To the editor

 Impacting healthcare

Kudos to Rep. Sarah Silva, Rep. Doreen Gallegos, and Sen. Jeff Steinborn for their leadership in championing legislation to address New Mexico’s critical shortage of health care providers.

Rep. Silva and Gallegos co-sponsored one of the most impactful bills passed this year, House Bill 99, which enacts major reforms to the state’s medical malpractice law. This bill directly addresses the main reason why two-thirds of New Mexico doctors are considering retiring early or leaving the state.

In the Senate, Sen. Steinborn consistently supported the bill and voted to remove amendments that had been added to weaken it. House Bill 99 passed both the House and the Senate with bipartisan support and has been signed into law by the governor.

In addition to co-sponsoring House Bill 99, Rep. Silva also sponsored legislation to increase the Rural Health Care Practitioner Tax Credit and expand it to Emergency Medical Personnel, as well as a bill to bring New Mexico into the interstate licensure compact for EMTs.

Similarly, Sen. Steinborn and Rep. Gallegos also sponsored bills to repeal the Gross Receipts Tax on coinsurance and extend the tax exemption for co-pays and deductibles. New Mexico is now the only state that imposes a GRT on medical services.

Unlike most businesses, which simply pass the tax on to their customers, medical providers are generally not able to pass the tax on to insurance companies, Medicaid, or Medicare. As a result, doctors, dentists, and other health care providers end up bearing the full burden of the tax, making it more expensive to practice medicine in New Mexico than in other states.

While the tax reforms and EMT compact did not make it to the governor’s desk this session, we know they’ll be back in future sessions. We commend Rep. Sarah Silva, Rep. Doreen Gallegos, and Sen. Jeff Steinborn for their commitment to passing reforms that will improve access to health care for their constituents and all New Mexicans.

Fred Nathan, Jr.

Founder & Executive Director

Think New Mexico

Time to speak up

I have been pleased to see articles discussing New Mexico’s healthcare crisis in both the Bulletin and other publications from around the state. I believe it is a subject that should be discussed over and over again until we no longer have a crisis.

However, I am wondering why: more doctors aren’t speaking out; why more people who have experienced difficulties aren’t speaking out; why more elected officials aren’t speaking out; why all residents of voting age aren’t demanding their local, county and state governments work together to improve/solve the crisis as quickly as possible.

I am thankful I am healthy. I am thankful for the doctors I use. But I deplore the fact that anyone in New Mexico struggles to find medical care when it is needed. Do you?

I deplore the loss of a doctor to another state due to our high liability insurance rates. Do you?

I deplore the fact that our legislators failed in the last legislative session to prioritize approving more interstate compacts which would allow a variety of medical professionals to practice in New Mexico. Do you?

I am calling and writing my elected officials. I ask you to do the same. If need be, ask a family member, a friend, your pastor or priest to help you. My voice, your voice, all our voices are needed.

We must speak for ourselves and for each other. All New Mexicans deserve accessible, quality, affordable healthcare.

Janet Nordmann

Las Cruces

Celebrating indy music

Las Cruces Rocks Fest is a new local music festival happening May 30 in Las Cruces, created to celebrate and support the city’s growing independent music scene. The festival will take place at The Destination: Sports and Arts Complex (1103 E Lohman Ave) and will feature a lineup of bands that have all been featured on the Las Cruces Rocks radio show on KTAL 101.5 FM.

The event is a benefit for KTAL 101.5 FM, Las Cruces’ community radio station. One hundred percent of ticket profits will go directly to supporting the station and its mission to amplify local voices, music, and culture.

In a time when many local bands struggle to find venues willing to host original music, artists are often forced to rely on house shows to perform and build

community. Las Cruces Rocks Fest is an effort to create a larger stage for these musicians while strengthening the connection between the city’s artists and the community that supports them.

All bands are volunteering their performances in support of KTAL, making this a truly grassroots event. In addition to live music, the festival will feature local

vendors and food trucks, creating a full community gathering centered around supporting local music and independent radio.

Tom Larkin

Las Cruces

Different take on DEI

I disagree with letter-writer Rob Wood, who, in last week's Bulletin, opined that DEI involves "racist practices." I have only one idea how diversity, equity, and inclusion can possibly be perceived "racist" or, for that matter, sexist or discriminatory in some other way. 

That one idea is the belief held by white people like the letter writer that the effort to treat all Americans the same is a zero-sum game. Those white people believe that providing the same rights and opportunities which they enjoy to those who do not enjoy them means that they will lose something to which they believe themselves entitled. 

The belief is contrary to basic American principles, foremost among them the belief in the equality of all people. If Mr. Wood opposes American democracy, let him write another letter to declare himself.

Michael L. Hays

Las Cruces

Concerned with the Buena Vista project

Driving past Chaparral last week on my way to the El Paso Airport, I had to do a double take. What was once an open range of desert plant life, marked by a simple sign reading “Bowen Ranch,” is now a field being cleared for solar panels for the Buena Vista project.

For nearly 20 years, my life passing through this area offered views of the New Mexico landscape of creosote bushes, yucca, and open land, now replaced by heavy machinery and metal posts sticking from the cleared land.

With future ideals of renewable energy and reduction of the carbon footprint, we may be trading one ecological footprint for another and impacting the habitats of our desert wildlife. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (2021), developers will first look at the economic feasibility of these solar projects and consider wildlife impact later.

I fear that with continued growth and industrial expansion, our beautiful desert towns will be turned into the concrete jungles that have become Tucson and Phoenix. I would urge the New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands to consider not only the economic impact of the Buena Vista project but also its effects on wildlife, the landscape, and the preservation of our desert home.

I urge the residents of Chaparral and Doña Ana County to keep their minds open to the impact that this project will bring to all forms of life.

Citation: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. (2021, November). Solar impacts on wildlife and ecosystems: Request for information summary (DE-FOA-0002583).

Jody Doyle

Las Cruces