Local Viewpoints

  The Gila National Forest’s new travel-management plan, developed in response to rules limiting off-road vehicles, will continue to allow ORVs on 3,000 miles of roads, including in sensitive riparian areas and critical habitat for endangered fish.

  Yesterday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced it had listed the New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse as an endangered species. FWS included grazing and wildfires as primary reasons for the listing. Congressman Steve Pearce issued the following statement in response.

  The Permian Basin Petroleum Association and four New Mexico counties sued the federal government, alleging the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated federal law in listing the Lesser Prairie Chicken as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

   As part of an agreement with the Center for Biological Diversity and other conservation groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized protection today for the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse. The mouse only lives along streams; it was once found from southern Colorado to central New Mexico and eastern Arizona, but has been lost from the vast majority of its range due to loss and degradation of streamside habitat. 

  Chaves County Commissioners became the latest local leaders to stand up against the federal government in the fight against the Obama administration’s increasing agenda to target New Mexico ranchers, oil and gas producers, industry and jobs.

The county commission has decided to join in an effort by the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, and others, to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of the Interior to overturn the recent disastrous prairie chicken listing as a threatened species.

   Today, we remember and honor the 70th anniversary of D-Day, when more than 160,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower called the crusade one in which, “we will accept nothing less than full victory.”

 Editorial note: The office of Rep. Steve Pearce has been invited to provide a response to the following Local Viewpoints article.

  Over fifty immigrant families, activists, and allies staged a protest today at Congressman Pearce's Roswell office, an action that coincides with a series of protests targeting 27 other House Republicans across the country. Protesters rallied with a unified message: the future of the Republican party hinges on its ability to ignore extremist anti-immigrant views and get a workable immigration reform done this year.

Healthcare advocates lead by the Southwest Women’s Law Center are looking for ways to improve the healthcare enrollment process for the next enrollment period slated to run from November 15, 2014 through  February 15, 2015.

  Today, U.S. Customs and Border Protection released a report on the agency’s use of force policies and practices completed over a year ago by a respected independent think tank, the Police Executive Research Forum, along with a revised Use of Force Policies Handbook that incorporates the report’s recommendations. The release comes after public pressure from border communities and on the heels of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the ACLU.

  Congressman Steve Pearce invites all job seekers to attend a second job fair of the year at Sunland Park Race Track Thursday, May 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.The address is 1200 Futurity Drive in Sunland Park, located off Interstate 10 on Exit 13.

“The participating companies promise to provide excellent job prospects, and I hope that those searching for work will come prepared for the many opportunities available,” said Congressman Steve Pearce. “Jobs remain our primary focus, and we continue to participate in any way we can to help promote these job fairs in communities.”

  Congressional inaction on key clean energy tax policies, coupled with attacks on state renewable energy programs, led to a dramatic decline in clean energy job announcements in the first quarter of this year, according to the latest report from the nonpartisan business group Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2).

About 5,600 clean energy and clean transportation jobs were announced in the first three months of this year, down from 12,000 such jobs reported in the comparable period in 2013.

Funding levels for New Mexico’s K-12 public school system have still not recovered from budget cuts made during the peak of the recession. The education operating budget was 10 percent lower in the 2013-14 school year than it was before the recession, when adjusted for inflation.

The picture is even worse when accounting for growth in student enrollment. The operating budget on a per-pupil, inflation-adjusted rate was 14 percent lower in 2012-13 than it was before the recession. These are among the findings in a new report by New Mexico Voices for Children.

New Mexico's Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Allen Weh issued the following statement on the Organ Mountains Monument:

"New Mexico has some of the most beautiful land in the country. While we absolutely need to preserve and protect this land, we are obligated to find a responsible balance between necessary conservation efforts and the welfare of human beings struggling to make a living in a state that is largely rural. This is especially true in a county where only 15 percent of the land is privately owned.

