NM GOP asks governor to put crime bills on 2026 legislative agenda - Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
Republicans in the New Mexico Legislature on Monday sent a letter to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asking her to include public safety matters on the upcoming legislative session’s agenda.
The 30-day session scheduled for January is for lawmakers to propose and vote on fiscal matters. If lawmakers want to file bills unrelated to the budget, the matter must be on the governor’s legislative agenda, known as a “call,” for the session.
“Over the past several years, your administration has taken steps to support law enforcement, strengthen behavioral-health resources, and address some of the complex drivers of crime. Unfortunately, the progressive-controlled Legislature has failed to advance substantial, commonsense solutions to New Mexico’s crime epidemic,” the letter, signed by Rep. Andrea Reeb (R-Clovis) and Sen. Crystal Brantley (R-Elephant Butte), said.
Jodi McGinnis Porter, a spokesperson for the governor, told Source NM that Lujan Grisham is out of town and has not yet reviewed the letter. But, public safety will be on the call for the 2026 legislative session, she said.
“The governor has consistently prioritized this issue, as demonstrated by her recent declarations of emergencies in Albuquerque and Española and her previous declarations addressing gun violence and the drug crisis,” she wrote in an email to Source. “She welcomes collaboration with legislators from both parties who share her commitment to keeping New Mexicans safe.”
The Republicans’ request comes one week after the governor’s senior public safety adviser attended an event for the New Mexico GOP-led Public Safety Legislative Task Force, at which he told lawmakers that a New Mexican child or teenager is arrested while possessing a firearm three out of four days.
The task force subsequently issued on Monday a 35-page report titled “A State in Crisis: Confronting New Mexico’s Crime Epidemic and Restoring Public Safety,” which lays out several legislative priorities Republicans hope to pursue in the upcoming session.
The report contains proposals to:
- Expand the definition of “fentanyl” in state law to include “fentanyl-related substances”
- Establish a “clear and convincing” burden of proof for a judge to decrease a criminal sentence
- Create a minimum period of incarceration for people facing a second, or subsequent, felony conviction
- Create a minimum period of incarceration for drug trafficking that results in death
- Allow prosecuting attorneys to seek enhancements to criminal sentences for prior felony convictions beyond the current 10-year window allowed under state law
- Increase penalties for distributing Schedule 1 or 2 narcotics or methamphetamine to children
- Increase penalties for a felon in possession of a firearm
- Create statutory requirements for the New Mexico All Source Intelligence Center, including requirements to provide threat management and community engagement resources across the state
- Shift burden to the defendant, rather than prosecutors, on issues of bail reform and release from jail
- Create a constitution provision to return property taxes paid by someone whose property was damaged “by a county or municipality’s failure to enforce their nuisance ordinances”
Likewise, two Democrat lawmakers recently said they’d ask the governor to include public safety matters on the upcoming session’s agenda. Rep. Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) and Sen. Heather Berghmans (D-Albuquerque) last week announced their plans to propose legislation that would require intensive training for firearms dealers across the state.
Lujan Grisham has focused intensely on public safety in recent years. In 2023, she called on lawmakers to pass a ban on assault rifles and in 2024 she called firearm legislation “the most important work” before New Mexico’s elected leaders.
She called a special legislative session last year to address “urgent public safety issues.” At the time, she requested legislative proposals on criminal competency, crime reporting, gun violence, drug overdoses and more. The special session adjourned after a matter of hours without any such bills.
NM Dept. of Health continues to recommend hepatitis B vaccine for newborns
-Daniel Montano, KUNM News
The New Mexico Department of Health announced Monday that it “continues to strongly recommend” hepatitis B vaccinations for all newborns.
DOH officials say because the state updated protocols surrounding vaccine recommendations, the announcement means the hepatitis B vaccine will still be covered by most insurance including Medicaid.
NMDOH Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Miranda Durham, says for decades the hepatitis B vaccine has been proven safe and effective at protecting children from infections, especially in settings like day care and schools where others may not know they are infected.
DOH officials say their recommendations are in line with other professional organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the president of which called the recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “irresponsible and purposefully misleading.”
Since 1991, when the vaccine was recommended for all newborns, DOH says infections have decreased in children and teens by 99%.
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has been in the spotlight as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed and replaced all previous members, installing people with a history of vaccine skepticism.
In response the State of New Mexico issued new pharmacy protocols, which allowed pharmacists to use guidance from other bodies like the New Mexico Department of Health.
State revenue growth cools amid falling oil prices, but $105M in ‘new’ money still projected
-Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
For the first time after five years of record-breaking revenue growth, New Mexico is projected to take in less money during the current budget year than it did in the past year.
