District 46 Rep. Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe County, District 46, a freshman lawmaker, said she will be supporting any effort to transform the education system, including funding early childhood education, raising teacher pay and investing in education.
She is sponsoring several bills including the Young Women and Girls Feminine Hygiene Access Bill which would ensure all K-12 public schools provides free access to feminine hygiene products in school bathrooms. A 2017 Huffington Post article highlighted need for the legislation after it was reported that many Native American girls skipped school when they got their period, because they didn’t have access to hygiene products.
Romero is also sponsoring the Energy Efficiency Incentives Bill, which will allow companies like PNM to incentivize their customers to use less energy and still recover cost.
The Health Security Act, a bill exploring universal health coverage for all New Mexicans, is also being sponsored by Romero.
Romero said she will be supporting any efforts to transform the education system, including funding early childhood education, raising teacher pay and investing more in education. She’s sponsoring the Tobacco Tax to Fund Education, which would tax cigarette packs $1 more in an effort to provide $86 million in additional tax revenue for education and healthcare.
She is also sponsoring the a bill that would create a statewide business license, which is designed to eliminate the nuance in various jurisdictions around the state, and streamline business licensing through the Secretary of State and the Taxation and Revenue Department annually.
Romero will also be sponsoring a bill to provide drug treatment in jails & prisons, which would provide the option of methadone treatment for people while they are incarcerated. The issue of access to treatment has been an ongoing concern for those incarcerated at the Rio Arriba County Detention Center where methadone treatment is not available.
Enjoy reading the SUN online? Then you’ll love the print version. This is just one of the 28 local news, opinion, arts and sports stories published in the Jan. 17, 2019 edition. To see the rest, buy a copy from one of our vendors on the street or at one of these locations.