Majority of New Mexico’s annual spending passes governor’s veto test — Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
Most of the public spending that New Mexico lawmakers voted to send up to the state’s governor this year managed to avoid the wrath of her veto pen.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday signed three pieces of legislation into law, establishing the state government’s income and spending over the next year, along with authorizing one-time spending on public infrastructure projects.
“These appropriations bills represent significant investments in New Mexico’s future, from education and healthcare to critical infrastructure,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement.
The governor has the authority to sign legislation while rejecting specific parts that propose to spend public funds, called “line-item vetoes.”
In a news release, the governor’s office said her line-item vetoes “reflect her concerns about long-term fiscal sustainability, implementation timelines, or alignment with the administration’s strategic priorities.”
“The targeted line-item vetoes were necessary to maintain fiscal responsibility while ensuring that we fund our highest-priority projects and initiatives,” Lujan Grisham said.
YEARLY STATE BUDGET
Lujan Grisham signed House Bills 2 and 3, which set the $10.8 billion state budget for Fiscal Year 2026, representing a 6% increase from last year.
She made a series of 87 line-item vetoes to the budget that fall into four categories: parts that “impermissibly attempt to create substantive law;” parts that “attempt to enact general policy;” parts that “intrude into the executive managerial function;” and parts that “unduly restrict appropriations to specified types of expenditures.”
Of those, 14 line-item vetoes total approximately $331 million that will not be spent, approximately 3% of the total. They include:
- $80 million for housing programs in Bernalillo County and $10 million for programs in Doña Ana County, leaving intact $110 million for housing projects in general
- $6 million for bioscience development, contingent on a legislative proposal that did not pass
- $5 million to help doctors working in behavioral health settings to repay loans, leaving intact $20 million for all health professionals
- $5 million to help doctors repay loans, contingent on a legislative proposal that did not pass
- $4.6 million that would have gone through the Public Education Department to tribal education departments
- $4 million for a Sundance satellite festival and academy
- $2.7 million that would have paid for student testing
- $2.5 million for flood control improvements near Hatch
- $1 million for a public safety campus in Chaparral and $2 million for public safety infrastructure in Luna, Hidalgo and Doña Ana counties, leaving intact $10 million for public safety infrastructure in general
- $2 million for rural airports
- $1.65 million that would have covered start-up costs for the Department of Justice to establish an Office of the Child Advocate, contingent on a legislative proposal that she signed
- $1 million that would have paid for the Legislative Finance Committee to evaluate the new behavioral health package, and $1 million for LFC to create a children’s future task force, contingent on a legislative proposal that did not pass
- $1 million for career pathways programs at the Higher Education Department
Lujan Grisham also allowed $5 million to go to the Department of Finance and Administration for grants to local governments to close encampments of homeless people, but vetoed language that would have also made the money available to use for streamlined housing placements, campsite services from outreach workers, housing navigators and case managers.
In her message to lawmakers, the governor noted that she also signed other bills that created a behavioral health trust fund, created a Medicaid trust fund, increasing the annual money going to the Early Childhood Education and Care Department to a minimum of $500 million, establishing the Strategic Water Supply, modernizing the Water Quality Act and regulating harmful PFAS chemicals.
NEW INFRASTRUCTURE
Lujan Grisham signed House Bill 450, which authorizes $1.2 billion in new one-time capital outlay project spending on colleges and universities, public schools, health facilities, state parks, a new STEM center, water projects, courts, senior centers, electric vehicle infrastructure, prisons and acequias.
HB450 also sets aside $595 million for local government projects like schools; water and sewer; police; public buildings; health, housing; parks; roads; cultural facilities; transportation; prisons; and military and emergency response projects.
Lujan Grisham wrote that she made a series of line-item vetoes to new capital outlay project money totaling $1.2 million, or approximately 0.10% of the total, that would have gone to projects that “lack proper planning or are not ready to proceed.”
She wrote that she also vetoed all capital outlay appropriations under $10,000, because “state and local governments have other means well within their capacities to fund these smaller projects.”
She also vetoed parts of HB450 that are “unnecessarily restrictive” on decisions made by executive branch state agencies, to ensure money goes to the proper place and to guarantee the amounts are enough to complete the intended projects.
OLD INFRASTRUCTURE
The governor also signed Senate Bill 425, which reauthorizes old capital outlay project spending that the state approved in prior years but has not yet been spent.
