There aren't many no-brainers in the legislative process but the plan floating to give $250 rebate checks to New Mexicans for relief from high gas prices fits the category. The checks could be approved as soon as early April, if that's when a special session of the legislature is called by MLG as is now expected. 

Lawmakers already approved a round of rebate checks of $250 at the '22 session for single households with income below $75,000 and $500 for $150,000 for two person households earning less than $150,000.

Over 800 thousand households are eligible and will see the checks in July. The cost comes to only $338 million. We say "only" because the state is carrying a nearly 30 percent reserve for its General Fund of about $2.5 billion, not to mention even more billions squirreled away in other reserve funds. 

Lower and middle income households are going to get a $500 boost come July, if the second round of checks are approved. But what about the BMW and Mercedes crowd? Those folks drive to work too and there's discussion of raising the income limit so they can also get a break from the war-caused spike in gas prices. 

And you could start hearing the phrase "you ain't seen nothing yet!" when it comes to the state surplus. That's because the Permian Basin in SE NM is going full steam again and with the low cost of production there even an oil bear market may not be as disruptive to the state's cash flows as they once were. 

Yet another outrageous investigative news report on the massive and continuing abuse of overtime at the ABQ police department. This one is truly over the top with the revelation that Lt. Jim Edison, who has since been fired, received $131,000 in overtime over a one year period, making his annual salary over $242,000. 

Edison's abuse was obvious. His documentation for the overtime read like fiction. It violated APD rules and if it wasn't criminal it surely bordered on it.  

The report comes after State Auditor Brian Colón released a stinging report last year on APD overtime abuse, the 7th such report from the state since 2014. Colón said it must stop, but it hasn't and Edison's scheme was going on while Colón was auditing the problem.

Retired APD Sergeant Dan Klein says all of this leads to the doorstep of Attorney General Hector Balderas, the recipient of all those Auditor reports. He points out that Balderas has sat on them with no prosecutorial action of any kind to stop the abuse, including the infamous case of overtime king Simon Drobik.

Mayor Keller and Mayor Berry before him did some handwringing over the shady overtime culture but still it persists. Ditto for the asleep at the switch ABQ City Council. 

Edison's overtime was approved by Deputy Chief Smathers who received a slap on the wrist (a one day suspension) for approving the eye-popping overtime. 

APD Chief Harold Medina excused the rip-off by claiming the chief's office is too busy to do a rigorous check before approving overtime. 

Too busy doing what? asks Klein, who says gaming the overtime system is the preoccupation of a number of officers, including those at its highest levels. That's time and effort not being directed at the ABQ crime crisis that goes on and on. 

Now Colón and BernCo DA Raul Torrez are running to replace Balderas as AG but, if elected, will they do anything and finally bring an end to the chronic abuse that is compromising the integrity of the state's largest police agency and wasting of millions of dollars? 

Klein argues that "for corruption to run rampant we just have to have the watchdogs of the public trust remain silent. Nothing will change at APD until those in command are held accountable. Hello, Hector,  Brian and Raul"?

From the blog on March 17, 2007:

The more things change. . . 

Thanks for stopping by this week. 

Reporting from Albuquerque, I'm Joe Monahan.