Lawmakers send crime, behavioral health bills to governor, ready for session's second half

SANTA FE — New Mexico’s 60-day legislative session is shaping up to be a two-part blockbuster.

The first stanza wrapped up Saturday, with lawmakers sending a high-profile crime package and a bill overhauling the state’s behavioral health system to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s desk for final approval.

The governor is expected to sign those measures into law.

Now comes the second stanza, which could feature heated debate on bills dealing with child abuse, climate change, taxes and state spending.

House Minority Floor Leader Gail Armstrong, R-Magdalena, said the pace of this year’s session has been fast, unlike in many past 60-day sessions that feature little action during the first 30 days.

“They front-loaded a lot of bad bills,” she said, citing specifically a Democratic-sponsored Paid Family Medical Leave Act that would create a state-run fund that businesses and employees would pay into.

But top-ranking Democrats say the session has been a success so far.

Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, said the focus on expediting crime and behavioral health bills in the session’s first 30 days could allow lawmakers to focus on other issues during the remainder of the session.

She also said the arrival of 16 new senators this year — after last year’s election cycle — has not impacted the decorum of the chamber.

She lauded Sen. Jay Block, R-Rio Rancho, in particular, citing his work with Democratic senators on key bills.

“I’m kind of hopeful that what we were afraid of is not going to happen,” she said, referring to the possibility of a more combative and partisan state Senate.

But she acknowledged there will likely be contentious debate ahead over several climate-related bills she is sponsoring, including a measure to codify greenhouse gas emission limits that has prompted a television ad blitz by opponents.

Meanwhile, there could also be more debate ahead on crime-focused legislation, even after the House voted Saturday to concur with Senate changes to a package of six bills that were rolled into a single piece of legislation.

House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, said during a Saturday news conference there would be a “fair hearing” on a bill expanding the state’s serious youthful offender law amid a recent spate of violent crimes involving minors.

But he also said lawmakers would look at ways to rehabilitate juveniles convicted of committing violent crimes.

With the session entering its second half, Martinez said Democrats had followed through on their pledge to address public safety after a special session last summer ended with the governor’s crime-focused agenda being largely rejected.

“I want to tell the people of the state, promises made, promises kept,” Martinez said.

For her part, Armstrong expressed disappointment about Democrats’ decision to advance the crime bills as a package, especially without including more aggressive punitive measures for juvenile offenders.

Republicans failed to amend the package to include such content when the package passed the House floor, though GOP leadership still ultimately voted for its passage.

Lots of bills, lots of questions

More than 1,200 bills have been filed during this year’s 60-day session — or roughly 100 bills more than two years ago.

State lawmakers meet for shorter 30-day sessions in even-numbered years that are largely focused on budgetary matters.

Bills filed during this year’s session include measures making the day after the Super Bowl a state holiday known as “Football Monday” and designating August as “New Mexico Red and Green Chile Month” in New Mexico.

Some government and election rights advocates have argued uniform session lengths with no bill discussion limits would create more legislative progress. A bill to make every session 45 days — which would maintain the overall length in the biennium — is waiting on a House floor vote before heading to the Senate chamber.

Dick Mason, lobbyist with the League of Women Voters of New Mexico, said the league prefers making every session 60 days, but it’s difficult to extend session lengths without paying legislators. A bill to give legislators a salary appears dead this session after stalling in a Senate committee.

Instead of 60-day sessions every year, Armstrong said she’d like to see limits on how many bills lawmakers can carry, which would not only ensure legislators are pickier with what they sponsor but also make lobbyists more intentional in choosing sponsors.

Mason Graham, policy director at Common Cause New Mexico, said the pace of this year’s session will only increase as lawmakers approach the March 22 adjournment date, something that will affect the large number of new legislators this year.

“Now they’re going to be thrown into the fast-paced nature of the New Mexico Legislature,” he said.

Policy priorities for session’s second half

Looking ahead, proposals to overhaul New Mexico’s long-troubled child welfare agency could come under the spotlight at the Roundhouse during the session’s final weeks.

Two measures seeking to overhaul the Children, Youth and Families Department passed a House committee Friday, despite Lujan Grisham mobilizing Cabinet secretaries to show up in opposition.

Leading Democrats on Saturday cited the CYFD overhaul as a priority in the remaining weeks of the session, with Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, saying legislators could move “rapidly” on those measures.

Armstrong also identified changes to CYFD as a priority, citing legislation revising the state’s Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which applies to babies who are exposed to drugs or other substances.

“We don’t want to take those babies away, but what we do want is for those families to receive services and someone to have eyes on that baby to make sure that no more babies die in New Mexico,” she said.

Other bills that could prompt debate include a proposal to revise New Mexico’s medical malpractice law and legislation requiring more behavioral health training for county detention officers.

An empty House seat

One House seat has so far sat empty for the entirety of the Legislature: House District 6.

Former Rep. Eliseo Alcon, D-Milan, stepped down from the seat in late November due to health concerns, just a few weeks after winning reelection. He died at 74 in January.

To fill the west-central New Mexico House seat, Cibola and McKinley counties nominated former Rep. Harry Garcia, D-Grants. However, a residency investigation revealed Garcia didn’t actually live at the Grants residency he listed on a revised voter registration form, and Lujan Grisham called for new nominees.

That prompted county commissioners to send the governor two new names: former Sen. Clemente Sanchez of Grants and ex-Cibola County Commissioner Martha Garcia of Pine Hill.

But Lujan Grisham is taking her time making a decision, asking Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s office this month to investigate if Sanchez meets legal residency requirements.

The governor told the attorney general in a letter she could not “in good faith” make a decision until the matter is resolved.