“We must deploy these resources to benefit New Mexico’s children, families and communities, and this legislation advances that goal,” she wrote.
The governor made 112 line-item vetoes to old capital outlay money in SB425, representing approximately 26% of the 423 total projects in SB425.
Lujan Grisham wrote that each line-item veto was justified because either the money has not been spent; or is already found in the state budget; the bonds for the projects haven’t been issued; or the language would have created unnecessarily burdens on state agencies.
During the recent legislative session, lawmakers said they want to reform the capital outlay process to prevent wasted money on projects languishing for years without coming to fruition.
New Mexico Gov said measles reporting may look different as cases rise — Danielle Prokop and Julia Goldberg, Source New Mexico
New Mexico measles tracking may be more extensive in coming months as cases continue to rise in the state’s southeast corner.
The New Mexico Department of Health on Friday reported two additional measles cases for children ages 0 to 4-years old in Lea County, as well as two additional hospitalizations there. The two new cases are not related to the hospitalizations, NMDOH Director of Communications Robert Nott told Source NM.
Reported measles infections have so far been limited to three counties in the Southeast corner: Lea, Eddy and Chaves counties. Of the 58 total cases, the infections break down into: 15 cases in very young children; 16 cases in school-aged children ages 7 to 17; and 27 cases in adults.
In response to questions from Source earlier this week, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the state would expand its measles reporting, somewhat in line with what was done with COVID-19, as cases grow.
“We’ll do a rate of infection,” she said, “and start to map that out.”
The governor said the health department also would expand its “whole measles education” outreach “because infants to one-year-olds can’t have the vaccine, which means there’s no protection for them, so we have to really think about exposure where they are.” She said people can expect regular briefings on measles and infectious diseases. “It’s a great place for me to pitch,” she said. “Please get a vaccine. If you haven’t had a measles vaccine, get one. If you think you need a booster, get one. They’re free.”
The governor also noted her concern about the federal government’s recent cancellation of billions of dollars in public health grants alongside massive layoffs. “More than 50% of our budget is based in federal funds,” she said, and “public health is a serious issue.”
Nott previously told Source that the state lost approximately $60 million in federal funds. More recently, he confirmed that the department had canceled some contracts with “community providers that provide outreach to underserved communities relating to vaccination efforts and education.”
The department also lost 37 temporary staff, he said, 20 of whom helped order vaccines and checked vaccination records; four of whom worked in IT; and 13 who were community health workers with the department’s Office of Border Health based in Las Cruces.
Measles cases continue to rise elsewhere in the country, more than double the total cases reported in 2024. Texas health officials reported an additional 36 cases there, bringing the total to 541.
Measles is a highly infectious respiratory disease spread through contact with droplets from infected people’s coughs. These droplets can survive for hours in the air. People can transmit measles days before showing any of the symptoms such as fever, red eyes, cough, headache or the spotty red rash on the face and body.
An estimated one in five cases has serious complications warranting hospitalization, including brain swelling, pneumonia or death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Two doses of a vaccine is the best prevention against measles, according to health officials.
Between Feb. 1 until April 10, more than 17,346 New Mexicans received vaccines, including 9,494 children and 7,852 adults. The latest data from Tuesday, shows that New Mexico’s vaccination rate is more than double the same time frame in 2024.
NMDOH is hosting 10 walk-in clinics for eight Southeastern counties, which you can find on the department’s measles webpage, along with vaccine clinic events across the state.
Tortillas fall flat in New Mexico, but will California add Bigfoot to its list of state symbols? — Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
A proposal to designate the tortilla as New Mexico's official state bread had unanimous support from lawmakers. On Friday, though, it ended up falling flat.
It wasn't because Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham isn't a fan of the round wraps that have long been a staple of Mexican, Central American and Southwestern U.S. cooking. It was because she believes lawmakers missed opportunities to debate bills that deal with weightier matters as the state faces extraordinary challenges.
"Of course, I enjoy celebrating our unique culture," she wrote in her veto message, ticking off numerous official state symbols and songs that New Mexico has adopted over the years.
"The question should not be how many more symbols we can collect — but whether we are meeting the moment with the gravity it demands," she continued. "We are living in perilous and unprecedented times. The stakes for our state have never been higher."
