{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.lujan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/in-the-news-lujan-hits-the-road-in-new-mexico-fighting-for-families-farmers-and-communities/", "IN THE NEWS: Luj\u00e1n Hits the Road in New Mexico, Fighting for Families, Farmers, and Communities", "2026-09-16", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "NM", "Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n", "L000570", "www.lujan.senate.gov", "lujan", "https://www.lujan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/?jsf=jet-engine:press-list", "scraper", "Santa Fe, N.M. \u2013 During the August and September state work period, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-N.M.) traveled thousands of miles across New Mexico to hear directly from New Mexicans and highlight his work to lower costs, protect access to food and health care, support farmers and ranchers, strengthen consumer protections, and deliver for communities across the state.\n\nHis visits included Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, Gallup, Grants, Las Cruces, Farmington, Derry, Tierra Amarilla, Las Vegas, and communities across New Mexico.\n\nSenator Luj\u00e1n met with families, health care providers, farmers, local leaders, advocates, and small businesses to discuss the challenges facing New Mexicans and how he is working to address them in Washington.\n\nSee what New Mexico media are reporting on Senator Luj\u00e1n\u2019s work across the state:\n\nSource NM \u2013 New Mexico food banks describe significant increase in demand after federal food aid cuts\n\nOfficials from New Mexico food banks say recent changes to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, as well as rising grocery costs, have dramatically increased demand at community food distribution centers across the state. A leader of Roadrunner Food Bank, the largest food bank in New Mexico, told U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-N.M.) during a roundtable Tuesday that demand increased 79% at the food bank between January 2025 and January 2026, which is the most-recent data available.\n\nNM Political Report \u2013 Luj\u00e1n, hospital leaders talk Medicaid \u2018headwinds\u2019 and rural health gaps at Rio Rancho roundtable\n\nU.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n, a Democrat from New Mexico, told hospital administrators at Presbyterian Rust Medical Center that Republican-backed federal Medicaid cuts won\u2019t just hurt New Mexicans enrolled in the program \u2014 they\u2019ll raise care and insurance costs for everyone else, too.\n\nCibola Citizen \u2013 Luj\u00e1n Visits Grants Pantry as Local Families Brace for SNAP Changes\n\nU.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n visited the Grants Community Pantry Thursday, August 20, meeting with local families, food assistance workers and service providers as changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP, begin raising concerns across rural New Mexico. The visit came as Cibola County continues to struggle with high levels of poverty, particularly among children. Recent Census and KIDS COUNT data indicate approximately 41.6% of children in the county live below the federal poverty line \u2013 roughly four in every 10 children.\n\nLos Alamos Daily Post \u2013 Luj\u00e1n Highlights Efforts To Strengthen Care For Seniors And Protect Nutrition Assistance For New Mexicans\n\nLast week in Farmington and Grants, U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-N.M.) held events highlighting his efforts to expand access to home and long-term care for older New Mexicans and people with disabilities and protect nutrition assistance for New Mexico families.\n\nGallup Sun \u2013 Luj\u00e1n Hosts Forum In Gallup To Raise Awareness Of Expanded Reca Compensation\n\nU.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n, D-N.M., led a public outreach forum in Gallup Aug. 19 to raise awareness about expanded compensation available through the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act and help New Mexicans understand how they can apply for compensation. During the forum, Luj\u00e1n joined local leaders and advocates to provide information about expanded eligibility under RECA and the resources available to help New Mexicans apply for compensation.\n\nKSJE \u2013 U.S. Senator \u201cRECA, Public Lands, Stroke Survivors, & More!\u201d : With Ben Ray Lujan, & Scott Michlin\n\nThe interview with Senator Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n focuses on healthcare, support for family caregivers, stroke research and rehabilitation, and the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). Luj\u00e1n discusses his personal experience surviving a stroke and explains his efforts to improve stroke prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation services.\n\nTaos News \u2013 Ticket scammers on the rise Sen. Ben Ray Lujan helps spearhead effort to protect fans, artists and venues\n\nIt all comes down to consumer safety. That\u2019s one of the reasons U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM) got involved in a growing issue involving fraudulent ticket sales. Luj\u00e1n put together a group of representatives from the New Mexico entertainment industry for a roundtable conversation about the issue Monday (Aug. 31) at the Taos Mesa Brewing Mothership, west of El Prado. From venues, popular music artists, associations and even the Santa Fe Opera, the participants showed how wide-ranging the issue has affected their profession. Sen. Luj\u00e1n\u2019s purpose for the meeting was to unveil newly introduced legislation to ban speculative ticketing and protect ticket buyers from scams and unfair practices, a statement from the senator\u2019s office reads.\n\nKFOX \u2013 Sen. Ben Ray Lujan hears Southern NM chile growers\u2019 concerns over rising costs\n\nSouthern New Mexico chile farmers met with U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan on Tuesday to highlight the pressures facing one of the state\u2019s signature crops. The New Mexico Democrat visited Sierra County on Tuesday, where organizers said the purpose of the visit was to hear directly from local chile producers about the challenges they face and the support they need. \u201cIn New Mexico we have a lot of what they call specialty crops, these are high-cost crops, like our chile,\u201d Lujan said.\n\nAlbuquerque Journal \u2013 Domenici conference gathers policy experts, candidates\n\nNew Mexico State University\u2019s Domenici Public Policy Conference returned after an eight-year hiatus this week, as a dozen presenters, including subject experts, past and present political officials and 2026 election candidates gave hourlong talks and took questions from NMSU students. U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n, D-N.M., also upheld bipartisan collaboration in his Wednesday keynote address over lunch, rooting it in the legacy of New Mexico\u2019s finest leaders as well as President Ronald Reagan and his friendship with Democratic House Speaker Thomas \u201cTip\u201d O\u2019Neill. \u201cBringing people together with different approaches creates a better outcome,\u201d Luj\u00e1n said, arguing further that it would be key to solving difficult policy challenges, such as supporting utility-scale renewable energy production.", 1, "2026-09-17T09:52:05Z", "2026-09-17T09:53:00Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.lujan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/in-the-news-lujan-hits-the-road-in-new-mexico-fighting-for-families-farmers-and-communities/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9288778528571129, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}