Governor blasts lawmakers, attorney general while signing CYFD oversight bill into law

SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham did not mince words Friday, accusing lawmakers of “posturing and grandstanding” in their handling of bills related to New Mexico’s troubled child welfare agency.

The blistering broadside came as Lujan Grisham signed into law a bill creating a new outside oversight office to investigate complaints involving the Children, Youth and Families Department.

The governor worked with senators to make changes to the legislation after it had passed the House earlier this month without a single “no” vote.

But she voiced sharp criticism Friday of lawmakers and Attorney General Raúl Torrez for pushing the bill in what she described as a political vendetta.

“Make no mistake about it, this bill was not designed to protect children,” Lujan Grisham said in her executive message to lawmakers.

“It was a thinly-disguised vendetta by a Legislature that is still upset at my continuing pursuits on meaningful criminal justice legislation in New Mexico and an attorney general who has failed to demonstrate that public safety is a priority in any meaningful way,” the governor also wrote.

In response, a top staffer for Torrez, who like Lujan Grisham is a Democrat, expressed disappointment about Lujan Grisham’s attack while lauding the approval of the bill.

“The focus of this bill should have remained squarely on the children who suffer from neglect, abuse, and systemic failures,” said Torrez’s chief of staff Lauren Rodriguez. “Nowhere in the governor’s statement is there acknowledgment of their struggles or the urgent need for reform.”

Under the bill signed Friday, House Bill 5, the new Office of the Child Advocate will be created within the state Department of Justice in July. The director of that office will be appointed by the governor but will be subject to Senate confirmation.

Lawmakers have expressed increasing frustration with the Lujan Grisham administration’s handling of child welfare issues over the last year, amid high rates of staff turnover. The governor has also had three different CYFD secretaries over the last six-plus years.

In addition, New Mexico has recorded a worsening repeat child mistreatment rate, despite increased spending on CYFD in recent years in an attempt to hire more social workers.

House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, said in an interview last week the CYFD oversight bill was not motivated by political reasons.

“It’s not good practice for us to tailor our policymaking to fit the vision or the view of any particular governor,” Martínez said. “It is our job to pass good legislation.”

Lujan Grisham has staunchly opposed efforts to increase outside oversight of the agency over the last several years, instead ordering the creation of a new advisory council within CYFD.

During this year’s 60-day session, she urged lawmakers to pass a separate bill that would have created a nine-member child protection authority attached to the Regulation and Licensing Department, an agency run by a Lujan Grisham appointee.

But that bill failed to gain traction at the Roundhouse, languishing without a vote in its first assigned Senate committee.