New Mexico's lawmakers were hardly alone in wanting to pad their state's list of symbols this legislative season. Georgia lawmakers recently passed a bill to recognize cornbread as their state's official bread. The Oregon Legislature, meanwhile, is considering adopting the T-bone steak as an official symbol. And there's a proposal in California to name Bigfoot the state's official cryptid — a creature that has never been proven to exist.
Striking a balance?
Legislating isn't always about taxes, tariffs and other serious issues. Lawmakers sometimes yearn for levity and the rare chance to find common ground.
With the push to adopt the tortilla, which was proposed by Las Cruces fourth-grader Adaline McIntosh, lawmakers debated the kinds of flour needed for the perfect specimen. Their conclusion: It depends on the meal. They also got a history lesson from state Sen. Benny Shendo, a member of Jemez Pueblo tribe who explained that the first bread in what is now New Mexico was made by Pueblo people who cooked blue corn paste on a hot stone.
State Sen. Cindy Nava talked about growing up on her mother's homemade tortillas.
"This is much bigger than a simple piece of legislation," Nava told fellow lawmakers. "This is culture and this is cultural awareness that we desperately need."
From cattle to cocktails
Official state symbols date to the late 1800s, as legislatures throughout the U.S. sought to stake cultural claims and foster pride among their residents. First came flowers and flags. Then came fossils and foods, with the practice growing into a clever marketing tool to boost conversation and commerce.
Oregon already has an official state nut, fruit and pie. But adopting the T-bone would recognize the role that cattle has played in the state's development and its contribution to the economy, supporters say.
It's all about Nashville hot chicken in Tennessee, where a proposal calls for making the popular dish an official state food, joining hot slaw and Memphis barbecue.
Whereas some states adopted milk as their official drink, Nevada is considering a less wholesome option, Picon punch. The home of Sin City is weighing legislation that would add the cocktail that traces its roots to Basque immigrants who settled out West to its list of state symbols.
Shooting for the stars
In North Carolina, lawmakers are considering adopting the Moravian star, a multi-pointed decoration that symbolizes the Star of Bethlehem and has become synonymous with Christmas.
Minnesota might adopt a whole constellation, with legislation pending that would add Ursa Minor to that state's list.
Texas, meanwhile, is considering adding the cannon as an official gun. The Lone Star State already has an official handgun — the Colt Walker pistol. But those who introduced this year's resolution say historic weapons such as the cannon are powerful reminders of the state's struggle for freedom. That includes the first battle of the Texas Revolution, when settlers coined the phrase "Come and Take It" during a skirmish with the Mexican military over a bronze cannon.
A nod to nature
Colorado's list of symbols now includes Agaricus julius, a mushroom once mistaken as "The Prince mushroom" that supporters say plays a vital role in high-elevation spruce and fir forests.
Iowa and Michigan are considering adding butterflies to their lists. There are dueling proposals in Michigan, with black swallowtails and monarchs duking it out.
Minnesota lawmakers are mulling adopting an official state fossil — a giant beaver that was about the size of a small bear and roamed the area during the last ice age. It's part of a campaign led by the Science Museum of Minnesota.
California lawmakers are considering adding two things to their state list: solar energy and Bigfoot. California has the country's largest solar market, according to industry groups. As for the legendary creature, Bigfoot's proponents say it's part of popular culture and inspires searches that boost tourism in rural parts of the state
NM governor fires housing policy adviser - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office confirmed on Thursday that Daniel Werwath, her housing policy adviser, left his job last week.
In an interview on Thursday afternoon, Werwath said the governor’s office told him they’re “going in a different direction on housing” and terminated his employment. The governor’s employees work at will, meaning they can be fired for any legal reason.
Werwath’s last day on the job was on April 3, Communications Director Michael Coleman told Source NM in an email on Thursday.
“Gov. Lujan Grisham appreciates Daniel’s contributions in developing housing policy for New Mexico, including crafting financing proposals and working with the legislature,” Coleman said in a statement. “The governor thanks Daniel for his service and wishes him well in his future endeavors.”
During the most recent legislative session and the previous one, Werwath helped spearhead a failed proposal that would have created a new Office of Housing, Planning and Production in the executive branch. He said on Thursday it was the ultimate reason he joined the governor’s office in the first place.
He said he was surprised the proposal didn’t get passed, and that it “basically got killed” this time around because Senate Finance Committee Chair Sen. George Muñoz would not schedule it for a hearing.
