Special legislative session on crime slated for July

Lawmakers earlier this year passed 17 public safety bills and devoted millions of dollars to enhanced equipment and officer pay raises and bonuses, but Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says more can be done to counter crime in New Mexico, so she is calling the Legislature back for a special session.

The governor announced the special session that begins July 18 to “take up additional public safety protections that New Mexicans demand,” according to a news release issued Wednesday.

The special session, which will be the fifth of her tenure as governor, will “allow lawmakers to finish what they started during the 30-day session,” the release stated.

Based on discussions with legislative leadership, the governor anticipates that the special session will be completed within several days.

“While we made some progress toward a safer New Mexico during the 30-day session, we agree that we must do more,” Gov. Lujan Grisham said. “The special session in July will enable us to deliver additional statutory changes that reduce the danger and risk New Mexico communities face every day. The best proposals for making our state safer will be under consideration, and I welcome input from my colleagues in the Legislature.”

The release didn’t offer specifics on what she’d like to see enacted.

A post-session review of the recent regular 30-day session singled out two new laws addressing firearms — a top concern of Lujan Grisham, who last fall issued a series of public health orders to reduce violent gun crimes.

The review by the Legislative Finance Committee released Wednesday noted that the passage of House Bill 129 requires a seven-day waiting period for gun purchases that require a background check, making a violation of the law a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.

Senate Bill 5 created a new crime of carrying a firearm near a polling place while early voting is in progress or on Election Day, punishable by up to one year in jail.

However, lawmakers failed to pass the governor-endorsed bill to raise the age to purchase automatic firearms to 21 from the current minimum of 18 years of age, which never made it to the House floor for a vote. That bill was sponsored by Rep. Reena Szczepanski, D-Santa Fe.

The governor’s proposed assault weapons bill, sponsored by Rep. Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe, was intended to curb gun violence by regulating the manufacture, possession and sale of certain gas-operated semi-automatic weapons and devices. It died in committee after one House hearing.

Of the 17 new public safety laws, higher penalties for second-degree murder were enacted, and a pretrial detention change will allow judges to hold someone charged with a felony without bond if that person picks up another felony charge while waiting to go to trial.

Sen. Joe Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he believes the special session should focus on the “absence of resources to enforce existing law.”

“The fundamental problem with crime in Albuquerque is not a lack of laws. It’s lack of accountability and enforcement of those laws,” he said.

Cervantes said he hoped the governor would be receptive to initiatives from the Legislature before the special session “and that my colleagues will step up to consider some changes in law.

But he added, “It’s hard to imagine that you can accomplish in a matter of a couple of days the work that it’s going to take to restore public trust in public safety in Albuquerque and elsewhere.”

Senate Minority Whip Craig Brandt, R-Rio Rancho, said he had “five or six bills that were directly related to the crime issue in New Mexico. And none of them went through (last session). We had 30 days to deal with this, and now we’re going to come in (to enact legislation) in two or three days? It concerns me what’s going to be in those bills.”

“We could have done all this in the regular session, where we actually had time to debate and make sure that the bill doesn’t have unintended consequences,” Brandt said. “There’s a lot of times we end up later on coming back and saying, ‘Oh, that wasn’t what we really wanted it to be. It didn’t help, in fact, it made it worse.”

New Mexico House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, Majority Floor Leader Gail Chasey, D-Albuquerque, Majority Whip Szczepanski, and Majority Caucus Chair Ray Lara, D-Chamberino, issued a statement that said, in part, “We share the Governor’s commitment to ensuring all New Mexicans can feel safe in their homes and communities. We also want all of our neighbors to be able to get the help they need when they or a loved one are struggling with mental or behavioral health issues.

“In the coming weeks and months, it will be critical for us as elected leaders to work together with stakeholders and experts to develop meaningful solutions to these challenges. In order to be responsible public servants and stewards of taxpayer dollars, we must enter the special session with a set of achievable goals that will genuinely make our communities safer, improve access to healthcare and services, and protect the rights of New Mexicans.”

The Republican Party of New Mexico Chairman and former congressman Steve Pearce said in a statement, “For the sake of New Mexicans, I hope that the Governor will engage in meaningful conversations with Republicans and heed their advice on addressing the criminal issues plaguing our state to ensure that this special session will be productive.”

Chief Public Defender Ben Baur of the state Law Office of the Public Defender said in an email, “We look forward to the Special Session, and hope that legislation will focus on creating greater access to treatment for behavioral health and substance use issues and on evidence-based approaches to improving the safety of our communities.”

The post-session LFC report stated that lawmakers increased the budgets for almost all agencies dealing with criminal justice, public safety, the courts and law enforcement in the next fiscal year that begins July 1.

“In the 2024 session, the Legislature focused on reducing crime by improving the swiftness and certainty of justice for repeat violent offenders and improving funding for law enforcement agencies statewide.”

The state Department of Public Safety will see its general fund revenue increase by nearly $7.9 million, with funding focused on recurring costs such as ammunition, Tasers, body cameras and in-car cameras.