NEW MEXICO

Legislators address safety-net

SANTA FE – New Mexico legislators pushed to shore up safety-net spending on Oct. 1 in response to president Donald Trump’s spending and tax cuts, in a state with one of the highest enrollment rates for Medicaid and federal food assistance.

State legislators in the Democratic majority said they weren’t waiting for resolution of the federal budget standoff and government shutdown, as they advanced a bill to expand New Mexico’s own insurance subsidies on the Affordable Care Act exchange. Exchange subsidies are a sticking point of the standoff in Washington.

Lawmakers were also seeking new state spending of food assistance, while Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham calls for grants to stabilize health care services in rural areas where clinics and hospitals often rely heavily on Medicaid.

“We’re not going to sit back and watch our health care system,our food support system,be devastated,” said Democratic state Senate Majority Peter Wirth of Santa fe,at the start of a special legislative session.

Leading Democratic legislators also wanted to backfill federal spending cuts to public broadcasting. New Mexico could also become the latest state to break with the federal government on vaccine policy and recommendations.

Democrats including House Speaker Javier Martínez of Albuquerque have acknowledged that manny federal health care changes don’t kick in until 2027 or later. But Martínez said that there is an urgent need to fund rural health care and offset other cuts.

New Mexico expects to lose about $200 million annually because of new federal tax cuts. But this fiscal year, it still has a large surplus thanks to booming oil production.

Republican legislators said big changes to Medicaid are still far away and that New Mexico shoudl focus on reducing errors in benefit distributions.

Centuries-old map returned to Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE – A map drafted centuries ago as spanish settlers solidified their presence in what is now Mexico and the southwestern United States has been returned to the Mexican government, marking the end of a yearslong effort to bring the historic document home.

FBI agents and Mexican officials were joined by historians and archivists on Sept. 23 at the consulate in Albuquerque for a celebratory handoff of the map. FBI Special Agent in Charge justin Garris said it was more than simply ink on paper and Mexican officials described it as a important part of their history and cultural heritage.

Patricia Pinzón, Consul of Mexico in Albuquerque, said the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro is a link between the cultures. The 1,600-mile route once served as a lifeline between Mexico City and Santa Fe and is depicted as a central feature that snakes through the map. The names of communities are artfully scripted along the route as other lines radiating from the route mark rivers.

The names of Native American communities are tucked