September 18, 2023

Legislative newsletter: Guv’s gun ban and the U.S. Senate AI forums

Note: This goes out to newsletter subscribers at the start of each week. We will post the first few on the website before it becomes a newsletter exclusive. Sign up here for free! Hello fellow political junkies! The political hurricane that has been New Mexico in the last 10 days seems to be easing up for […]

Nicole Maxwell

Note: This goes out to newsletter subscribers at the start of each week. We will post the first few on the website before it becomes a newsletter exclusive. Sign up here for free!

Hello fellow political junkies!

The political hurricane that has been New Mexico in the last 10 days seems to be easing up for a time.

A short recap: On Sept. 8, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced executive and public health orders that, among other things, temporarily banned firearms in Bernalillo County due to gun violence in Albuquerque. By the next day, groups filed lawsuits in federal court. The Republican Party of New Mexico announced it was going to file a lawsuit in conjunction with both the New Mexico House and New Mexico Senate Republican Parties.

On Sept. 13, Federal District Judge David H. Urias issued a temporary restraining order on a part of the orders that bans firearms in Albuquerque for 30 days.

The TRO lasts 14 days.

State Representatives Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park, and John Block, R-Alamogordo, have begun the process to impeach Lujan Grisham.

Articles of Impeachment can only be filed with the state House of Representatives during a legislative session. The upcoming legislative session begins Jan. 16. Legislators can begin pre-filing legislation on Jan. 2.

That was the big news of the week.

There was also some news from the U.S. Senate about the Artificial Intelligence Insight Forums wherein a bipartisan group of lawmakers and experts met to discuss what future AI legislation would look like.

The forums featured 22 experts involved in the development and deployment of AI, including in sectors spanning business, civil rights, defense, research, labor and the arts and was led by Senator Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and Senators Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, and Todd Young, R-Indiana.

“What I really appreciated about this conversation was just how nuanced it was. These are folks with very different perspectives, but a lot of shared values and shared agreement in terms of what our North Star should be. It was not a conversation that fell into dogmatic or partisan lines in any way,” Heinrich said in a recap of the first AI Insight Forum Wednesday. “If we continue that, as this group has really strived for some time now, then I think we’re going to be able to do some exciting things around AI.

Heinrich serves as founder and co-chairman of the Senate AI Caucus.

This week only the Legislative Council met on Monday. The other planned meetings were moved due to the late former Gov. Bill Richardson’s funeral. Richardson laid in state in the State Capitol on Wednesday.

This week’s Interim Legislative meetings

Interim Legislative Health and Human Services Committee will meet Sept. 18-20 at Ruidoso Convention Center.
Interim Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy Committee will meet Sept. 18-19 at Villanueva Victory Club at the Stan Fulton Athletics Center in Las Cruces.
Interim Legislative Education Study Committee will meet Sept. 20-22 at Clovis Municipal Schools Central Office G.C. Ross Administration Building.
Interim Legislative Science, Technology And Telecommunications Committee will meet Sept. 21 at Western New Mexico University in Silver City and Sept. 22 the committee will tour Lightning Dock Geothermal Plant in Animas and Playas Training Center in Playas.

Upcoming interim legislative meetings

Interim Legislative Indian Affairs Committee will meet Sept. 25-26 at the State Capitol in Room 309.
Interim Legislative Finance Committee will meet Sept. 27-29 at CNM Workforce Training Center in Rooms 101-103.
Interim Legislative Transportation Infrastructure Revenue Subcommittee will meet Sept. 29 at CNM Workforce Training Center Room 207

For more information about these or other legislative committees visit nmlegis.gov.

Other 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 Thursdays 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.

2023 New Mexico Local Elections

The Nov. 7 local elections are for your village/town/city mayors and councils/boards of trustees, school boards, municipal judges and other local boards.

A complete list of local election candidates can be found here.

Early/absentee voting begins Oct. 10 and ends Nov. 4.

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

Note: This section has been updated to remove the paragraph about election challengers since there are no challengers in local elections

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