Specifically, the state is projected to collect $13.4 billion in recurring revenue during the fiscal year that ends in June 2026, according to new estimates released Monday.
That's $212.6 million less than was collected in the just-finished budget year — and roughly $322 million less than had been previously projected in August.
The revenue dip, caused largely by falling oil prices and lower-than-expected corporate income tax collections connected to a federal budget bill, could prompt legislators to take a more tight-fisted approach to budget requests during the 30-day session that starts next month.
"This is not a doom forecast, but it is a very sobering forecast," said Rep. Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces, the chairman of the Legislative Finance Committee, during a Monday hearing at the state Capitol.
Despite the revenue cooldown, lawmakers are still projected to have $105.7 million in "new" money available during the coming budget year. New money represents the difference between anticipated revenue amounts and current spending levels.
In addition, revenue amounts would be even higher if factoring in a one-time general fund spike of $511.9 million from the State Land Office, which was generated by larger — and more lucrative — oil and gas rent and lease sales than expected.
During Monday's hearing at the Roundhouse, the top budget official in Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's administration read news headlines from several other states facing budget shortfalls.
Compared to those states, New Mexico remains in a "pretty good position," said Finance and Administration Secretary Wayne Propst.
"Even in a worst-case low oil price scenario, we are still in a position where we're not needing to look at recurring appropriation expenditure reductions," Propst said.
For her part, the governor said her administration has worked diligently to ensure New Mexico is in a sound fiscal position.
"This momentum comes despite the constant failures at the federal level that are hurting our state," Lujan Grisham said in a statement. "But New Mexico refuses to abandon its people, something that can’t be said of the Trump administration."
LFC Director Charles Sallee said last week that state spending has increased by about 80% since 2019, fueled primarily by an unprecedented oil production boom in southeast New Mexico.
While much of that spending has gone toward funding new initiatives like tuition-free college and increasing teacher and state worker pay levels, lawmakers have also set aside hefty amounts of money in trust funds for future use. New Mexico now has the nation's second-largest sovereign wealth fund — behind only Alaska — with more than $64 billion in various funds.
With oil production in the Permian Basin projected to peak by as soon as this year, Sallee said it's imperative those spending infusions show positive economic and social results for the state.
"We've got to make those investments count," Sallee said during a webinar hosted by the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce.
Several legislators voiced similar thoughts during Monday's hearing, with Rep. Derrick Lente, D-Sandia Pueblo, saying it's unlikely lawmakers will approve a package of tax cuts or other tax code changes during the 30-day session due to the state's revenue situation.
"While we've done a great job, maybe this is not the year to have a tax package discussion," Lente said.
However, state revenue collections are projected to continue increasing in future years. Specifically, revenue levels are projected to eclipse $14.4 billion by the 2028 budget year.
The revenue estimates are compiled twice-yearly by legislative and executive branch economists. The numbers will be used as a blueprint for lawmakers in crafting a new spending plan for the coming budget year.
New Mexico is already feeling some of the funding impacts of the federal budget bill signed by President Donald Trump in July.
That includes the projected decrease in corporate income tax collections, which state Taxation and Revenue Secretary Stephanie Schardin Clarke attributed to federal tax deductions and other tax code changes.
"Federal tax changes, federal layoffs and global tariffs have weakened the national and global economy, impacting New Mexico revenue in many ways," Schardin Clarke said. "Despite that, New Mexico remains in an incredibly strong position to weather this storm."
But Senate Minority Leader William Sharer, R-Farmington, said the federal tax changes could also be benefitting the state's oil industry, and thereby minimizing potential revenue losses to the state.
In addition, Rep. Rebecca Dow, R-Truth or Consequences, said the state could be missing out on some federal grants by not complying with Trump administration mandates.
"There are regulatory barriers in the way of us having a thriving economy," Dow said during Monday's hearing. "There are philosophical and political barriers, too."
Top state health officials have said the federal budget bill could, once fully implemented, lead to hospital closures and job losses in New Mexico, due primarily to changes to Medicaid and a food assistance program utilized by more than 20% of state residents.
Lujan Grisham called two special legislative sessions this fall to deal with state-level impacts of the federal budget bill.
Data center Project Jupiter’s greenhouse gas emissions could rival NM’s largest cities - Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
Developers behind Project Jupiter, the controversial campus of data centers slated for Doña Ana County, have asked state environment officials to sign off on their plans to emit more greenhouse gases than the state’s two largest cities combined, and to generate as much electricity as the state’s largest power company.
