New Mexico's campaign finance reporting system would get an overhaul under legislation being proposed by a House Republican. Representative Jim Smith of Sandia Park pre-filed the measure last week. He says the current system is outdated and that makes it difficult to track information. Smith’s bill would require the Secretary of State's Office to develop new hardware and software that would make the system easier to use and would provide more transparency. The changes would require public input. Calls for reform were reignited last year in the wake of former Secretary of State Dianna Duran being prosecuted for using campaign donations to fuel a gambling addiction. The 30-day legislative session begins next Tuesday. It's unclear whether Gov. Susana Martinez will include any campaign finance or ethics reforms on the agenda.
The FBI and Taos
Police Department are looking for a man who they say robbed a bank Sunday. Taos Police says Joaquin Santiago Romero of Taos, is wanted for the armed robbery of the Peoples Bank inside an Albertson's Supermarket. Police say the robbery occurred at approximately 2:02 p.m. They say Romero, who’s 27, may have his six-and-seven-year old sons with him, and may be driving a charcoal gray 2007 Ford Mustang. Anyone with information on Romero’s whereabouts is asked to contact the FBI.
Albuquerque's mayor has signed a formal letter in support of a burial with full military honors for Officer Daniel Webster at Arlington National Cemetery. Webster was shot and killed in October during a traffic stop. He was 47 years old and an eight-year veteran with the Albuquerque Police Department. Before becoming a police officer, he was an Army Ranger, with deployments to Bosnia, South Africa and Iraq. Hundreds of police officers attended a funeral for him in early November in Albuquerque. Mayor Richard Berry on Friday signed the letter in support of having him laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, with his office saying it's the wish of his family for him to be buried there.
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission has a new Chairwoman. The state’s regulatory panel appointing District Three Commissioner Valerie Espinoza during its first meeting of 2016 last week. Espinoza succeeds District One Commissioner Karen Montoya of Albuquerque in the post. Espinoza’s tenure with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission began in 2013. She says there’s a lot of work to being a PRC Commissioner, adding that as Chair, she plans to approach the job as always, she says, with old-fashioned hard work.
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New Mexico Public Regulation Commission Chairwoman, Valerie Espinoza.
Republicans are widely condemning an attempt by armed ranchers in Oregon to force the federal government to return western lands to local communities. But the GOP has grown more supportive of the ranchers' goal, if not their tactics. Republican presidential candidates are increasingly arguing that the federal government owns too much of the West's land. The Republican National Committee passed a resolution calling for the return of federal western land to states. And some states are studying whether they want to try to take back the real estate. Even some western critics of the federal government say that a massive federal land take-back will never happen. It's too controversial politically given many westerners' love of public lands. But all sides agree the issue will keep getting more attention.