Commissioners participate in National Counties event in DC

BERNALILLO — There won't be a commission meeting Feb. 25.

However, the reason is because several of the commissioners are attending the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., this week.

"We canceled the Feb. 25 meeting, as most of the commission will be in an airplane at the time of the meeting," County Manager Wayne Johnson said during the regular meeting Feb. 11.

At the NACo Conference, commissioners were just some of many, according to the conference website.

"The NACo Legislative Conference brought together nearly 2,000 elected and appointed county officials to focus on federal policy issues that matter most to county governments," it states. "Attendees experienced timely, high-impact policy sessions and interacted with executive branch officials, members of Congress and their staff."

According to the website, attendees covered hot topics in workshops, steering committee meetings, general sessions and conference-wide receptions. 

The conference's focus points are federal issues affecting counties like disaster reform, energy, land use, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. There were also topics in wurface transportation reauthorization, local pre-emption efforts related to permitting and property taxes, and implementation of H.R. 1 as it pertains to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Photos of the conference posted on social media show Chair Jordan Juarez, Commissioner Jon Herr and Commissioner Katherine Bruch at present the conference as well as Deputy County Manager Eric Masterson.

The next commission meeting will be 6 p.m. March 11.