[Editor's Note: I too quickly posted this last night without the photos. Here they are.]

From left are Lt. Gov Howie Morales, District 38 Rep. Rebecca Dow, District 28 Sen. Gabriel Ramos and District 39 Rep. Rodolpho "Rudy" Martinez

A cake courtesy of the caterer for the luncheon meeting, W and N Enterprises

Photos and article by Mary Alice Murphy

The monthly luncheon kicked off with an announcement by Enoch Elwell about an up-coming course by Co.Starters for entrepreneurs with ideas for businesses, which will be rescheduled because of state limits on meetings due to COVID-19.

"A community of support was the missing piece,"Elwell said. "The Co-Starters is fairly simple. It is launching here, thanks to help from the USDA, with help from Priscilla Lucero (Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments executive director). Co.Starters is basically self-organizing of entrepreneurs with business ideas wanting to help one another. We are working with Lee Gruber (Southwest New Mexico ACT executive director) and Bridgette Johns (SWNM ACT program coordinator) and others. Twenty business owners are also supporting it. The have come together with their peers to get it going. If a business is in a stage of success, it can help with the program. I have three connection points for you to consider. If you know of someone who is struggling to make their business work; if you know of someone who has an idea but doesn't know where to start. Think of it as AA for business owners. It's a community that is often missing. The second part is if you know someone who has been successful in business and would like to help with this model as a mentor or guest speaker. The third thing is for you to spread the word. Co.Starters is working regionally. If you could talk it up among yourselves, it would really help get the word out."

Lucero said she couldn't do what she does "without all of you. Along with USDA, Freeport McMoRan is also a major part of this initiative."

Chamber Board President Sabrina Pack introduced the speakers, who would discuss the recent legislative session. They were Lt. Gov. Howie Morales, District 38 Rep. Rebecca Dow, District 28 Sen. Gabriel Ramos and District 39 Rep. Rodolpho "Rudy" Martinez.

Lt. Gov. Howie Morales was the first state official to speak.

"First of all, I want to say how good it is to be home, and to be out of a suit and tie. Thank you for all you do for my home," Morales said. "Even though I work all over the state, this is home. We just came out of a legislative session, a very productive one. We benefitted the local area. I'm so proud of the New Mexico Senate, having served in it. It should be a model for other states and D.C. This session had as its priority the budget. Education is at the center of what I do. We benefitted early childhood education, K-12 and higher ed. We made sure we were taking care of the educators, the teachers, the custodians and staff. We gave a 10 percent raise to address the shortage of teachers. For infrastructure, we allocated money for more rebuilding of bridges, roads and broadband. We had a surplus from the extractive industries. We also want to bring in industries that are not as volatile as extractive industries. Our Grant County Day was successful, as always. The governor had actually planned to be out of town that day, but she chose to change her schedule to be there. I thank the business community for all the input given. We have to work together. Small businesses are the backbone of the state, but they are not always given the support they need. We want to improve that. We are available to listen to you."

He said he keeps hearing about the road between Deming and Hurley. "We got $1.3 million put into the budget to study it. We recognize that the road didn't get in that shape overnight. We have to address community needs. Grant County is here today; Silver City is here; and thanks for Santa Clara, which is also represented today, for getting the Fort Bayard lease. And there's the person I am relying on so much, Priscilla Lucero."

Morales also thanked the community for their caring when his father recently passed away. "Today we have more than 300 kids in the basketball league my father started 30 years ago. They weren't going to continue this year, but with Priscilla's help, they will keep going. These programs address the needs of kids, especially in relation to keeping them off drugs. Thank all of you so much."

Dow said being with these other legislators, "It feels like we're colleagues, not politicians. I would ditto all the people thanked. Priscilla, I want to tell you that I never knew how effective a COG could be until I worked with you. The COG, the chamber of commerce, HMS and Tu Casa, the chamber, the Tour of the Gila, Grant County is a model for everyone. Career Pathways for the students, First Born also started here. Western as a liberal arts college. Others want somebody else to do solve their problems. Grant County just does it. Grant County always comes to Santa Fe with a plan. We know what you need, and the secretaries respond to your needs. They remove barriers."

