obtained. Jay Mitchell received $266,000 for cleaning costs at his home in Angel Fire, an area that two of his neighbors said did not much experience smoke from the fire. Read more at SourceNM [dot]com. In the photo: Jay Mitchell, left, director of FEMA’s Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire claims office, received $266,000 for smoke and ash cleaning at his home in Angel Fire, right, according to documents Source New Mexico and New Mexico PBS obtained. His wife received more than $250,000. (Photo illustration by Danielle Prokop/Source NM)

NEW: The FEMA official in charge of a multi-billion-dollar compensation fund for Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire victims and his wife personally received more than $500,000 in fund payments for smoke damage and business losses, according to documents Source obtained. Jay Mitchell received $266,000 for cleaning costs at his home in Angel Fire, an area that two of his neighbors said did not much experience smoke from the fire. Read more at SourceNM [dot]com. In the photo: Jay Mitchell, left, director of FEMA’s Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire claims office, received $266,000 for smoke and ash cleaning at his home in Angel Fire, right, according to documents Source New Mexico and New Mexico PBS obtained. His wife received more than $250,000. (Photo illustration by Danielle Prokop/Source NM)

Lawmakers behind the push for a local immigrant detention center ban amended their bill Tuesday to also prohibit police and sheriff’s deputies statewide from entering agreements to send immigrants in local jails to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. House Bill 9, aka the Immigrant Safety Act, cleared its first committee after contentious debate last week. The bill now has an amendment that would ban agreements between ICE and local law enforcement — often called “287(g) agreements” after the relevant section in federal immigration law — that authorize local law enforcement to serve ICE warrants on arrestees held in local jails. The agreements require any immigrant who is served one of those warrants to be transferred to an immigrant detention facility within 48 hours. Only one New Mexico county, Curry County, has such an agreement with ICE, according to an ICE database. The amended bill comes up for debate this afternoon in House Judiciary. Read more at SourceNM[dot]com. In the photo: Hundreds of people flocked to the Roundhouse on Jan. 26, 2026, to urge New Mexico lawmakers to pass legislation to end state and local governments’ participation in federal immigration detention. (Danielle Prokop/Source NM)

Physicians, rural New Mexicans and behavioral health professionals joined a state lawmaker Tuesday morning in calling for the passage of legislation that could help the state shoulder coverage gaps created by the Trump administration’s health care cuts. Read more at SourceNM[dot]com. In the photo: New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty Health Care Director Abuko Estrada on Jan. 27, 2026, spoke in support of House Bill 4, which would direct more revenue to the state’s Health Care Affordability Fund. (Joshua Bowling/Source NM)

Legislation that would restore a federal farm-to-foodbank program advanced Tuesday morning through the New Mexico Legislature’s House Agriculture, Acequia and Water Resources Committee, along with a bill to hike fines for stealing water and funding for statewide water projects. The committee unanimously passed House Bill 101, sponsored by Rep. Joanne Ferrary (D-Las Cruces), which would provide $2 million for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture to resurrect a now-defunct federal program that purchased food from local farmers and ranchers to provide to food banks that feed hungry New Mexicans. “It strengthens New Mexico’s local and regional food systems by focusing on in-state producers, with a focus on small to mid-sized farmers,” Ferrary said. “All purchases will be made within New Mexico, ensuring that investments will remain local while expanding food access for underserved communities.”

The New Mexico Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee on Monday unanimously advanced a bill allocating $547 million for a new University of New Mexico School of Medicine, something Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham labeled a priority in her final State of the State address. Read more at SourceNM[dot]com. In the photo: The Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee on Jan. 26, 2026, voted unanimously to advance a bill that would give the University of New Mexico nearly $547 million for a new School of Medicine. (Danielle Prokop/Source NM)

The New Mexico House Judiciary Committee on Monday quickly passed legislation that would enter the state into seven health care worker compacts, part of lawmakers’ effort to pass as many compact bills as possible despite Senate opposition. Read more at SourceNM [dot] com. In the photo: Rep. Marian Matthews (D-Albuquerque) carries a box of health care compact materials out of a House committee room Jan. 26, 2026. (Danielle Prokop/Source NM)

Days after federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, New Mexico Democrats on Monday morning said they’ll continue to protect immigrants across the state. One representative called on the governor to demand an end to all U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. Read more at SourceNM[dot]com. In the photo: New Mexico Speaker of the House Javier Martínez (D-Albuquerque) spoke to a crowd of hundreds who gathered outside the Roundhouse on Jan. 26, 2026, in protest of immigrant detention. (Danielle Prokop/Source NM)

Despite frigid temperatures, New Mexico’s Immigrant and Workers Day of Action drew more than 500 people to the Roundhouse Monday morning rallying for an end to New Mexico’s participation in federal immigrant detention. Immigrant advocacy groups and residents from across New Mexico urged movement on House Bill 9, which if passed would prohibit local and state government entities from entering into agreements to detain people accused of federal immigration violations. Last week, HB 9 advanced through its first committee along party lines. Recently, Republican leadership in the house has requested the federal government step in and stop it. Monday’s rally followed Saturday’s killing in Minnesota of 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti by federal immigration agents — the second such fatal incident in that city in the last month.