1st Session of 57th Legislature Underway – Governor delivers State of the State Message
The roll was called, the members sworn into office and Rep. Javier Martinez (D-Bernalillo) was elected Speaker by a vote of 43-26 – you guessed it – an exact partisan split with Ds voting for Martinez and Rs voting for minority leader Gail Armstrong (R-Catron, Sierra, Soccoro & Valencia). Nominations by the majority and the minority are customary and don’t signal the onset of partisan warfare. As we mentioned before, there are lots of new members – 16 in the Senate and 13 in the House with one vacancy pending. We’ll begin introducing these new members to you beginning with tomorrow’s edition.
Speaker Martinez introduced both Democratic and Republican leaders in the House. For the blue team, Rep. Reena Szczepanski (D-Santa Fe) will serve as majority floor leader, Rep. Dayan Hochman-Vigil (D-Bernalillo) as majority whip and Rep. Raymundo Lara (D-Doña Ana) as caucus chair. For the red team, Rep. Armstrong is joined by Rep. Alan Martinez (R-Sandoval) serving as minority whip and Rep. Rebecca Dow (R-Doña Ana, Sierra & Socorro) as caucus chair.
Over on the Senate side, much the same procedure. Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-Bernalillo) was selected as the President Pro Tempore, Sen. Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe) as the majority floor leader, Sen. Michael Padilla (D-Bernalillo) as majority whip and Sen. Leo Jaramillo (D-Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, Sandoval & Santa Fe) as caucus chair. On the Republican side, Sen. William Sharer (R-San Juan) will serve as the minority floor leader while Sen. Pat Woods (R-Curry, Harding, Quay & Union) will handle the whip duties and Sen. David Gallegos (R-Eddy and Lea) will serve as caucus chair.
Senate Majority Floor Leader Peter Wirth welcomed senators to the session, remembering that four years ago there were fences and security checkpoints surrounding the Capitol, everyone wore face masks and visitors were not allowed. Today, most senators had friends and family in tow and took the time to introduce them.
The Speaker made relatively brief opening remarks, pausing to honor the memory of Rep. Eliseo Lee Alcon who passed away last week. An appointment to fill his seat is still pending. Martinez, himself very even-handed, stressed to the members to feel free to disagree but not to be disagreeable. He said when he feels his temper rising, he remembers why he serves – to solve problems and to deliver resources. He finds comfort in his family, which he drives home every night to be with. He recounted moving from Mexico to New Mexico as a child because his parents wanted a better life for him. Consequently, he views the world through the lens of working people striving to succeed. He stressed the need for children to have access to high-quality education and for our communities to be safe.
The membership of both House and Senate Committees were announced today. Click here to go to the legislative website listing all the standing and interim committees of the Legislature. The standing committees are the ones that meet during the session. Click on any committee, and you will see the meeting time and place. Scroll down, and the members of the committee are listed.
Today’s State of the State message by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will be her last to a 60-day session, which is the best opportunity to address more far-reaching and complicated legislation as compared to a 30-day session. The governor wasted no time, diving right into an ambitious agenda. Here are the highlights (click here to view the entire speech):
Public safety:
- Updates to criminal competency laws to ensure individuals repeatedly cycling through New Mexico’s courts receive treatment instead of being released.
- Stronger penalties for convicted felons in possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime.
Housing and homelessness:
- Establishing a state Office of Housing supported with funding and expertise.
- $50 million in development subsidies to build houses for people who are priced out—making home buying more affordable in New Mexico.
- $50 million to fight homelessness with dedicated services that lift individuals up and help them become stable, productive members of society.
Climate and energy:
- Updates to the Oil and Gas Act.
- Establishing a state-sponsored fire insurance program outside the private market to protect families and their homes – and to help make people whole when tragedy strikes.
- A strategic water supply for clean energy projects, advanced manufacturing and even putting out wildfires.
Economic development:
- Providing $20 million to assist in expanding or relocating qualified business entities that are stimulating economic development and producing public benefit.
