Public Lands

Leger Fernandez visits Cerro de la Olla amid push to designate it as a wilderness area

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Some places are so special that they deserve the highest level of protection, said U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, a Democrat who represents northern New Mexico. Cerro de la Olla is one of those places, she said. The dome-shaped caldera already has some protections as part of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, however Leger Fernandez is hoping to get it classified as a wilderness area to provide that additional level of protection. She visited Cerro de la Olla for the first time as a congresswoman this week, where she met with stakeholders including members of Taos Pueblo, county leaders and ranchers. After hearing from them, she climbed up the volcano.

US Congress

Lujan Grisham bill would allow benefits for same sex couples who could not legally wed

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U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham introduced a bill Friday that would amend the Social Security Act  to include some married, same sex couples that currently do not qualify for survivor’s benefits. Named for an Albuquerque resident, the Anthony Gonzales Equality for Survivors (AGES) Act, the bill would add alternatives for those who were not married for the minimum nine months in order to receive their deceased partner’s benefits. Related story: ABQ widower from same-sex marriage denied social security benefits

While keeping the nine-month requirement, the bill would allow applicants to provide “a sworn affidavit that the widow or widower was in a domestic partnership with such individual throughout the 9-month period ending on the date of the individual’s death.”

The bill’s namesake said Lujan Grisham’s office called and told him the congresswoman introduced the bill. He didn’t, however, know his name was included. “I’m shocked,” Gonzales said when NM Political Report called for comment.

ALEC

Land Commissioner to pitch expanding drilling to fund early childhood education to ALEC

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New Mexico’s Commissioner of Public Lands is slated to speak Friday with a group of conservative-minded state lawmakers in Washington D.C. about his proposal to transfer federal mineral rights on private lands to the state. Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn is also planning to meet with members of Congress in order to urge them to approve the transfer, according to spokeswoman Emily Strickler. In an email to NM Political Report, Strickler said Dunn is promoting his Early Childhood Education Land Grant Act to state lawmakers at an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) policy summit. Related: BLM finalizes rule to limit methane emissions

“The group Commissioner is presenting to at ALEC would not be voting on this legislation, but may be interested in using the legislation as a model for legislation in their states,” Strickler wrote. “Also, Commissioner will be meeting with New Mexico’s congressional delegation while in D.C. to discuss this legislation because it needs congressional approval.”

ALEC members use model legislation to spread laws throughout states, with the most high-profile example perhaps the so-called “Stand Your Ground” laws that are in place in several states.

Abortion

Congressional panel threatens to subpoena ABQ abortion providers

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A U.S. congressional panel is planning on subpoenaing two Albuquerque health clinics that practice abortions as part of an investigation into allegations of selling fetal tissue for money. Thursday night, U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, accused the University of New Mexico and Albuquerque-based Southwest Women’s Options of not cooperating with her Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives panel’s investigation into those allegations. In a press release, Blackburn said “these organizations have compelled our panel to subpoena these documents in order to acquire information that is vital to the completion of our work.”

“Without these subpoenas, the American people and the House itself would be left to speculate about what is going on in the fetal tissue industry,” Blackburn said. Southwest Women’s Options, which is one of just a few clinics in the nation that practices abortions into the third trimester of pregnancy, contends it’s been fully cooperative with the congressional panel. “We have formally responded this afternoon to its information request, as we previously arranged,” Jessica R. Hertz, an attorney for Southwest Women’s Options, said in a statement to NM Political Report.

Elections

Ex-NM statewide candidate might run for Congress in Texas

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A political consultant who previously ran for statewide office in New Mexico is now mulling a run for Congress in Texas. Bob Cornelius, CEO of 90 Degrees Agency, said he’s seriously considering a run against Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, in next year’s Republican Party primary. In an interview, Cornelius said Carter’s voting record isn’t conservative enough, citing votes to fund the health care overhaul, which he calls Obamacare, and military cuts in continuing budget resolutions. “I’ve traveled the district and spoken to leaders in the party,” he said. “I’ll make a final decision in the next couple of weeks.”

Cornelius describes himself as a “constitutionalist” who’s both socially and fiscally conservative.