Pajarito Environmental Education Center Director of Programs Kristen O’Hara tabled at the New Mexico Legislature for Los Alamos County Day at the Legislature on March 12, 2025. On the table is a game where the player tries to match replica paw prints and scat to animals found in the Los Alamos area. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM)
In the final weeks of the session, the stir craze begins to set in, and the world outside beckons. So it was refreshing to be sidetracked by the Pajarito Environmental Education Center’s pawprint and scat-matching game.
“People of all ages really love it,” Director of Programs Kristen O’Hara told Source NM about the game, in which players match casts of animal tracks to a picture of local wildlife. “The adults need a little more coaxing, but even then they end up knowing more than they expect.”
The game also brought a sense of outside inside the Roundhouse during Los Alamos County Day.
PEEC, the Los Alamos-based nature center, has been in operation for the past 25 years and recently expanded to include supplementary school programs in Sandoval, Los Alamos, Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Taos counties, serving more than 175 classes.
“Teachers may not have the tools needed to show hands-on experiences like hydrology in the classroom,” O’Hara said. “So we have taken sixth-grade students out to Valles Caldera to teach them about hydrology and learn about water quality and learn about our aquifers in a very real way.”
Engaging in these programs not only fosters the connection between people and the world around them, but also offers the chance to get curious about little things, like the habits of gopher snakes to the bigger patterns of bird migration.
“Outdoor education really is like creating a bridge between lived experience and grounding in scientific knowledge,” she said.
Cleared the floors
Speaking of the outdoors, after running out the three-hour debate clock, the House passed Senate Bill 5, which would reform the Department of Game and Fish and Game Commission.
The bill comes many years in the making. Among its other provisions, SB5 would rename the department and the commission as the Department of Wildlife and the State Wildlife Commission, respectively, to highlight a greater focus on conservation.
Advocates point out that New Mexico ranks in the top five states nationally for bird, mammal, reptile and plant diversity, but that many species fall through the cracks of protection provided by state and federal law. The updates to the law, they say, would help recover native species and improve habits, among other outcomes. SB5 would also create a new nominating commission for the Commission, along with a vetting process. The bill also increases license fees for hunting and fishing, but additional funding for conservation work also is part of the House’s proposed budget: $10.5 million over three years for the species of greatest need (that’s the beaver money you may have heard about).
In a nutshell, lead sponsor state Rep. Matthew McQueen (D-Galisteo) told Source last year, “It’s time for our department and our commission to expand their role and their mindset, to be a fully-fledged wildlife agency.”
Lawmakers again aim to reform New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Rep. Harlan Vincent (R-Ruidoso Downs) introduced two floor amendment:s one which increased hunting and licensing fees and another which would not allow for the removal or displacement of cattle from a species habitat.
“This is just giving them an assurance, mainly the ranchers, that we’re gonna protect them,” Vincent said on the floor.
McQueen pushed back, stating that the state department doesn’t have that authority.
The House rejected both amendments.
In closing arguments, McQueen said improving the state agency will prevent stronger enforcement from the federal Endangered Species Act.
“There’s been a lot of concern about ‘dire consequences’” McQueen said. “All the dire consequences come from the feds. If you want to avoid those consequences, you want a strong [Game and Fish Department], because that’s the agency that keeps our populations healthy and avoids federal listing.”
After the vote, both New Mexico Wildlife Federation Executive Director Jesse Deubel and Judy Calman, the New Mexico director of policy for Audubon Southwest, released statements lauding the passage and urging the governor to sign the bill, signaling the diverse coalition that backed the reforms.
“We ask the governor to honor the spirit of our collaboration and sign SB5 into law so we can support our outdoor recreation economy and ensure wildlife will be healthy for future generations,” Calman said.
The Senate passed Senate Bill 267, which would require landlords to disclose all lease terms, monthly rent and any fees on their rental listings, and cap screening fees at $50; and Senate Bill 219, which would establish a program for medicinal use of psilocybin mushrooms.
The Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 52, which would align mileage reimbursements for lawmakers and their staff with the U.S. General Service Administration rate; Senate Bill 302, which would strengthen background checks for Gaming Control Board contractors; Senate Bill 303, which would remove the need for gaming machines to meet standards set by Nevada and New Jersey and instead require them to meet standards set by the state; Senate Bill 166, which would redefine “harm to self” and “harm to others” in state law to allow for more people to be civilly committed into a locked facility; and House Bill 47, which would create property tax exemptions for veterans approved by voters in November.