She said she co-sponsored a bill with Sen. Candelaria on transparency by the Public Education Department. It passed both houses unanimously, but I don't know if it has been signed. "It's about talking about dollars at the local school site. I see it as a way of finding out about per child formulas and if they are working at smaller schools. I think it's really important."

"Are students getting the dollars needed for gaps?" Dow asked. "About 64% to 65% of our state budget is for early, K-12 and higher education. Are we spending our education dollars effectively? Forty-four bills asked for more intervention. Four passed. The state needs more veteran service officers. You have 3,500 veterans in Grant County alone. I asked that the governor put money in for more VSOs, but it didn't pass. I’m thankful for House Appropriations, of which Rep. Martinez is a member, and they decided to fund it anyway. In the House, we rallied around kids and veterans. It was always a yes for veterans. We still have a lot of work to do on building up behavioral health services again. We re-appropriated funds for those that had to close down. It does not take into account the barriers of licensure or the problems with re-opening old buildings. We still have many more barriers, but it was all hands-on-deck. Everyone was willing to address behavioral health issues, as well as substance abuse. I think the Red Flag bill was really bad. They are taking the presumption of innocence and making it a presumption of guilt. It also created a liability for law enforcement and took away their discretion. I think it puts a heavier burden on law enforcement. So, good and bad. I think it's exciting around economic development, with the rural infrastructure bill that was created. I was not in favor of using the surplus of $7.6 billion and sweeping reserves, as well as raising taxes. I didn't think it was prudent, and it was all happening while seeing what was happening with the coronavirus and gas prices going down every day. I don't want to do that with my own money, and I didn't want to do it with your hard-earned dollars, so I didn't support the bill. But we have to figure out what to do. At the end, we passed a bill allowing the state to sweep up to $8 million from reserves, without going back for special session. That to me is extremely concerning. Giving schools more mandates, if we have less money, we will have to take money away from the schools again, but the unfunded mandates will remain. I felt very uncomfortable with the way we overspent. I hope we can find diversified ways to increase revenue. I am thankful that some other bills didn't get hearings. Many bills got tabled without debate, against the rules of the House. I am the person in the minority here, so I paint a different picture. I would like to see a more balanced House, so that debate will take place and amendments can be made. Good news was the bill on mining financial assurances did not get passed. I will continue to vote yes on bills that are constitutionally acceptable, and I will continue to vote no on bills that are not acceptable by law. We did work well together for Grant County, but there are issues on the global and state level that folks should be paying attention to."

Sen. Gabriel Ramos laughed and said he thought he probably had 30 seconds left, but "in all sincerity, I appreciate the group we have here today, because when we are in Santa Fe, we work very well together, especially on capital outlay. As the new kid on the block, I appreciate the guidance. I was very fortunate to become the chairman of Indian and Cultural Affairs, because it's a leadership position and I get to participate at that level, so I can figure out how to move bills and how to move the great state of New Mexico forward. I was excited that my tobacco regulatory bill got passed, and the governor signed it yesterday. One of the biggest things for me is to keep our children safe. This bill prohibits the sale of tobacco or vaping products to anyone under the age of 21 years. I know there is still a black market, but this is a way to start. I, too, want to thank Priscilla and the Prospectors. It is so nice to start with a packet of all the capital outlay requests. And it's great to see all of you there on Grant County Day and spend the time with us. It means a lot to us. I know if we continue to work together, we will make the area better and move New Mexico forward."

