Republicans urge governor to include hot-button issues on special session agenda

SANTA FE — With the start of a planned special session just two weeks away, top Republican legislators are urging Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to broaden the session agenda to include what they describe as “real emergencies” facing the state.

In a letter sent this week, the GOP lawmakers said issues like crime, homelessness and changes to New Mexico’s child welfare system are all more urgent than the state’s response to a federal budget bill signed in July by President Donald Trump.

“The people of New Mexico are convinced these are the real emergencies facing our state and we ask for your leadership in helping provide the Legislature with the opportunity to work in a bipartisan basis to adopt long overdue solutions to these most pressing problems,” four top Republicans wrote in their letter.

The legislators also pointed out they were not included in special session negotiations involving the Governor’s Office and top Democratic lawmakers.

But a spokeswoman for the Democratic governor pushed back Tuesday against the Republicans’ assertions while pointing out Lujan Grisham has urged the Legislature to approve crime-related legislation in recent sessions.

“The governor has been working closely with the majority in the Legislature to craft an agenda that has consensus,” Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Jodi McGinnis Porter told the Journal.

She also disputed Republican claims that federal changes to health care and food assistance programs would not take effect until 2027, giving lawmakers and state officials ample time to prepare.

While some Medicaid eligibility changes are not scheduled to take place until after next year, new work requirements for certain adults who receive food assistance benefits take effect in November, the Governor’s Office said.

In addition, a federal health care premium tax credit expires at the end of this year. The expiration of those tax credits is one reason the average price increases for individual plans sold through BeWell, New Mexico’s health insurance marketplace, will be 35.7%.

Lujan Grisham announced this month she would call lawmakers back to Santa Fe for a special session starting Oct. 1.

The special session, which will be the seventh called by the governor since she took office in 2019, will be focused on a state-level response to the federal spending reductions to Medicaid and food assistance programs that were approved by the GOP-controlled U.S. Congress.

The governor said last week she initially wanted to include additional issues on the special session agenda, including proposals dealing with road funding, interstate medical compacts, juvenile crime and New Mexico’s three federal immigration detention facilities.

But after meeting with Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, Lujan Grisham said she agreed to delay consideration of those issues until the 30-day session that starts in January. As part of the agreement, she said top-ranking Democrats committed to fast-tracking some of the bills to her desk during the 30-day session.

Under the state Constitution, special sessions are limited in scope to issues included in the governor’s special session proclamation. As such, any bills filed by legislators outside that scope are unlikely to be considered. A proclamation for this year’s special session is expected to be issued closer to the planned Oct. 1 start date, according to the Governor’s Office.

Democrats currently hold a sizable majority in both legislative chambers, as they outnumber Republicans by a 44-26 margin in the House of Representatives and by a 26-16 margin in the Senate.

Meanwhile, the Republicans who signed the letter are House GOP floor leader Gail Armstrong of Magdalena, House GOP whip Alan Martinez of Bernalillo, Senate GOP floor leader William Sharer of Farmington and Senate GOP whip Pat Woods of Broadview.