Trade Talk— Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
Shortly before a panel of University of New Mexico academics convened Wednesday to discuss the impact of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, he announced a 90-day pause on some of them, while bumping China’s rate to 125%.
“It underlines how the uncertainty and the unpredictability behind the tariffs may be even more damaging than the actual tariffs,” Jordan Rosenberg Cobos, a law student and president of the International Law Society, which co-hosted the lunchtime talk at the UNM School of Law, said. “It’s like you’re taking a load-bearing wall out of the global economy without much notice,”
The event included UNM professors in political science, economics and trade law, as well as the U.S. Mexican Consul based in Albuquerque, Patricia Pinzón. All agreed that the fluctuating tariffs impact not just consumer prices for New Mexicans, the U.S. and the rest of the world, but also challenge the basis of free trade between countries.
“I’m an optimist, but it’s hard to see a positive outcome,” Law professor Paul Figueroa, whose decades of trade law experience included extensive travel, said. “If the tariffs stand, then the world trade order will forever change,” and it will become less open, more “unsettled and uncertain.”
Tariffs may increase tax revenues, Xiaoyang Wang, an assistant professor in economics, noted, but even the proposed 10% tax on imports drives up prices for both customers and suppliers, and squeezes supply of goods.
Pinzón said Mexico would rather negotiate with the Trump administration for better trade positions, rather than institute retaliatory tariffs.
“We know that when the U.S. does a unilateral decision, our best answer is to negotiate,” she said.
Pinzón also mentioned concerns about enforcement of tariffs at the border, noting that a Mexican auto industry analysis found that one auto part can cross the U.S.-Mexico border eight times before being fully installed.
“So each time a product crosses the border, are we talking about tariffs of 10% or 25%, how is that going to be implemented?” Pinzón said. “We don’t know, experts do not know at the technical level.”
Manuel Montoya, a professor in global economics, said free trade has enabled the growth of wealth for more people in emerging economies across the world.
“The implications of this are not just whether or not your goods and services are going to be expensive,” Montoya said. “It’s going to be about the very nature of political and economic cooperation moving forward for the next 50 to 70 years.”
Takeaways for New MexicansThe academic panelists said tariff impacts will hit everyone’s wallet, and New Mexicans will have to brace to pay more for clothes, food and electronics.
“I think it’s inevitable that the prices of products that people buy in places like Walmart are going to go up, and that is certainly going to affect people,” said Wendy Hansen, a professor in political science.
Hansen also warned that agricultural products may see additional tariffs responding to the Trump administration’s tariffs, a repeat of what happened in 2018, during the first term.
“I don’t know which products in New Mexico might be affected by it, but China’s best card in their pocket is agriculture, the EU maybe as well,” Hansen said.
Speaking with Source NM after the presentation, Pinzón emphasized that “Mexico is New Mexico’s first trading partner; that gives us a special relationship.”
Pinzón said ongoing discussions center around further development at the Santa Teresa port of entry, calling it “one of the key industrial ports for both Mexico and the U.S.”
Also following the discussion, Montoya told Source his hope is that New Mexico’s adaptation and cultural traditions throughout its history will offer paths forward, despite the economic uncertainty.
“This is a state where we have the birthplace of the atomic bomb, but also some of the longest-standing and resilient agricultural-based systems in the United States,” Montoya said. “That combination tells you a lot about the mixture and the middle ground that New Mexico has.”
Pueblos, environmentalists herald reintroduction of federal legislation to protect Chaco Canyon — Source New Mexico staff
The reintroduction by New Mexico’s entire federal delegation of the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act sparked widespread praise on Thursday from pueblos, environmentalists and others.
The legislation would create a 10-mile buffer zone around the park — the Chaco Protection Zone —in which future leasing and development of oil, gas and minerals on non-Indian federal lands would be forbidden. The Biden administration began an administrative withdrawal of the area in 2023, which offered temporary protection. “That welcome step has been successful and is still in place but is under threat from the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress,” a news release from the delegation states. The legislation, on the other hand, would provide permanent protection.
“Chaco Culture National Historical Park — and the Greater Chaco Region — is one of the world’s greatest treasures that must be protected for our future generations,” U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) said in a statement. “Chaco holds deep spiritual and cultural significance for Tribes and Pueblos and is one of only a handful of World Heritage Sites in the United States. This legislation is a longstanding priority for Pueblo and Tribal communities, environmental advocates, and the New Mexico Delegation to ensure we protect our sacred sites.” Luján is leading the introduction of the bill in the U.S. Senate; U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández is doing so in the U.S. House.