Health care, behavioral health & child well-being:
- Establishing an independent Child Protection Authority, jointly appointed by the Legislature and the executive, that ensures CYFD adequately resolves all complaints from families and foster parents.
- Moving the responsibility for CARA – the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act that helps pregnant mothers and newborns affected by substance abuse – to the Department of Health.
- Investing an additional $50 million in the Rural Health Care Delivery Fund and $100 million in behavioral health expansion.
Establishing a state-sponsored medical malpractice program.
Education:
- Making the new Office of Special Education permanent in law – establishing consistent statewide standards for all K-12 special education students.
- Establishing a $50 million annual investment in the Indian Education Fund.
- Creating a comprehensive math and STEM program to match our strides in literacy.
The governor emphasized public safety – both discussing it during her speech and then returning to the subject in her closing. The following is an excerpt of her remarks:
“Everyone in this room knows that crime is out of control in New Mexico. Even our public safety professionals agree, we’re in a state of crisis. Too many of us simply don’t feel safe in our communities, and that is, frankly, unacceptable. Right now, more than one third of New Mexicans say that they or their loved ones have been the victim of a serious crime. The violent crime rate in New Mexico is twice the national average. Addiction is rampant. And we’re clearly struggling to protect New Mexicans from this madness. ..
“So I am calling on this Legislature to take action now: to toughen penalties for felons who illegally possess firearms that often end up in the hands of kids and teens. To tighten sentencing for criminals who traffic deadly drugs like fentanyl. To compel humane civil commitment for those who need treatment the most. And to reform criminal competency laws that let too many dangerous people remain on our streets. These are common-sense solutions that will keep families safer and reduce violent crime, as they have in the many states that have already adopted them.
“I know, too, that businesses are bearing the brunt of these flawed policies as burglaries, shoplifting and property damage force businesses of all sizes to hire private security firms. It’s crushing their bottom lines, and it’s constricting economic growth in our communities as pharmacies, restaurants and mom-and-pop stores struggle to keep their doors open and their customers and workers safe.
“So I’m proposing a new tax rebate to help businesses foot the cost of security personnel and equipment until we can get our crime epidemic under control. Business owners investing in their properties to repel burglars and keep their employees safe should know we all have their backs.
“Why do so many members of our communities feel as if they’re under siege? It’s in part because more than 3,500 dangerous, repeat offenders with rap sheets totaling nearly 6,000 felonies have been released back into our communities. It’s also because we’re not compelling those in the clutches of addiction, with the most serious behavioral health issues, to get the help they need. Saving lives and supporting families is clearly warranted in these extreme circumstances where the least restrictive interventions simply don’t work.”
From our perspective, we think the governor is spot on. It’s an “all of the above” approach – toughening penalties and slamming the revolving door on the worst criminals, while also humanely seeking to provide behavioral health and addiction services that underlie a good deal of criminal behavior. We also applaud her strong emphasis on needed healthcare reforms such as driving down the cost of medical malpractice insurance premiums, which are raging at twice the national average, and for putting emphasis on attracting medical professionals to our state.
Moolah is on the move
Just before recessing today, the House passed HB 1, commonly referred to as the “feed bill,” on a vote of 65-1. Rep. Alan Martinez (R-Sandoval) cast the lone dissenting vote. In total the bill would appropriate $68.5 million for the year-round operations of the Legislature. For example, this includes funding for large staffs such as the Legislative Finance Committee and the Legislative Council Services as well as funding for interim committee hearings, travel expenses, etc. The current session will cost about $11.5 million. We expect the Senate will pass the bill tomorrow, placing it on the governor’s desk.
Signing Off from Santa Fe
Opening day is done, and the wheels will now slowly start turning. A few organizational committee meetings will be held tomorrow and Thursday. Likely, no legislation will be considered yet. The Senate has already announced it won’t meet on Friday, and we’ll have to wait on an announcement from the House. A session, like a great freight train, always grinds slowly at first and then picks up momentum, careering to the final days and then screeching to a dead stop at noon on the final day. Thanks for joining us today, and we’ll see you tomorrow with all the news and views of the day. Have a wonderful evening.
