Governor announces special session focused on federal budget cuts to start Oct. 1

SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will call lawmakers back to the Roundhouse starting Oct. 1 for a special session focused on a state-level response to federal spending reductions to Medicaid and food assistance programs.

The Governor’s Office announced the special session date Thursday, after weeks of intrigue and uncertainty about whether such a session might be called.

The special session, which will be the seventh called by Lujan Grisham since she took office in 2019, could allow lawmakers to — at least temporarily — blunt the impact of federal bills signed by President Donald Trump, in part by providing stopgap funding for a rural health care fund and public broadcasting stations.

“New Mexicans should not be forced to shoulder these heavy burdens without help from their elected officials,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “After discussions with legislative leaders, we’ve resolved to do everything possible to protect essential services and minimize the damage from President Trump’s disastrous bill.”

Republican lawmakers reacted to the special session news by criticizing the Democratic governor for not including crime-related issues and changes to New Mexico’s child welfare system on the special session agenda.

“It appears to me to be a taxpayer-funded anti-Trump rally,” Senate Minority Leader William Sharer, R-Farmington, said in an interview, while pointing out most of the federal funding changes to Medicaid and food assistance programs are not scheduled to take effect until 2027 or later.

“If we’re going to have a special session and try to solve a problem, then we should try to solve a problem,” Sharer added.

Top Governor’s Office staffers have been meeting with Democratic legislative leaders in recent weeks about a special session spending package that could exceed $400 million, according to lawmakers involved in the discussions.

That funding would come from nearly $3.5 billion in unspent money in state reserve funds, as state revenue levels have surged to record-high levels in recent years.

The federal budget bill signed by Trump in July could lead to more than 90,000 New Mexico residents losing health care coverage and the possible closure of rural hospitals, state health officials have warned. In addition, the federal budget bill is projected to cost the state an average of $206 million per year over the next five years, executive and legislative branch economists projected.

But GOP lawmakers have questioned those estimates, while citing tax breaks and other provisions in the federal bill that could benefit New Mexico residents.

The “One Big Beautiful Bill,” the large tax package signed into law this July, trimmed close to $1 trillion from Medicaid, Medicare and subsidies from the Affordable Care Act and $230 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, spending over the next 10 years.

Special session outlook

The special session will be the first called by Lujan Grisham since a July 2024 session focused on crime-related issues that ended with the Democratic-controlled Legislature adjourning without taking action on most of the governor’s proposed agenda.

That prompted the governor to say legislators should be “embarrassed” for their unwillingness to pass sweeping public safety legislation.

Top-ranking Democratic lawmakers appear to be more on the same page with the governor entering this year’s special session, based on statements released Thursday by the Governor’s Office.

Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, described the special session as “essential” to protecting rural health care providers and safeguarding Medicaid coverage.

“New Mexico cannot stand by while Washington’s reckless budget cuts inflict generational harm on families and communities across the state,” Wirth said.

House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, sounded a similar note, saying, “New Mexico is not going to allow Trump and the radical right to take food off your table or kick your family off your healthcare plan.”

It’s unclear how long this year’s special session will last, though most special sessions called in recent years have wrapped up in a matter of days — if not shorter. Special sessions are limited to no longer than 30 days under the state Constitution.

Going back to 2020, the average daily cost of a special session is $57,000, according to the Legislative Council Service. Last year’s single-day special session cost $92,883, a figure that includes compensation for necessary session staffers.

Debate on some issues postponed for now

While announcing the special session’s start date, the Governor’s Office also confirmed debate on some hot-button issues will be delayed until the start of the 30-day regular session in January.

That includes legislation targeting New Mexico’s three federal immigrant detention centers, which generated testy debate during a recent interim committee hearing. The three detention centers run by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are located in Chaparral, Estancia and Milan.

The governor’s chief general counsel had told lawmakers in July that legislation banning New Mexico local governments from entering into contracts with federal agencies to detain immigrants for civil violations could be included in the special session mix.

Rep. Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe, one of the sponsors of that legislation, said Thursday there were ongoing discussions about specific bill details.

She also said she believes there is growing momentum for such legislation, saying, “I feel like our legislative body is definitely seeing the realities of why we need to address ICE detention in our state.”

While the governor has not yet issued the formal special session proclamation, debate on a slew of bills dealing with juvenile crime and firearm restrictions is also expected to be delayed until next year’s 30-day session.

But leading Republican legislators said they still plan to draft bills dealing with criminal penalties, New Mexico’s child welfare system and the state’s medical malpractice system, even if Lujan Grisham does not include the issues on the special session agenda.

House Minority Leader Gail Armstrong, R-Magdalena, described those topics as “real emergencies” facing the state.

“New Mexicans deserve a special session that takes these issues seriously — not another round of political theater dictated by the 4th floor of the Roundhouse,” said Armstrong.