The All Pueblo Council of Governors, which represents the 20 Pueblos of New Mexico and one in Texas, issued a statement reaffirming its support for the measure, with Pueblo of Acoma Gov.Charles Riley issuing a statement that: ““Chaco Canyon holds the footprints and fingerprints of our ancestors. By reintroducing legislation to permanently protect these federal lands, our congressional partners honor our living heritage, and the centuries of prayers offered to safeguard it. This is not only about preserving an archaeological wonder—it’s about ensuring our ancestral gifts remain intact for future generations.”
The Sierra Club Rio Grande chapter also endorsed the legislation:
“For years, advocates and impacted community members have called on federal agencies to protect the cultural integrity of the Greater Chaco landscape and community well-being from fracking,” Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Program Manager Miya King-Flaherty said in a statement. “Now, under a second Trump administration that is blatantly calling for public lands to be sold off for corporate polluter interests and turn back the clock on climate action, it’s urgent that we permanently protect this sacred landscape from further desecration, as well as the health of communities already overburdened from oil and gas drilling. We’re thankful to Senator Ben Ray Lujan and Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez for continuing to pursue protecting Chaco Culture National Historical Park and hope efforts to protect the broader landscape and public health are not forgotten.”
Gov. Lujan Grisham has signed more than half the legislation sent up by lawmakers — Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed another 10 bills into law on Wednesday, including bills to require all schools to install heart defibrillators; adding additional crimes to the state’s organized crime laws and approving a pilot project for grandparents raising grandchildren.
House Bill 54 requires all public schools to develop plans for addressing cardiac emergencies and have electronic devices on site. The bill originally requested high schools to meet the requirements, but lawmakers amended it to include all schools. High schools are required to install automated external defibrillators by the 2026 school year, and elementary schools must comply by 2027.
Senate Bill 70 adds additional crimes that qualify for racketeering charges, including dog and cockfighting; human trafficking; sexual exploitation of children; criminal sexual penetration; criminal sexual contact and bringing contraband into prisons and jails.
House Bill 252 develops a $4 million dollar pilot project for the Aging and Long Term Services Department to provide funding for grandparents or next-of-kin raising children. The bill will address 50 families in five to seven counties.
Lujan Grisham has signed 128 bills — about 65% — of the 195 bills the Legislature passed, and vetoed two bills. That leaves 67 bills pending, including the $10.8 billion budget funding the state government in House Bill 2.
Lujan Grisham has until Friday to approve or veto bills. Any legislation not signed by the April 11 deadline will not go into law, a move called a pocket veto. Lawmakers unanimously passed a measure to remove the governor’s pocket veto power in House Joint Resolution 2. Voters will have the chance to vote on the constitutional change in 2026, unless officials call a special election before then.
Here’s a full list of the bills signed into law on Wednesday:
Economic development
- House Bill 6: IRB Project Minimum Wage
- House Bill 20: Technology & Innovation Division
- Senate Bill 59: Public Works Minimum Wage Definitions
Education
- House Bill 54: Defibrillators In Every High School
- House Bill 532: Student Water Safety Guidance
Public safety
- Senate Bill 070: Add Racketeering Crimes
- Senate Bill 168: Travel Insurance Act
Other
- House Bill 172: New Mexico Red & Green Chile Month
- House Bill 218: Tax Changes
House Bill 252: Kinship Caregiver Support Pilot Program
Heinrich re-introduces gun safety legislation in Congress - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
As firearm-related deaths of young people in New Mexico increase, the state’s senior senator in Congress introduced two pieces of legislation on Wednesday intended to address gun violence.
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) is co-sponsoring the first bill, called the GOSAFE Act, which would regulate the sale, transfer and manufacture of gas-operated semi-automatic firearms. He introduced the same legislation in 2023.
Heinrich is also co-sponsoring another bill, called the BUMP Act, which would ban the sale of “bump stocks” and other devices or modifications that convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic ones.
“For too long, Congress has failed to stem the onslaught of mass shootings,” Heinrich said in a statement. “As a sportsman and gun owner, I’m committed to upholding the laws that protect responsible gun ownership, but we must do more to prevent deadly weapons from reaching those who are all too ready to turn them against our communities.”
Heinrich introduced the legislation less than three weeks after a mass shooting in Las Cruces, New Mexico’s second-largest city, which left three dead and 15 others injured. Four people have been arrested so far in connection to the shooting, including a 20-year-old and three teenagers, according to local police.