“The system we have in New Mexico is, a single person can kill something if they’re a committee chair, and that’s wild, after four committee hearings with bipartisan votes,” Werwath said. “It’s pretty wild that that’s the way we do things.”
Werwath took on his role at the governor’s office in January 2024, following several decades of work in affordable housing, including as executive director of New Mexico Inter-Faith Housing and acting executive director of The Housing Trust and Tierra Contenta Corporation.
He said he is proud of what the Office of Housing in the governor’s office has been able to accomplish since, including record state funding for housing two years in a row, and some unprecedented legislative proposals like land use reform, for example.
He said he has tried to achieve “some systemic change around housing, which apparently there’s less appetite for than I had hoped.”
“That’s my main disappointment from the legislative session — and also sometimes the governor’s perspective on this stuff — it’s like everyone thinks in terms of projects, everyone wants to throw money at problems, but there isn’t as much appetite to try and fix these bigger structural issues that are making our dollars not go as far,” he said.
Considering all of the different changes needed, it will take a decade to reverse New Mexico’s affordable housing situation, Werwath said.
“I shot my shot at trying to get the state to embrace a systems-level approach to housing,” he said. “I felt like we had a lot of really good bipartisan support. I’m disappointed. I don’t think the state is as serious about solving housing as it says it is.”
There are still three people at the governor’s office still working on housing, Werwath said.
He said he will probably return to work as a housing planning consultant, but for now he needs a break to prepare for his child to be born next month.
“I’ve been definitely not giving enough time to my family over the last 14 months, so that’s my top priority right now,” he said.
DA Sam Bregman enters race for governor - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
Albuquerque’s top prosecutor Sam Bregman announced his candidacy for governor early Thursday, but said he will not step down from the Second Judicial District Attorney’s office during the campaign.
Bregman is the second candidate to vie for the Democratic nomination, which will be decided by voters in a June 2026 primary election. He faces Deb Haaland, the former U.S. Secretary of the Interior and New Mexico delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, who announced in February her intention to be the state’s first Indigenous woman governor.
The Haaland campaign declined to say much on Bregman’s entry. A spokesperson noted Haaland has raised $3 million in donations since launching the campaign and said in a written statement: “Deb’s message of strength and leadership to address New Mexico’s challenges head-on is resonating with New Mexicans. We’re truly grateful for the resounding grassroots support she’s received across the state.”
Source NM spoke briefly to Bregman about his bid to be the next governor prior to his formal announcement Thursday in Las Vegas.
Even though primary elections are a little over a year away, Bregman, who, as DA, oversees prosecutions in Bernalillo County, said he could manage his day job while running for office.
“I’m sure of it because of the team I have in place; I’m sure of it because I have a leash on every day called the iPhone, which is a computer itself,” he said. “I’m the district attorney 24-7, 365 and I always will be, as long as I have this job — and I know I can do the job and run for governor.”
Prior to serving as DA, Bregman held a seat on the Albuquerque City Council from one term beginning in 1995. In 2023, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed Bregman to the Second Judicial District District Attorney position. He subsequently ran and won the primary challenge for the seat in 2024, which marked the most expensive race in that election.
Bregman highlighted to Source his accomplishments thus far as DA, such as efficiently managing an office of 330 attorneys and prosecuting more than more than 300 murders, he said.
Bregman said that the state has to do more to recruit police officers in Albuquerque, pointing to the recent request for Lujan Grisham to deploy National Guard in a support role.
“My understanding is that they will not be carrying guns, they will not be armed, they will not be patrolling the streets,” he said of the national guard. “But that goes back to, we have to do a better job in recruiting and retaining police officers.”
Bregman departed significantly from Haaland on this issue of climate change. She told Source NM in a February interview: “We need to do everything we can to have a clean environment for children,” and said that includes addressing emissions. Bregman, in contrast, said he would “not propose any new things on climate change,” saying that the industry provides more than $1 billion in revenue for schools, and generates significant revenue for the state.
“Those people who want to shut down the oil and gas exploration, development, I don’t support that one bit,” Bregman said.
When it comes to immigration, Bregman said he stands by his previous comments criticizing the Trump administration’s proposals for mass removals — which have included sending a Maryland man to an El Salvador prison.
“This policy of scaring the hell out of everybody out there that they’re going to be deported is a chilling effect on crime, for example, I can tell you that firsthand,” he said, saying that undocumented witnesses and victims are unwilling to come forward for fear of deportation.
