This week on New Mexico in Focus, it’s a preview of the upcoming legislative session. Lawmakers are already at work in the Roundhouse, and the full Legislature returns Tuesday, Jan. 21, to begin the 30-day session.

Ahead of the State of the State address, NMiF Senior Producer Matt Grubs sits down with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for a preview of what to expect when the governor delivers her official call to legislators for her second session as chief executive. The governor has already introduced a budget that will create a trust fund for early childhood development, and create a state department for the same purpose. But Lujan Grisham has different ideas than lawmakers about how much money the early childhood effort will take.

Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel delve into the governor’s plans to add their insights and informed opinions to the conversation. The group also gauges the mood at the Capitol as the Legislature arrives to another year with hundreds of millions of dollars in extra revenue, thanks to the oil boom in southeast New Mexico.

Correspondent Gwyneth Doland talks to members of the Capitol press corps for their views on what to watch for as the session begins. While the budget is the first priority in the “short” sessions for New Mexico, lawmakers will introduce hundreds of bills in the hope of getting approval from the governor to add their issue to the agenda. Among the controversial bills expected are a “red flag” law that would temporarily seize guns from suspected domestic abusers after a court hearing, and a measure to legalize recreational cannabis.

Host: Gene Grant  

Correspondents:
Gwyneth Doland
Matt Grubs

Studio Guests:
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, (D) New Mexico
Dan Boyd, capitol bureau chief, Albuquerque Journal
Trip Jennings, executive director, New Mexico in Depth
Christian Marquez, digital editor, Searchlight New Mexico

Line Panelists:
Martha Burk, political psychologist and women’s issues expert
Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group PR
Serge Martinez, professor, UNM School of Law
Kristelle Siarza, Siarza Social Digital

This week on New Mexico in Focus, it’s a look at how New Mexico’s oil boom in the Permian Basin is altering life for many in the southeast corner of the state. With people flocking to the area for jobs, community needs like roads, schools and housing are struggling to keep pace. The boom is also filling state government coffers as we head into the legislative session later this month. NMIF correspondent Megan Kamerick talks with journalists Jens Gould of the Santa Fe New Mexican and Dan McKay of the Albuquerque Journal about what this means for the state’s future.

In this month’s installment of Our Land, correspondent Laura Paskus sits down with John Fleck, co-author of the new book “Science Be Dammed: How Ignoring Inconvenient Science Drained the Colorado River.”

Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel examine Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s budget plan for 2021 that she will present to the legislature when it convenes Jan. 21, as well as the smaller budget proposed by lawmakers. The Line also debates the shape of the U.S. Senate race in New Mexico, now that former meteorologist Mark Ronchetti has joined other GOP candidates seeking to fill outgoing Democratic Sen. Tom Udall’s seat. The Line also looks at crime in Albuquerque and the rest of our state.

Host:
Gene Grant

Correspondents:
Megan Kamerick
Laura Paskus

Studio Guests:
John Fleck, co-author, “Science Be Dammed: How Ignoring Inconvenient Science Drained the Colorado River”
Jens Gould, Santa Fe New Mexican
Dan McKay, Albuquerque Journal

Line Panelists:
Eric Griego, former NM state senator
Edmund E. Perea, attorney
Laura Sanchez-Rivét, attorney
H. Diane Snyder, former NM state senator