Firearm-related deaths among children and teenagers in the U.S. increased by 50% between 2019 and 2023, Stateline reports. In 2023, firearms remained the leading cause of death among young people in the U.S. for the fourth year in a row, according to the latest mortality data released by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In New Mexico, 33 firearm-related deaths occurred among people under 18 in 2023, a 24% increase from 2019, the data show. The state experienced a slight decrease in 2021, but the number of deaths increased in 2022 and 2023, the data show.
Miranda Viscoli, co-president of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence, applauded Heinrich for introducing the bills in a statement on Tuesday, saying he is “leading the charge for gun violence prevention in New Mexico and across the country.”
“The GOSAFE Act will help make our communities safer from gun violence,” Viscoli said in a statement. “These highly lethal firearms have no place in civilian hands.”
The BUMP Act, Viscoli added, will “bolster our legal framework that makes it possible for law enforcement to address the epidemic of violence that New Mexicans have experienced through guns modified to be fully automatic.”
A single legislative committee approved a similar proposal to change New Mexico state law in the most recent legislative session, but the bill never received a vote in either chamber of the New Mexico Legislature.
Heinrich said the bills represent a continuation of the work Congress did by passing the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which enabled licensed firearms dealers to check FBI records to see if a gun offered for sale was stolen, mandated checks of juvenile criminal history and mental health records of people under 21 trying to buy a gun, and created new crimes for “straw purchases” of guns on behalf of someone who isn’t allowed to have one, among other reforms.
HHS Secretary RFK Jr. visits New Mexico and receives mixed reviews among both state parties - KUNM News, Source New Mexico
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited a conservative charter school in Gallup on Wednesday where he spoke to students and educators on the importance of healthy eating, exercise and access to quality healthcare.
In response, the Republican Party of New Mexico expressed their gratitude for his visit in a press release. Stating his visit quote “highlights his deep commitment to addressing the healthcare and wellness needs of our tribal communities.”
But Chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, Jessica Velasquez told Source New Mexico that it’s ironic that Kennedy visited the Navajo Nation which was quote “ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, almost more than any other community in our country.”
Velasquez said Kennedy shouldn’t be trusted and giving him a platform is deadly for people in rural and tribal communities.
In May of 2020, the Navajo Nation reported one of the highest per capita of COVID-19 infection rates in the United States.
Velasques also pointed to the measles outbreak in southeastern New Mexico and west Texas, with nearly 60 cases in New Mexico.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham in response to the secretary’s remarks over the weekend – where he endorsed measles vaccinations – said that she hopes Kennedy and his team are immune and that they don’t expose it to anyone in New Mexico because it would be “the worst public-facing engagement of a health secretary in anyone’s lifetime.’
Gov Lujan Grisham signs electric grid, solar power and cannabis-enforcement bills into law - Danielle Prokop Source NM
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed 41 more bills into law Tuesday, including several to boost New Mexico’s ability to install solar panels in small communities and allow utilities to seek rate changes for technology to improve electricity transmission.
She has until April 11 to sign or veto legislation.
House Bill 128 establishes a $20 million dollar fund to provide grants for solar energy and battery storage for tribal, rural and low-income schools, municipalities and counties.
“This fund is an investment in our infrastructure, our economy, and our future,” Sen. Harold Pope (D-Albuquerque) one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a statement. “It fills crucial funding gaps for rural and underserved areas, ensuring that all communities — no matter their zip code — can implement solar projects that cut energy costs, lower emissions, and enhance our resilience during fires, blackouts, and intense storms. I’m proud that we passed it.”
House Bill 93 will allow larger electric utilities to incorporate advanced grid technology projects into their grid modernization plans, and incorporate those plans into the ratemaking process before the Public Regulation Commission.
Co-sponsor Kristina Ortez (D-Taos) told Source the alternative: building more transmission lines can be “100 times to 1,000 times more expensive” than using technologies that boost lines capacity to carry more electricity, and state law allows electricity companies to pass on those costs to customers.
“Advanced grid technologies are way cheaper for ratepayers,” Ortez said. “These utilities now have incentives to try to make their existing lines more efficient rather than building a whole new one.”
HB93 is limited to investor-owned utilities, such as Public Service Company of New Mexico Xcel Energy and El Paso Electric, and does not impact smaller electric cooperatives, she noted.