Bregman said the state’s next leader has to assume an adversarial stance against the federal government. He opened a two-minute long video with his campaign announcement with a voiceover censuring top Republicans, saying: “New Mexico is under attack by Elon Musk, his puppet Donald Trump and Republicans in Washington.”
“You’ve got to stand up and fight back,” he told Source NM, later saying that was not a criticism of Lujan Grisham.
In the ad, Bregman also lobbed criticism against Democrats in Washington D.C., whom he characterizes as “weak, ineffective and complicit,” along with the “radical left.”
In his interview with Source, Bregman said the stakes such as Republican’s proposed cuts to Medicaid — the jointly run state-federal health insurance program for the very poor — which would have disproportionate impacts on New Mexico, requires pushing back against the federal government “at every opportunity.”
“The chaos in Washington right now is all the more reason why we need someone who is not only a fighter, but results-driven and I feel like I am,” Bregman said.
Trump nominee for public lands post withdraws after her criticism of Jan. 6 attack surfaces - By Matthew Brown and Matthew Daly, Associated Press
President Donald Trump's nominee to oversee an agency that manages a quarter-billion acres of public land has withdrawn her nomination following revelations that she criticized the Republican president in 2021 for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The withdrawal of Kathleen Sgamma to lead the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management was announced Thursday morning at the start of her confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
David Bernhardt, who served as interior secretary in Trump's first term, suggested on X that Sgamma's withdrawal was "self-inflicted" and he included a link to a website that posted her 2021 comments. Bernhardt indicated that people whose views don't align with Trump's should not seek political appointments in his administration.
"I am disgusted by the violence witnessed yesterday and President Trump's role in spreading misinformation that incited it," Sgamma said in the comments earlier reported by Documented, which describes itself as a watchdog journalism project.
Sgamma confirmed her withdrawal on LinkedIn and said it was an honor to have been nominated.
"I remain committed to President Trump and his unleashing American energy agenda and ensuring multiple-use access for all," said Sgamma. Since 2006 she's been with the Denver-based Western Energy Alliance, an oil industry trade group, and has been a vocal critic of the energy policies of Democratic administrations.
White House spokesperson Liz Huston said the administration looked forward to naming another nominee but did not offer a timeline.
The longtime oil and gas industry representative appeared well-poised to carry out Trump's plans to roll back restrictions on energy development, including in Western states where the land bureau has vast holdings. The agency also oversees mining, grazing and recreation.
Sgamma's withdrawal underscored the Trump administration's creation of a "loyalty test" to weed out subordinates who are out of step with him, said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the left-leaning Center for Western Priorities.
"That's the world we're in — if that's what happened — where being sane and acknowledging reality with the White House is enough to sink a nomination," he said.
Trump has been testing how far Republicans are willing to go in supporting his supercharged "Make America Great Again" agenda. Few Republicans have criticized Trump after his sweeping pardons of supporters, including violent rioters, charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Most congressional Republicans have played down the potential negative impact of Trump's actions, including widespread tariffs on U.S. allies, and have stressed the importance of uniting behind him.
The Bureau of Land Management plays a central role in a long-running debate over the best use of government-owned lands, and its policies have swung sharply as control of the White House has shifted between Republicans and Democrats. Under President Joe Biden, a Democrat, it curbed oil drilling and coal mining on federal lands while expanding renewable power. The agency under Biden also moved to put conservation on more equal footing with oil drilling and other extractive industries in a bid to address climate change.
Trump is reversing the land bureau's course yet again.
On Thursday, officials announced that they will not comprehensively analyze environmental impacts from oil and gas leases on a combined 5,500 square miles (14,100 square kilometers) of bureau land in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. The leases were sold to companies between 2015 and 2020 but have been tied up by legal challenges.
Also this week, Trump signed an executive order aimed at boosting coal production. That will end the Biden administration's ban on new federal coal sales on bureau lands in Wyoming and Montana, the nation's largest coal fields.
The land bureau had about 10,000 employees at the start of Trump's second term, but at least 800 employees have been laid off or resigned amid efforts by the Trump administration to downsize the federal workforce.
It went four years without a confirmed director during Trump's first term. Trump moved the agency's headquarters to Colorado before it was returned to Washington, D.C., under Biden.
