Governor touts progress but urges lawmakers to do more on crime as 60-day session begins

SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham both praised and prodded legislators during her State of the State Address on Tuesday, lauding the state’s efforts to reduce poverty but urging lawmakers to do more to curb high violent crime rates.

Entering her final 60-day legislative session, the Democratic governor unveiled new proposals to help businesses pay for their security costs and exempt foster parents and grandparents raising their grandchildren from paying income tax.

But she also said New Mexico is in a “state of crisis” due to crime and focused much of her 50-minute speech on public safety issues.

“Too many of us simply don’t feel safe in our communities, and that is, frankly, unacceptable,” Lujan Grisham said.

She also drew a rare standing ovation from Republican legislators — and a few Democrats — when she called for legal changes to hold violent repeat offenders accountable.

Top-ranking Democrats have been working on their own package of crime and behavioral health bills for this year’s session, but have also said some of the governor’s proposals could face tough sledding after a contentious special session last summer.

That could include a proposal to make it easier to hold defendants accused of certain violent crimes behind bars until trial, as similar proposals have stalled at the Roundhouse in recent years due largely to constitutional concerns.

The opening day of the session unfolded on a frigid day in Santa Fe.

Outside the Roundhouse, about 100 climate protesters blocked off part of a street adjacent to the Capitol while state labor union officials rallied for workers’ rights.

A line of people waited as early as 8:30 a.m. to grab a seat in the House public gallery to watch the governor’s speech.

However, security only allowed Cabinet secretaries and other Lujan Grisham administration personnel to enter the chamber before 11 a.m.

By the time security let the public in to sit down, about half of the seats were already taken by the governor’s staff.

A number of other state and local officials from around New Mexico also attended the opening day festivities, including Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren.

Former New Mexico congresswoman Deb Haaland, who stepped down Monday as U.S. Interior secretary after serving for nearly four years, drew perhaps the loudest applause.

Democratic legislators gave a rousing ovation to Haaland, who is considering launching a bid to be New Mexico’s next governor in 2027.

Governor not resting on legacy

Despite last year’s strife between Lujan Grisham and leading Democratic lawmakers, the governor began her speech by touting “six years of success” since taking office in 2019.

The governor called New Mexico’s improved credit outlook from a national rating agency a “big damn deal” and also lauded the state’s improved ranking on a federal supplemental poverty index.

She also lauded Miss New Mexico Mackenzie Sydow, who lost both parents as a teenager but recently graduated from college under a state-subsidized free tuition program.

“Moving the needle this far, this fast on child poverty is a monumental and historic achievement — for this Legislature, for New Mexico, and for thousands of families now breaking free from centuries-old cycles of generational poverty,” Lujan Grisham said.

But the governor said more work needs to be done in other areas, including bolstering New Mexico’s beleaguered child welfare agency.

Specifically, she announced plans for twice-yearly independent reviews of New Mexico’s beleaguered Children, Youth and Families Department, even though a similar plan was included in a 2023 executive order she issued.

Lujan Grisham also called on lawmakers to increase funding for the agency, which has paid out more than $21 million in legal settlements since July 2021.

“We can no longer ask our social workers and others to manage such large workloads that families and kids don’t get the attention they deserve,” the governor said.

However, spending on protective services for New Mexico children has already grown by about $100 million over the last decade — to more than $200 million annually.

Tapping NM’s revenue windfall

While some other states are grappling with budget shortfalls, New Mexico’s 60-day session will play out amid an ongoing revenue windfall created largely by record-high oil production levels.

The governor said her administration and lawmakers are making “smart choices” with the projected $13.8 billion in revenue for the coming year, but only briefly mentioned the source of the budget surplus.

Lujan Grisham, who did not specifically mention President Donald Trump during her speech, did cite several climate-related initiatives.

She recognized several individuals working to monitor methane gas emissions and urged lawmakers to codify an order requiring the state to have net-zero emissions by 2050. That plea prompted a standing ovation from Democratic lawmakers, while GOP lawmakers looked on impassively.

“While the governor briefly acknowledged the record oil and gas revenues, she once again failed to thank the oil and gas industry for contributing nearly half of our state’s budget while proposing legislation that threatens to eliminate this vital sector by 2050,” state Republican Party Chairwoman Amy Barela said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Lujan Grisham also proposed two new state-sponsored insurance programs that could be funded from the revenue windfall.

One of those programs would help New Mexicans struggling to get homeowners’ insurance policies in parts of the state threatened by wildfires.

“No New Mexican should be priced out of a fire insurance policy,” she said.

The other insurance program would establish a state-sponsored medical malpractice plan.

While Lujan Grisham did not provide details, she expressed concern that current medical malpractice insurance rates are hampering the state’s efforts to recruit and retain more health care providers.

“Insurance rates for doctors and health care providers shouldn’t be any higher in New Mexico than in neighboring states, and they most certainly shouldn’t be twice the national average,” the governor said.