NEW MEXICO

Voters to decide on paying legislators

SANTA FE — Members of the nation’s only unsalaried legislature are asking voters to reconsider their volunteer status that has endured for 114 years since statehood in New Mexico.

The state Senate on Feb. 17 narrowly endorsed a constitutional amendment that would do away with the state’s prohibition on legislative direct compensation. That allows voters to decide in November whether to tie legislative salaries to the median income level in New Mexico — about $67,000 currently.

After stalling for years, the initiative was promoted successfully this time by a group of young female legislators who have talked about the challenges of balancing work, family and legislative duties.

New Mexico taxpayers already foot the bill for travel expenses, and an allowance for meals and lodging, when the Legislature is in session. Many lawmakers also have access to public pension benefits.

New Mexico’s “citizen legislature” of volunteer politicians has long been a source of civic pride in the state. But advocates for professionalizing the New Mexico Legislature say the current system discourages young, working class candidates from serving and can inhibit progress on complex policy issues as legislators juggle separate paid and political careers.

In New York and California, legislative salaries exceed $100,000, while New Hampshire opts for a nominal $100 annually per lawmaker. Colorado legislators are paid about $44,000.

UTAH

Court rejects request to block House map 

New Utah voting districts that give Democrats an improved shot at winning a U.S. House seat can be used in this year’s election, a federal court ruled on Feb. 23 while turning aside a Republican request to block the new map.

The ruling marked the second setback in recent days for Republicans, who also lost an appeal at Utah’s state Supreme Court.

A Utah judge imposed the new districts last November after striking down the congressional districts that the Republican-led legislature had adopted after the 2020 census. The judge ruled that the legislature had circumvented standards against partisan gerrymandering that were approved by voters in 2018.

The judge’s ruling thrust Utah into a national redistricting battle being waged among states ahead of the midterm elections. President Donald Trump has pressed Republican-led states such as Texas, Missouri and North Carolina to redraw their districts to give the GOP an advantage in the November elections, prompting Democratic-led states such as California and Virginia to respond with their own redistricting plans.

Republicans currently hold all four of Utah’s U.S. House seats.

The new map imposed last fall by Judge Dianna Gibson improves Democrats’ chances of winning a seat by keeping Salt Lake County almost entirely within one district, instead of dividing the heavily Democratic population center among all four districts, as was previously the case. 

Republican U.S. Reps. Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens joined with nearly a dozen local officials to file a federal lawsuit arguing that the state judge did not have legal authority to enact a map that wasn’t approved by the legislature.

But a panel of three district court judges denied their request for a preliminary injunction against using the new map in this year’s election. The federal court said they weren’t likely to prevail in their argument, and said it was too late for judges to intervene in the election.

MONTANA

Court tosses asbestos judgment

BILLINGS — A federal appeals court has overturned a judge’s finding that BNSF Railway contributed to the deaths of two people in a Montana mining town where thousands have been sickened by asbestos exposure.

Following a civil trial, a jury in 2024 awarded $4 million each to the estates of the two people who died in 2020. Their families blamed the railroad for allowing asbestos-contaminated mining material to accumulate in a rail yard in downtown Libby, Montana.

But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an opinion issued on Feb. 24 sided with BNSF, which argued it was required under law to accept the vermiculite material for shipment and had been told it was safe. BNSF is considered a “common carrier” under federal law because its services are offered to the general public, a status that shields it from some legal liabilities.

“The dangerous condition here — accumulated asbestos dust — arose solely from BNSF’s operation as a common carrier executing its federally mandated duty to transport vermiculite,” Judge Morgan Christen wrote in the opinion.

Attorneys for the estates of the two people who died, Joyce Walder and Thomas Wells, said they disagreed with the decision and that it misapplied the law and were considering an appeal. They had sought to have the case decided by the Montana Supreme Court, but were denied.

A BNSF spokesperson declined to comment on the ruling.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris had instructed the Helena jury that it could find the railroad negligent based on its actions in the Libby Railyard. The jury did not find that BNSF acted intentionally or with indifference, so no punitive damages were awarded.

After being extracted from a mountaintop outside town, vermiculite containing high concentrations of asbestosl was loaded onto rail cars that sometimes spilled the contents in the Libby rail yard. Residents have described piles of vermiculite being stored in the yard and dust from the facility blowing through downtown Libby.

WYOMING

Contributions on state property banned

Gov. Mark Gordon signed an executive order on Feb. 17 banning the solicitation, delivery or acceptance of campaign contributions on state property.

The order does not apply to areas of the Capitol managed by the judicial or legislative branches, including the Senate and House Chambers.

The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office announced on Feb. 14 it would be launching an investigation stemming from public reports and photographs showing checks being distributed in the House chamber.

The checks were distributed by a “self-identified ‘conservative political activist” while lawmakers were set to consider legislation supported by the individual, according to a news release from the governor’s office.

“Our Capitol belongs to the people of Wyoming, and even the appearance of inappropriateness should never be ignored,” Gordon said in the news release. “I, like most Wyomingites, believe the House and Senate floors are hallowed places for doing the People’s business, and should never serve as a campaign headquarters.”

Until the governor, as chairman of the State Building Commission, can bring the matter before the commission to be considered a permanent rule, the executive order will remain in effect, according to the new release.