Senate energy committee Chairman Mike Lee said he would work with the administration to find a new nominee for the bureau.
"Its work directly impacts millions of Americans — especially in the West — and its leadership matters," the Utah Republican said.
Utah officials last year launched a legal effort to wrest control of Bureau of Land Management property from the federal government and put it under state control. They were turned down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Daly reported from Washington, D.C.
States sue over Trump administration's sudden halt of pandemic relief aid for schools - By Carolyn Thompson, Associated Press
Public officials in 16 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration Thursday to restore access to pandemic relief aid for schools, saying the Education Department's abrupt halt of hundreds of millions of dollars of promised funding will force cuts to vital services.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan by a coalition of 16 Democratic attorneys general, led by New York's Letitia James, plus Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, also a Democrat. It claims the administration's refusal to release the aid violates federal law because it reversed a prior decision to allow states to access the money through March 2026.
States were notified late last month that the Education Department would not honor deadline extensions granted by the Biden administration to spend the remainder of COVID relief aid approved by Congress to help schools and students recover from the lasting impacts of the pandemic. Schools were supposed to spend the last of the relief by January but many sought, and were granted, more time.
In announcing the reversal, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said schools had "ample time" to spend the money, but the agency would consider requests for extensions for individual projects. The department did not say how much money is left of the total $189 billion approved.
New York state lost access to $134 million, James' office said in a press release. It said the relief funding has supported repairs and improvements to school buildings and the purchase of library books, playground equipment and wheelchair-accessible buses. Districts also relied on the aid for programs and services for homeless students, as well as tutoring for students who fell behind because of missed classroom time.
"The Trump administration's latest attack on our schools will hurt our most vulnerable students and make it harder for them to thrive," James said. "Cutting school systems' access to vital resources that our students and teachers rely on is outrageous and illegal."
Joining the lawsuit were the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, and the District of Columbia.
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This story has been corrected to reflect that plaintiffs include public officials in 16 states and the District of Columbia, not 17 states.
Pueblos, environmentalists herald reintroduction of federal legislation to protect Chaco Canyon — Source New Mexico staff
The reintroduction by New Mexico’s entire federal delegation of the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act sparked widespread praise on Thursday from pueblos, environmentalists and others.
The legislation would create a 10-mile buffer zone around the park — the Chaco Protection Zone —in which future leasing and development of oil, gas and minerals on non-Indian federal lands would be forbidden. The Biden administration began an administrative withdrawal of the area in 2023, which offered temporary protection. “That welcome step has been successful and is still in place but is under threat from the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress,” a news release from the delegation states. The legislation, on the other hand, would provide permanent protection.
“Chaco Culture National Historical Park — and the Greater Chaco Region — is one of the world’s greatest treasures that must be protected for our future generations,” U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) said in a statement. “Chaco holds deep spiritual and cultural significance for Tribes and Pueblos and is one of only a handful of World Heritage Sites in the United States. This legislation is a longstanding priority for Pueblo and Tribal communities, environmental advocates, and the New Mexico Delegation to ensure we protect our sacred sites.” Luján is leading the introduction of the bill in the U.S. Senate; U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández is doing so in the U.S. House.
The All Pueblo Council of Governors, which represents the 20 Pueblos of New Mexico and one in Texas, issued a statement reaffirming its support for the measure, with Pueblo of Acoma Gov.Charles Riley issuing a statement that: ““Chaco Canyon holds the footprints and fingerprints of our ancestors. By reintroducing legislation to permanently protect these federal lands, our congressional partners honor our living heritage, and the centuries of prayers offered to safeguard it. This is not only about preserving an archaeological wonder—it’s about ensuring our ancestral gifts remain intact for future generations.”
The Sierra Club Rio Grande chapter also endorsed the legislation:
“For years, advocates and impacted community members have called on federal agencies to protect the cultural integrity of the Greater Chaco landscape and community well-being from fracking,” Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Program Manager Miya King-Flaherty said in a statement. “Now, under a second Trump administration that is blatantly calling for public lands to be sold off for corporate polluter interests and turn back the clock on climate action, it’s urgent that we permanently protect this sacred landscape from further desecration, as well as the health of communities already overburdened from oil and gas drilling. We’re thankful to Senator Ben Ray Lujan and Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez for continuing to pursue protecting Chaco Culture National Historical Park and hope efforts to protect the broader landscape and public health are not forgotten.”