Governor signs crime and behavioral health bills into law, exhorts lawmakers to do more

SANTA FE — A significant step forward, but there’s more work to do.

That’s the message Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham conveyed to lawmakers Thursday after signing into law high-profile crime and behavioral health bills that were expedited by Democratic legislative leaders after a contentious special session last summer.

“This was a thoughtful, smart and dedicated effort to address the most pressing issue, I believe, that we are facing,” Lujan Grisham said during a ceremonial bill signing ceremony at the state Capitol.

But with the 60-day session recently passing its halfway point, the governor called on lawmakers to pass more public safety legislation during the session’s final weeks.

“I think there’s a whole lot more to be done,” Lujan Grisham said.

The crime package passed by lawmakers, House Bill 8, includes provisions dealing with fentanyl trafficking, auto theft and drugged driving, while also outlawing the devices used to convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic weapons.

It also makes changes to how New Mexico handles criminal defendants deemed incompetent to stand trial, by adding a dangerousness evaluation in such cases and giving judges more options for treatment programs.

The governor has court-cited data showing more than 16,000 charges were dismissed statewide from 2017 through last summer due to competency findings, with about 3,200 people responsible for those cases.

But the Democratic-controlled Legislature last summer rejected the governor’s calls for legislation making it easier to involuntarily commit individuals to treatment programs, with some lawmakers saying the bills had not been well vetted.

Entering this year’s session, top-ranking legislators said they had subsequently crafted a package of new public safety proposals aimed at balancing stiffer criminal penalties with structural changes to New Mexico’s system for mental health and substance abuse treatment.

Those bills were then moved with bipartisan support, especially in the Senate, to the governor’s desk in the session’s first 32 days. Such urgency is unusual in the Legislature during 60-day sessions, as debate on many high-profile measures tends to stretch into the final hours before adjournment.

“Sometimes you need to do things differently,” Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said during Thursday’s news conference, while describing the package of bills as a commitment fulfilled.

Will other crime bills advance?

Crime has emerged as a key issue during this year’s legislative session, as New Mexico’s violent crime rate is almost twice the national average.

But some public safety proposals have struggled to gain traction at the Roundhouse, including bills making it easier to keep defendants charged with certain violent crimes in jail until trial and changes to the state’s juvenile criminal code.

Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman has led the push for tougher penalties for violent youthful offenders and renewed his call Thursday for lawmakers to address the issue before their March 22 adjournment.

“I do believe we can concentrate on behavioral health while also focusing on consequences for young people,” Bregman said.

But some advocacy groups have pushed back against the measures, arguing lawmakers should focus more on prevention and underlying issues than increasing criminal penalties.

During Thursday’s news conference, House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, said lawmakers should be mindful of societal factors when debating changes to juvenile offender laws, saying the state should not “discard” youthful defendants with turbulent backgrounds.

Meanwhile, Lujan Grisham also cited several other bills she would like to see lawmakers pass during the remainder of this year’s session.

Those include measures dealing with convicted felons in possession of firearms that have received a tepid response at the Roundhouse, with critics pointing out New Mexico has already increased penalties for such offenses, most recently in 2020.

GOP lawmakers support push for more bills

The governor’s ceremonial bill signing was attended by numerous Democratic legislators, law enforcement officials and New Mexico Supreme Court Chief Justice David Thomson.

No Republican lawmakers attended the event, though several GOP legislators joined the governor in calling for more action on crime bills.

House Minority Leader Gail Armstrong, R-Magdalena, said Republicans will continue to push for public safety legislation, despite being outnumbered in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

“Democrats have said that their crime package was ‘just the appetizer.’ New Mexicans are waiting for the full meal,” said Armstrong, who voted in favor of the crime package but against the behavioral health bills.

“We made it clear at the start of this legislative session that we were going to take New Mexico’s crime crisis head on, and we don’t plan on changing course anytime soon,” she added.

The three bills signed Thursday will take effect June 20, the date specified by state law for legislation approved during this year’s session that does not carry a different effective date.