OPINION: New Mexico House Democrats delivered for you in productive session

In January, House Democrats laid out plans to make life better and more affordable for New Mexico families by expanding access to health care, building a sustainable universal child care system and protecting our communities from harm. Over the last several weeks, we have delivered on those promises and more, in a productive, fast-paced 30-day legislative session. That’s because unlike in our nation’s capital, where chaos and cruelty continue to dominate the political landscape, here in New Mexico we know how to get things done. 

As Republicans in Congress gutted Medicaid and allowed health care premiums to skyrocket across the country, we carried out a comprehensive plan to improve health care statewide. We expanded access by joining interstate health care compacts, lowered costs by strengthening the state’s Health Care Affordability Fund and invested in student loan repayment for medical providers. We also cut income taxes for doctors, doubled the size of our medical school and raised pay for residents to recruit and retain more providers in communities across New Mexico. 

We made smart, targeted changes to address concerns we heard from both patients and providers about our state’s medical malpractice laws. Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, and 23 other House Democrats sponsored House Bill 99, to bring our laws in line with other states, improve the climate for providers and continue to protect patient safety. 

While President Donald Trump called your affordability concerns a “hoax,” we pushed forward policies that lower costs for New Mexico families — including a first-of-its-kind universal child care system. This effort builds on more than a decade of work by advocates, parents and legislators who established a constitutional right to early childhood education and care and created a dedicated, multibillion-dollar funding stream for these programs. 

New Mexico is ensuring the longterm sustainability of universal child care and making sure that families who need support most are first in line for these life-changing services. House Democrats led the effort to raise pay for early childhood educators, so we can recruit and retain the best and the brightest to care for our youngest New Mexicans. This will also help build the child care workforce we need to meet the demand in our state. 

And while we all witnessed horrific scenes of violence at the hands of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the streets of Minneapolis, New Mexico took critical steps to protect our immigrant communities. We passed House Bill 9, the Immigrant Safety Act, which will get our state out of the business of contracting with ICE to detain folks for civil immigration violations in awful, inhumane conditions. This is not just the right thing to do — it will make our communities safer, by reassuring our immigrant friends, neighbors and family members that they don’t need to be afraid to seek help from local law enforcement when they need it. 

Additionally, we made real progress on public safety this session with investments and legislation to address the root causes of crime, support law enforcement, deter crime and prevent violence across our state. We strengthened our schools, safeguarded our natural resources, and invested in economic growth and opportunity statewide. We also took care of the workers who power our state — protecting pay raises for public employees, including police officers, firefighters and teachers, and lowering out-of-pocket health care costs for educators and school staff so they can keep more of what they earn. 

Because here in New Mexico, we keep our promises. We know that affordability, health care access, child care and public safety are not just talking points, they are real, daily struggles faced by families across our state, so we are focused on real, pragmatic solutions. In the weeks and months ahead, we’re going to continue this work for the people of our state, and we’re going to keep showing the rest of the country what it looks like to lead with integrity, vision and values. 

This op-ed was written by New Mexico House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, House Majority Floor Leader Reena Szczepanski, D-Santa Fe, House Majority Whip Day Hochman-Vigil, D-Albuquerque and House Majority Caucus Chair Raymundo Lara, D-Chamberino.