House OKs Indigenous Peoples’ Day measure

SANTA FE — New Mexico would become the fourth state to adopt an annual state Indigenous Peoples’ Day holiday — replacing Columbus Day — under a bill that is headed to the Senate.

The House approved the legislation, House Bill 100, in a 50-12 vote late Tuesday.

Backers of the proposal argued the observance of Columbus Day has long been an affront to Native Americans, and said renaming the holiday, celebrated on the second Monday of October, would change that.

Rep. Derrick Lente, D-Sandia Pueblo, one of the bill’s sponsors, said Christopher Columbus left a legacy of murder, torture and rape of indigenous people during his four expeditions to the Americas.

But critics questioned the wisdom of doing away with Columbus Day, with some describing it as part of a broader push to remove controversial historical markers.

Native Americans make up more than 12 percent of New Mexico’s population, according to 2017 U.S. Census data.

PET ABUSE: Hurting or threatening to hurt a partner’s pet would be recognized as domestic abuse under a proposal that passed the House this week and is now awaiting Senate hearings.

House Bill 52, sponsored by Rep. Joanne Ferrary, D-Las Cruces, would expand the definition of “domestic abuse” under state law — to include the intentional harming or killing of a household member’s companion animal, or threatening to.

“I’m glad we’re one step closer to the day when threatening or harming a companion animal, as a means of control or intimidation, is recognized as domestic abuse so that survivors can seek protection and safety,” Ferrary said in a written statement.

The bill passed the House 50-13, with a mix of Republicans and Democrats in favor. All 13 opposing votes came from Republicans.

“We applaud the New Mexico House of Representatives for acknowledging that a family’s animals are often used as pawns in domestic abuse situations, and for seeking to hold abusers accountable for all the ways they might threaten, intimidate, or harm domestic violence survivors,” Jessica Johnson of Animal Protection Voters said in a statement.

The measure must clear two Senate committees before reaching the floor of that chamber.