The Governor is defending her appointment of Darren White to the Judicial Standards Commission. Sad. Now, where does this leave Mayor Berry? White has brought ridicule to Berry by trying to ride out the controversial appointment. Berry needs to show some courage and tell White that the Commission seat will interfere with his duties as City Public Safety Officer. He will certainly regret it if he doesn't. Berry must have an inkling of that since I didn't see any quotes from White on recent positive crime statistics.
As Mayor, when I announced falling crime stats the Albuquerque Journal would always find fault with them. But then I was a democrat.
With a tremendous turn out of 6%, the voters of Rio Rancho have turned down $22 million in Road Bonds. No more complaining about traffic allowed. I have a feeling a lot of those voters were tea party types who think public services are provided by the tooth fairy for free.....just kidding. It is a difficult time to get voters on board for anything.
Senator Bingaman has reintroduced the Rio Grande del Norte Wilderness and Conservation bill in Congress. The bill would protect 216,000 acres in Taos and Rio Arriba Counties. It would be a great departing gift from Jeff if he can get it passed.
2 comments:
Mr Mayor: Nothing political here. I just want your advice on where/when to take a Wild Flower day (or maybe an overnight) drive from ABQ? I'm a Senior Woman w/a Corgi 'riding shotgun' w/me.
I love your photos in your blog.
Thanks!
(ziawoman@msn.com)
Talk about the partisanship of Governor Martinez, I see her Lt. Governor Sanchez was stumping at the East Mountain Tea Party Meeting last weekend, hoping to get the Tea Party behind him for Senator. To please these Tea Party type who have made the repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 their #1 priority, I fear Governor Martinez will veto or not sign SB 38 (The Health Insurance Exchange Initiative) by the April 8th deadline. Don Chalmers and Terri Cole of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce wrote in a letter in the 3/30 Albuquerque Journal urging Gov. Martinez to sign the Health Insurance Exchange Bill. Business people know that it takes both adequate lead time and adequate resources to do strategic planning. When operational planning is done last minute and without proper resources, business is disrupted and significant resources must be expended for work-around plans. In March, the New Mexican legislature did the right thing by passing SB 38, the Health Insurance Exchange Bill. This Bill provides New Mexico with the platform to insure that small businesses and individuals without employer-provided health care will be able to get affordable health insurance that fits their needs when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 is fully implemented in 2014. But the Bill still awaits the Governor’s signature to make it law. Will Governor Martinez bend to narrow partisan interests and veto the bill? That would be a huge mistake and a disservice to the people of New Mexico. The federal government will provide a $1 million dollar grant to New Mexico for the start up costs to implement the Insurance Exchange in the way we think is best. SB 38 will use the current resources and staff of the NM Medical Insurance Plan and NM Health Insurance Alliance that currently help 11,000people select private insurance for individuals with pre-existing conditions and small businesses. I get my insurance through NMHIA but with only 3,000 insured in the various heath plans offered by Lovelace, United Healthcare, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Principle Life, and Presbyterian Health, my premiums are sky high because of the small pool of participants. In 2014, using the Health Insurance Exchange, it is projected that we will have a pool of 250,000 insured lives to spread out costs among the healthy and those with pre-existing conditions. The Health Insurance Exchange Bill will insure transparency for consumers, greater competition between carriers, and a consumer-friendly method to compare and select health care for small business and individuals not covered by employer plans. Our premium rates will go down and everyone in New Mexico without medical insurance will be eligible for a health care plan so we no longer have people getting sicker and clogging emergency rooms. If Governor Martinez doesn’t sign SB 38, we will lose the federal grant money, the federal government will implement a Health Insurance Exchange in New Mexico as they see fit, and New Mexicans will end up paying for all the set-up costs. I hope your readers will call the Governor at 505-476-2200 to tell her to sign SB 38.
Post a Comment