Rep. Martinez said he had a slightly different perspective. "As a member of the Appropriations Committee, we get the privilege of going up a week early. Our responsibility is to create the preliminary budget. We were able to work together and come out with a balanced budget. We put in $300 million for early childhood to address the Yazzie v. Martinez lawsuit that alleged children in remote areas were not getting the education they need. We made sure seniors are taken care of. The number of DD waivers was reduced, but there still is a waiting list for up to 10 years. We have to figure out a way to provide services. We all want to make sure educators get their share of the surplus. We're holding school districts accountable. There are steps going forward to provide resources and incentives to attract more teachers. The universities are seeing drops in the number of students wanting to become teachers. We believe our teachers are the best of the best, but special education teachers with 24 students in a small classroom is unfair to the teachers and the students. One of my priorities is veterans. I supported transportation for veterans in rural areas to get to health care. It got stuck in a committee, but I haven't given up. I will work in April to move forward with it. We were able to apply some money toward VSOs. The Secretary hasn't decided where the additional ones will go. Our one VSO comes here one day a month from Las Cruces and also goes to Catron, Hidalgo and Luna counties. We are now seeing veterans deported who came to the U.S. as children and were raised in America. We need to address that. We also need ask Congress to provide health care. We put $2 million for a study on U.S. 180 between Hurley and Deming. It will take nine to 10 months. We hope the outcome will determine if four lanes would be appropriate. There will be public hearings. Those are a few of the things we supported. I did not support the Red Flag bill. I didn't like the language. Many of us in Grant County are hunters and responsible citizens. I had a conversation to take money from the New Mexico Unit Fund for local projects. I'm still working on that to complete the regional water plan from Hurley to Silver City, connecting the communities. At the end of the conversation, we agreed to disagree. We came out with a solution this session that puts New Mexico forward. We have to recognize the extractive industries provide a lot of money to the state. We brought back quite a few dollars to Grant County."

Frances Gonzales thanked Ramos and Martinez for supporting spay and neuter funding. "I agree with you on the Red Flag bill. I have some ideas about it, as a retired law enforcement officer, on how not to violate the Constitution. I'm sorry behavior health funding didn't pass."

Dow said she voted against a new tax for spay and neuter. "We did appropriate a half a million to spay and neuter. I supported funding it in a different way. I'm not going to vote for a tax."

Martinez said the secretaries involved with behavioral health are going to address the needs to increase behavioral health services.

Tom Vaughan said several had referred to the state's precarious budget base. "What did each of you do to broaden the financial base?"

Martinez said that as far as diversifying the tax base, he is supporting small business and huge investments in solar, rather than coal and other extractive fuels. The price of oil is dropping. "We have to provide electricity to the residents."

Ramos said wind and solar are the future. "They use a lot of copper, so it benefits southwest New Mexico."

"I try not to take from Peter to pay Paul," Dow said. "We need comprehensive tax reform. We can attract retirees with that. I say we shouldn't tax social security. By 2030, the state expects senior citizens to be the largest majority."

Kim Clark said with the $8.5 million in capital outlay, "what is the most impactful?"

Morales said the amount exceeded "what we've seen in some prior years. Last year, it was $15 million. Then amounts went down this year. They cooperate to see that appropriations that can come through departments. There is always a need for space in the community to have a true recreation center. The town has $4 million for that and got a match of $4 million."

Dow said traditionally the legislators do not disclose who is giving the capital outlay. "We sit together. I feel like we share. In economic development, I believe taking care of the hospital is critically important to keep health care in the community. Also, an economic opportunity is anything investing in Fort Bayard and Bataan Memorial Park."

Ramos said: "We work very well together. We don't over put into any one fund. We split the request or pay for it ourselves. The emergency communications need in Bayard was really important. Any capital outlay we put into roads is important. Everything we put in is important. I was glad to come into the legislature at a time when we have money."

Martinez concurred that the three of them do get together and share. "I started as a councilman in Bayard and learned about capital outlay on the capital outlay committee, but an individual came onto the committee and did away with it. We need to provide for all the schools. We can all share a bit. Typically, any capital outlay received is good for three years, but needs to be spent in that time frame. The state has close to a billion dollars of project just sitting there. We need to spend it quickly. It creates jobs."

Chamber Director Steve Chavira said it was tough to get all four of "these people together at one meeting."

He talked about the Chamber awards banquet, which was set for March 26, but has been postponed due to the coronavirus and will likely be rescheduled for fall.

Other events talked about have also been cancelled.

"I will be out in the community," Chavira said. "Let's work together to get businesses going and remaining."