The governor also signed : House Bill 10, which establishes a new enforcement division under the state’s Regulation and Licensing Bureau to enforce state cannabis laws; House Bill 63, which proposes changes to the public school funding formula to generate more money for low-income, English-language learning students and students in seventh through 12th grades; andSenate Bill 19, which requires that members of university governing boards undergo 10 hours of training on ethics, student services and best practices.
Four of the bills she enacted related to water treatment for ongoing climate impacts, addressing so-called “forever chemicals” contamination and pollution control.
Here’s a full list of the bills the governor signed:
Health:
- House Bill 56: Medicaid Reimbursements for Birth Centers
- House Bill: Prohibit Discrimination Against 340B Entities
- House Bill 117: Death Certificate by Physician Assistant
- House Bill 171: Pharmacy Custodial Care Facilities
- House Bill 178: Nursing Practice Changes
- Senate Bill 120: No Behavioral Health Cost Sharing
- Senate Bill 122: Expand Prescription Drug Donation Program
- Senate Bill 249: Health Care Provider Gross Receipts
Energy and environment:
- House Bill 93: Advanced Grid Technology Plans
- House Bill 128: NMFA Local Solar Access Fund
- House Bill 137: Strategic Water Supply Act
- House Bill 140: ‘Hazardous Waste Constituent’ Definition
- House Bill 212: Per- & Poly-Flouroalkyl Protection Act
- House Bill 240: Drinking Water System Grants & Loans
- House Bill 295: Tax On Property Owned by NM RETA
- Senate Bill 21: Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Act
Economic development:
- House Bill 19: Trade Ports Development Act
- House Bill 368: High Wage Jobs Tax Credit ‘Threshold Job’
- House Bill 456: Architect & Engineering Services & Construction
Education:
- House Bill 63: Public School Funding Formula Changes
- House Bill 69: Loan Forgiveness Multiplier Act
- House Bill 89: Graduate Scholarship Act Changes
- House Bill 336: Certain Retirees Returning to Work
- Senate Bill 19: Boards Of Regents Training Requirements
- Senate Bill 146: Educational Opportunity for Military Children
This and that:
- House Bill 10: RLD Cannabis Enforcement
- House Bill 24: Community Governance Attorneys Changes
- House Bill 113: Animal Welfare Program and Trust Fund
- House Bill 158: Military Base Planning & Impact Act
- House Bill 296: Public Accountant Licensure Requirements
- House Bill 398: HMO & Contract Provider Exam Time Lines
- House Bill 468: Retiring of State Flags
- Senate Bill 88: Medicaid Trust Fund & State Supported Fund
- Senate Bill 92: Horse Racing & Jockey Insurance Fund
- Senate Bill 126: Increase Rural Service Fund Allocations
- Senate Bill 159: Independent Theater Beer & Wine Licenses
- Senate Bill 221: Additional Unfair Insurance Claims Practice
- Senate Bill 267: Housing Application Fees
- Senate Bill 280: NMMI In Capital Outlay Act
- Senate Bill 290: Raise Marriage License Fees
- Senate Bill 357: Essential Services Development Act
Governor suggests special session not imminent, but says juvenile gun crime still a concern - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
During a news conference at the state Capitol, the governor said she’d held talks with Democratic leaders in the House and Senate and planned to continue negotiations.
Those talks have occurred since Lujan Grisham said on March 22, the final day of this year’s 60-day legislative session, that she planned to call lawmakers back to the Capitol for a special session after no bills dealing with juvenile crime or firearm restrictions were sent to her desk for final approval.
“I’m still feeling like that’s really necessary, particularly after the devastating tragedy in Las Cruces,” Lujan Grisham said Tuesday, referring to the March 21 shooting at a popular park that left three people dead and many others injured.
She also said more sleep and coffee since the session’s end have led to more measured thinking on the issues, but added, “I’m as concerned as I was then.”
Specifically, Lujan Grisham said she would like to see a legislative interim committee that studies crime and court-related issues begin work shortly on a possible fix to New Mexico’s juvenile offender laws. Such interim committees typically do not start meeting until several months after the end of a legislative session.
Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, who also attended Tuesday’s news conference at the Governor’s Office, said he largely agreed with the governor’s assessment of the situation.
But he cautioned against calling a special session before lawmakers and the Governor’s Office can reach an agreement on the issues in question.
“We’ve certainly got a road map for how to do it and how not to do it,” Wirth said, referring to a special session last summer that ended with the Democratic-controlled Legislature adjourning without taking action on the governor’s crime-related agenda.