Bill watch
The Senate Education Committee passed Senate Memorial 22, which would create a wildfire study group aimed at developing a plan to address and mitigate wildfires in the state, including identifying the areas most at risk for catastrophic wildfires; Senate Joint Memorial 3, which aims to expand bilingual education on several fronts, such as requesting the Higher Education Department work with several universities to create a joint bachelor’s degree in elementary bilingual multicultural; a substitute version of Senate Bill 552, the Protection of School Library Materials Act, which, like House Bill 27, creates processes to limit removing library books in response to rising book-banning efforts; House Bill 54, which would require all NM high schools to have plans for dealing with cardiac events, an external heart defibrillator available and staff trained to use it by the 2026-2027 school year; and House Bill 64, which would prescribe that no state post-secondary education institution can deny admission to a student based on immigration status, and must provide in-state tuition and access to financial aid regardless of immigration status if the student attended a New Mexico high school for one year and either graduated or received a high school equivalency certificate. The bill also would expand in-state tuition and financial aid to other prospective students as well.
The Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee passed Senate Bill 80, which would require health insurance companies to offer an annual open enrollment period for Medicare Supplement Insurance; Senate Bill 122, which would expand donation and redistribution of unused prescription drugs; Senate Bill 138, which would eliminate $2.4 million going each year from oil and gas severance taxes to the retirement funds for judges; House Bill 198, which would increase the fines and criminal penalties for failing to file taxes, tax fraud and revealing taxpayer information; Senate Bill 277, which would require the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance to adopt two tools to assess insurance companies’ financial health required by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners; Senate Bill 320, which would set aside $2 million to replace mobile homes for seniors served by the Non-Metro Area Agency on Aging; Senate Bill 401, which would create a new fund and allow the government to sell bonds to pay for broadband infrastructure; a substitute version of Senate Bill 481, which would create a new State Fairgrounds District, which could issue up to $1 billion in bonds to redevelop or relocate the State Fair; House Bill 36, which would expand optometrists’ scope of practice to include laser eye surgery; and House Bill 218, which would make 23 different changes to the state tax code to make it more clear, accurate and concise.
The Senate Rules Committee passed House Bill 15, which would create a strategic recruitment program to address health care shortages.
The Senate Indian, Rural and Cultural Affairs Committee passed House Bill 172, which would proclaim August “Red and Green Chile Month” annually; House Bill 249, which would waive the one-week waiting period for unemployment insurance benefits during disasters; and House Bill 405, which would protect volunteer firefighters from being punished for taking a leave of absence for training.
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed a substitute version of Senate Bill 42, which would move authority for caring for substance-exposed newborns from the Children, Youth and Families Department to the Department of Health.
The Senate Finance Committee passed Senate Bill 411, which would create a loan repayment program for licensed physicians in underserved areas; and Senate Bill 456, which would create a permanent Joint Interim Courts and Justice Committee.
The House Taxation and Revenue Committee passed Senate Bill 249, which would require that managed care organizations reimburse health care providers for gross receipts taxes paid on Medicaid services.
The House Education Committee passed Senate Bill 201, which would require the Public Education Department to work with the Legislative Finance and Legislative Education Study committees to create plans evaluating programs that received funding from the public education reform fund; Senate Bill 280, which would amend the Public School Capital Outlay Act to make the New Mexico Military Institute eligible for public school capital outlay funding; and Senate Bill 345, which would amend the School Personnel Act and create additional ways teachers can earn licensure levels.
The House Health and Human Services Committee passed Senate Bill 88, which would create a Medicaid trust fund; Senate Bill 398, which would create a Citizen Income Tax Rebate of $500 for eligible residents; Senate Bill 20, which would increase the tax on tobacco products and direct revenue generated by the taxes to the Nicotine Use Prevention and Control Fund; Senate Bill 39, which would amend the Prior Authorization Act prohibiting prior authorization and step therapy; House Bill 562, which would appropriate $3 million to the Health Care Authority to cover increased Medicaid reimbursements for independent rural healthcare providers; Senate Bill 252, which would amend the New Mexico Telehealth Act to adjust the list of providers the act covers; and House Bill 579, which would require the University of New Mexico to create a Resident Physician Recruitment Program.
The House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee passed Senate Bill 70, which would add dog fighting, human trafficking and several other offenses to the Racketeering Act; House Bill 312, which would establish the Litigation Financing Transparency Act addressing third-party litigation financing in civil cases; Senate Bill 7, which would amend the Municipal Code and allow municipalities to operate storm water systems; and Senate Bill 113, which would extend five state boards by six years, including the Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists and the Board of Nursing Home Administrators.
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