Week 3 of the Legislature: Updates on business bills

SANTA FE — Coming into the third week of the 2025 Legislature, business leaders are continuing to fight for bills they want to see become law — and fight against bills they don’t.

Family Medical Leave: It’s no surprise that officials representing different chambers of commerce around New Mexico are opposing a proposed Paid Family and Medical Leave Act, which would tax employees and businesses with more than five workers to provide nine to 12 weeks of paid time off for parental, medical or safety purposes.

It’s the sixth time Democratic legislators have introduced the bill at the Roundhouse, and they’ve never managed to attain the support of some influential business leaders or Republican lawmakers.

That hasn’t deterred the bill sponsors, particularly following an election cycle last year that introduced many new legislators to the Roundhouse. Three Democrats who voted against the bill on the House floor last year — where the bill died by two votes — lost their primary elections.

“I really do believe, because of the great changes in the House and House leadership, that we will finally get this,” Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, a bill sponsor, said at a press conference last week.

Terri Cole, president and CEO of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, was one of many business leaders who spoke in opposition of the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act at a public comment period at the bill’s first committee hearing.

She specified to the Journal that the chamber isn’t against maternity leave; it’s other parts of the bill that are concerning, like its fees on employers and employees and a potential impact on small businesses.

Chamber Board Chair Del Esparza said many employers in New Mexico have fewer than 50 workers, which he said are small businesses.

“To have this kind of disruption where an employee can take as much time off as they feel, based on how (the bill is) going to be written — which I think could leave a lot of room for interpretation — would have a very adverse effect on businesses,” he told the Journal. “And I think some businesses just would not survive.”

The sentiment is something bill sponsors and supporters have rebutted. The fee, which is 0.5% on employees and 0.4% on employers, is often misunderstood, Stewart said at the news conference. Employees have a maximum of 12 weeks they can take off for parental leave and a max of nine weeks to take off for other reasons, like medical or safety.

Rep. Marian Matthews, D-Albuquerque, last year introduced an alternative Paid Family and Medical Leave Act that removed the fees assessed on businesses. It garnered support from business organizations like the Albuquerque Chamber, but never made it past its first committee.

“We’re willing to roll up our sleeves, sit at the table and work with them,” Esparza said. “And this is a perfect example where we worked with the representative on trying to come up with a structure that made sense for businesses but also made sense for what they were trying to accomplish when it came to family medical leave.”

Site Readiness: A bill the chamber does support is focused on site readiness, or ensuring land is ready for development with infrastructure like roads, power and internet set up. Senate Bill 169 would allocate $24 million to establish a site readiness pilot program. In New Mexico, businesses can wait years to get shovel-ready land.

“We don’t have the sites, and the developers aren’t incentivized to build them via spec,” Esparza said. “When businesses are looking at relocating, they need that.”

Cole added that the legislation gets around the state’s anti-donation clause by allocating the money via grants.

Crime: Crime and public safety remain major priorities. The chamber supported many bills Republicans introduced in the special session that never made it through, like measures on criminal competency — or involuntary commitment for behavioral health reasons — and illegal possession of a firearm by felons.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in her State of the State Address voiced support for delivering money to businesses to be used for safety purposes, including hiring security personnel and equipment, “until we can get our crime epidemic under control.”

Legislation to this effect hadn’t been filed as of Thursday.

“Business owners investing in their properties to repel burglars and keep their employees safe should know we all have their backs,” Lujan Grisham said in her speech.

Cole said she’d heard that proposal might be coming and expects the chamber will support the bill when it’s introduced. Speaking frankly, she said, New Mexico isn’t a safe place to be in business.

“Any support business can get to deal with that problem is very much welcome,” she said.

She added that the state should address the crux of the crime issue and needs to pass aggressive criminal penalty measures still.

“If we cannot fix the safety component of this state, it’s going to be pretty hard for us to bring more people to the state, expand more businesses and locate more new businesses here,” Cole said.

Megan Gleason is an assistant editor on the business desk for the Albuquerque Journal. She covers energy, utilities and government. You can reach her at mgleason@abqjournal.com.