However, last year’s special session did prompt lawmakers to start work on a bill dealing with mental competency in court cases that was approved during this year’s session and subsequently signed into law in February.
Wirth said the same methodical blueprint could be repeated this year, while acknowledging that legislators have not updated New Mexico’s children’s code for juvenile offenders in years.
“That’s something that does need to be worked through, and I appreciate certainly the governor’s passion and desire to move this forward,” Wirth said.
While New Mexico’s overall violent crime and property crime rates have decreased in recent years, juvenile crime rates have gone up.
There was a 57% increase in cases involving juvenile criminal defendants from 2022 to 2023, according to data from the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office.
Several recent cases have prompted public outrage, including the Las Cruces shooting and the arrest of three juvenile suspects — including an 11-year-old boy — in connection with the May 2024 death of 63-year-old Scott Habermehl in Northeast Albuquerque.
Habermehl was biking to work when he was struck by a stolen vehicle. The three boys arrested in the case allegedly recorded a cellphone video in which they discussed intentionally hitting Habermehl.
During Tuesday’s news conference, Lujan Grisham specifically cited incidents of juvenile offenders who have proceeded to commit other violent crimes after being released.
“I have an obligation to the rest of New Mexico that that cannot knowingly be done,” she said.
The governor, who is barred under the state Constitution from seeking a third consecutive term next year, also said the state’s current juvenile code does not adequately address the recent uptick in gun-related crime among youthful offenders.
“We do not have a body of law that takes these issues into consideration,” Lujan Grisham said.
State commission continues discussions on expanding wastewater reuse - Megan Gleason, Albuquerque Journal
Oil and gas operations in New Mexico produce hundreds of millions of gallons of wastewater per day, but the state isn’t allowed to recycle that water outside the oil fields. The New Mexico Environment Department wants to change that, and conversations around doing so started up again on Tuesday.
Amid a megadrought and worsening climate change, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration has prioritized nontraditional water reuse, including that of produced water.
It’s a naturally occurring byproduct of oil and gas operations, saline water with oil residues and other chemicals that must be treated for safe reuse, according to the state Environment Department. Much more produced water comes out of the ground than oil and gas in drilling operations; NMED estimates that for every oil barrel produced, which is 42 gallons, four to seven times more barrels of produced water come out of the ground, or 168 to 294 gallons.
The Environment Department petitioned the Water Quality Control Commission, which adopts water regulations, for a rulemaking in December 2023, asking for an expansion of what kind of wastewater reuse is allowed in New Mexico, including produced water. That process is ongoing, and the environment agency can’t move forward with its water reuse proposal unless the commission approves it.
The Water Quality Control Commission met multiple times in 2024 to consider the proposal, pausing deliberation for months between roughly weeklong meetings while also going back and forth with environmental and oil and gas groups for input on the rule. The hearing started up again Tuesday and could continue through Thursday in Santa Fe.
Disputes resurfaced on the lengthy first day of this week’s hearing, particularly around the discharge of produced water into surface or ground waters. Environmental advocates in particular have voiced concerns that produced water isn’t safe for reuse, though the Environment Department has repeated that there’s scientific data backing the treated reuse.
The state agency has pointed to projects like hemp farms or green hydrogen production as examples of produced water reuse, specifying it wouldn’t be recycled for drinking water.
A motion to categorically ban the discharge of oil and gas wastewater outside the fossil fuel industry failed in a tie vote Tuesday.
The state needs to develop standards around known toxic substances in produced water and do more research on unknown toxins, said Rachel Conn, deputy director of conservation organization Amigos Bravos, in the online comment section of the live hearing Tuesday.
“So basically a discharge permit could be issued based on a demonstration that the discharge will meet standards … but the discharge could still be toxic and extremely harmful to the environment and public health because we don’t have the appropriate standards in place to evaluate the quality of the discharge,” she said.
The concerns echo those some legislators had during this year’s session, particularly in regard to the Strategic Water Supply Act, which Lujan Grisham signed into law on Tuesday. The bill focused on brackish water reuse. It initially contained provisions incentivizing the treatment and reuse of produced water, but bill sponsors stripped that out during the session.
The water commission was successful in a few other motions Tuesday, including instituting a Dec. 31, 2030, expiration date on the potential rule.
The commission will continue the hearing Wednesday at 9 a.m. Information on attending the meeting in person in Santa Fe or online can be found at www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/.