The New Mexico Child Care Assistance Program’s waiting list, established in January 2010, has swelled to include more than 5,800 low-income families.

State Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) officials will meet with the Legislative Finance Committee in Red River August 17 to explain plans to address the problem.

The New Mexico Court of Appeals reinstated criminal charges Tuesday against Public Regulation Commission (PRC) vice chair Jerome Block Jr. and his father and former PRC commissioner, Jerome Block, Sr.

The pair face charges ranging from embezzlement and election code violations to evidence tampering, stemming from Block Jr.’s misuse of public campaign funds during his 2008 bid for a seat on the powerful commission.

A state-ordered independent audit of the National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC) Foundation’s use of $812,500 of taxpayer money is undergoing ‘internal review’ at the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs — more than two months after it was supposed to be completed and sent to State Auditor Hector Balderas.

Balderas has yet to see the audit report.

The state Public Regulation Commission (PRC) voted 3-2 along party lines Thursday to cut the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM)’s negotiated $85 million electricity rate hike by $13 million. The company, which had originally sought a $165 million rate hike, had ‘inflated’ its costs, two state regulators said.

Republican commissioner Ben Hall said he would not vote for any rate increase because he felt PNM had misled the Commission.

State lawmakers regularly introduce legislation written by the influential but little-known American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a largely industry-funded group with ties to tobacco, health care and oil corporations, legislators acknowledged Tuesday.
New Mexico lawmakers introduced several bills drafted by ALEC during the regular 2011 legislative session, Veritas NM found. The bills included proposed laws to limit lawsuits against hospitals, reduce regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, and increase penalties for shoplifting. (See below.)
Corporations pay ALEC up to $25,000 apiece in annual membership fees and up to another $10,000 for their representatives …