  Congressman Steve Pearce opposes President Barack Obama’s use of executive powers under the Antiquities Act to designate one-fifth of Doña Ana County to create a new national monument.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Faith-based non-profit New Mexico Communities in Action and Faith (CAFé), released the following statement by Executive Director Sarah Nolan in response to criticism by Representative Steve Pearce (NM-2) of President Obama’s action to designate the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.

  Congressman Steve Pearce released this statement following President Barack Obama’s decision to use the Antiquities Act to designate one-fifth of Doña Ana County to create the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.

   U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources voted to advance S. 2262, the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) to create jobs, reduce pollution, and make our country more energy efficient. The proposal passed a procedural vote today of 79-20. The measure now moves to debate.

  Western Resource Advocates issued the following statement in regards to the release of the Third National Climate Assessment, which describes impacts of climate change to specific sectors across the nation, as well as broad regional impacts. It provides a roadmap for the type of preparation that is likely to be needed to address climate change impacts, and underscores the urgency to mitigate our carbon emissions.

  The NEA-New Mexico Board of Directors has completed our thorough recommendation process for statewide candidates. “We are delighted to recommend each of the five Democratic candidates to the thousands of teachers and other education employee members whom we represent statewide,” says President Betty Patterson.

  SANTA FE – Today, Lieutenant Governor John Sanchez joined nearly forty of his peers from across the nation in a letter to the President, opposing proposed cuts to the National Guard. Tomorrow, General Frank Grass, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, is scheduled to testify before the United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Defense regarding proposed reductions found in various versions of the Defense Department's fiscal 2015 budget.

  WildEarth Guardians filed suit this week challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) refusal to protect the Gunnison’s prairie dog under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Service denied the species protection despite a documented 95 percent decline since the early 1900s and numerous serious ongoing threats.

New Mexicans want a balanced water policy that plans for future shortages, expands water storage and reuse, addresses legal issues, and protects environmental resources. They want to explore the potential of cleaning up brackish water (non-potable, highly salty water) in our aquifers. They also identified potential improvements to the ways the state finances water projects.

  Santa Fe, NM –The conduct of Governor Susana Martinez and her staff revealed in a recent Mother Jones article can only be described as shameful, embarrassing and unprofessional. These are the thoughts of Democratic lawmakers in the New Mexico State Senate as they try to understand how a governor who is charged with taking care of New Mexico can act with such disregard for those who rely on her and her policies.

  One year ago, the Senate introduced comprehensive bipartisan legislation to fix our broken immigration system. Both sides worked together to pass that bill with a strong bipartisan vote.

  Once again the Governor makes a demeaning comment about teachers.   The remarks came to light in a Mother Jones magazine article published today, “Is New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez the Next Sarah Palin?”

  Senator José Rodríguez issued the following statement following testimony at the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs and Military Installations hearing today:

  ALBUQUERQUE—Changes in the state’s corporate income tax (CIT) structure during the 2013 and 2014 legislative sessions are causing New Mexico’s CIT revenue to erode. This important revenue source helps stabilize the state’s general fund, which has had erratic growth in recent years, according to a report released today.

  Three conservation groups today announced a legal challenge to force full protection of the lesser prairie-chicken under the Endangered Species Act. The move comes in response to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision last week to protect the highly imperiled bird only as “threatened” while providing special exemptions that would allow ongoing destruction of the birds and their dwindling grassland habitat.

  U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) released the following statement today after President Obama signed an Executive Order that would promote equal pay for equal work amongst federal contractors.

Senator Heinrich also marked Equal Pay Day by urging Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill aimed at combatting wage discrimination on the basis of gender.

Representatives Jim Trujillo (D-45) and Luciano “Lucky” Varela (D-48) jointly requested an Attorney General’s Opinion today on the constitutionality of the Santa Fe Public Schools (S.F.P.S.) recent decision to privatize its “Engage” school for drop-outs and currently enrolled students deemed by the private contractor to be at risk.  The S.F.P.S.