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Hello fellow political junkies!

The legislative session begins tomorrow at noon.

In the weeks leading up to this year’s legislative session, many entities have n0ted their legislative priorities and many legislators have prefiled legislation they hope will be heard in this 30-day session.

The main issue to be discussed is passing a budget which was covered in a December newsletter which you can find here.

Other issues will be discussed also including public safety, paid family medical leave, environmental issues such as tax credits and modernizing the legislature.

Legislative council and floor meetings are held in the Roundhouse in Santa Fe. These are live streamed and can be accessed through the webcast tab on nmlegis.gov.

Agendas are also posted on the individual committees’ website which can be found on the committees tab on nmlegis.gov.

Election 2024

The Secretary of State’s Office is in the final stages of preparing “to do a statewide advertising campaign to educate the public about the risks associated with artificial intelligence and the potential impact that AI might have on the manipulation of, you know, election information by malicious actors,” Secretary of State’s Office spokesman Alex Curtas told the NM Political Report. 

There will be resources made available to the public through the Secretary of State’s website. 

As to the question about whether former President Donald Trump will be on the ballot, Curtas said that the SOS is waiting on the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on whether Trump can be placed on the primary ballot based on allegations he is disqualified based on the 14th Amendment’s disqualification clase.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case on Feb. 8.

The New Mexico Primary candidate filing day is Feb. 6 and “as long as people meet the requirements, they’re going to be placed on the ballot unless there is some kind of court with jurisdiction over us that rules that (they) can’t be included,” Curtas said.

Information on how to become a candidate can be found here.

The New Mexico Primary is set for June 4. 

The 2024 General Election day is Nov. 5.

For more information about elections contact your local county clerk’s office which can also help you check on or update your voter registration, a process that can also be done online at NMVote.org.

Programming Note

The politics newsletter will be different during the legislative session. It will be sent in smaller doses a few times a week based on what is going on at the Roundhouse.

The newsletter will include content by my editor Matthew Reichbach and colleagues Hannah Grover and Susan Dunlap.

Local and county meeting schedules

• Albuquerque City Council meets at 5 p.m. on the first and third Monday of each month.
• Bernalillo County Commission meets at 5 p.m. on  the second and fourth Tuesday of each month.
• Doña Ana County Commission meets at 9 a.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month.
• Las Cruces City Council meets at 1 p.m. on the first and third Monday of each month.
• Rio Rancho City Council meets at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursday of each month.
• Sandoval County Commission meets at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month.
• Santa Fe City Council meets at 5 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month.
• Santa Fe County Commission meets at 2 p.m. on the second and last Tuesday of each month.

Contact your local county or municipality to make sure the meetings are going ahead as scheduled since meetings are sometimes changed due to the holidays or inclement weather.

Tips, subscriptions and more info

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This is one of several newsletters produced by NM Political Report, check them out here. 

Have a tip? I can be contacted by email at [email protected].