Applications for air quality permits confirm figures that Source NM previously reported: If approved, Project Jupiter could emit more than 14 million tons of greenhouse gases per year. By comparison, Albuquerque and Las Cruces emit a combined 6.7 million metric tons of greenhouse gases annually, according to both cities’ climate action plans. The applications also say developers seek to install 41 turbines to annually generate about as much electricity as PNM.
Developers filed two applications, one for a “west microgrid” and one for an “east microgrid.” A microgrid is a self-reliant energy grid that doesn’t need to draw power from a larger utility, like PNM or El Paso Electric. For months, plans have made it clear that developers want to build natural gas generating stations for Project Jupiter’s microgrids, prompting concerns from residents and lawmakers that the data centers won’t comply with the state’s landmark clean energy law, which requires utilities to use 50% renewable energy by 2030, 80% by 2040 and 100% by 2045.
The applications show that together, the microgrids will emit nearly 500 tons per year of nitrogen oxides, an important ingredient in contributing to ozone. Individually, one microgrid is listed at 249.97 tons per year and the other at 248.9.
Environmental advocates say the developers’ proposal to split emissions across two permits for the same project appears to skirt state regulations, which classify projects with at least 250 tons per year of nitrogen oxides as “major sources” of hazardous air pollutants and subject them to arduous monitoring.
“They’ve split it into two separate plants that are ‘minor sources’ to avoid having to monitor their actual air quality impacts, which are going to be huge,” said Colin Cox, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “They’re coming up to 99.9% of the threshold for when they’d have to do additional work.”
The American Lung Association has long given Doña Ana County a failing grade for ozone, which can cause asthma attacks, increased risk of respiratory infections and even increased risk of premature death.
BorderPlex Digital Assets, the company that has represented Project Jupiter in public meetings, did not respond to a request for comment.
The permits will only have to go through a public hearing process if an “outside party,” which can include a resident of the area, requests it, according to a spokesperson for the New Mexico Environment Department. No hearings have been scheduled.
Members of the public have, however, tried to stop the project in court.
In October, two residents and a local nonprofit filed a lawsuit against elected members of the Doña Ana County Commission and accused them of voting on an incomplete application when they approved $165 billion in government-backed bonds for the project in September.
“We’ve seen this with other air permit applications, where they’re right under the limit,” Maslyn Locke, a New Mexico Environmental Law Center senior attorney who is representing residents in the case, told Source NM. “Ultimately that means everything has to go 100% perfectly as they operate to not violate that…I don’t know if that’s realistic.”
Since filing suit in October, the nonprofit Empowerment Congress of Doña Ana County has withdrawn as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Another lawsuit, filed by Las Cruces resident Derrick Pacheco, alleged that county leaders acted inappropriately when they approved the project even though it had yet to go through the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Lawyers representing the county have asked judges to toss both cases.
Albuquerque waives fees, eases rules to bring more neighborhood markets to food desert - Natalie Robbins, Albuquerque Journal
The city of Albuquerque is making it easier for small, locally owned neighborhood markets to open for business to help relieve the city’s food deserts, Mayor Tim Keller announced Wednesday.
Under the new law, the city’s Environmental Health Department is waiving the permitting fee for one year for businesses that promise to provide healthy, affordable foods in underserved areas, said Mark DiMenna, the department’s deputy director.
“Our aim is to support food accessibility while ensuring the food is safe with these changes,” DiMenna said.
Keller also announced proposed changes to the city’s zoning and development laws that will allow small neighborhood markets to open closer to neighborhoods and within walking distance of homes.
“Every family deserves a convenient place to buy fresh food without having to drive miles,” Keller said in a statement. “This plan will open doors for our local food economy and expand grocery options for families, right in their own neighborhood.”
Nearly 80% of households in Bernalillo County live in a food desert, which is an area with limited access to healthy and affordable food, according to a city report.
Parts of Albuquerque’s South Valley and International District are considered food deserts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture; the former Walmart on San Mateo, which served as the main source of food for many International District residents, shuttered its doors in March 2023 and remains empty more than two-and-a-half years later.
Access to healthy food is “absolutely critical” for the residents of Albuquerque, said District 6 City Councilor Nichole Rogers.
“Allowing folks to help by offering foods in our neighborhoods so they don’t have to go miles to get fresh food is going to amount to higher life expectancy,” Rogers said. “Fresh food is medicine.”
More than 8,000 families in the International District do not have a car, according to Rogers, who represents the neighborhood. Without a grocery store in the area, residents must use public transit to do their shopping, which can be burdensome, especially for the elderly, Rogers said.
“They’re having to go further on the bus more times per week, because they can only carry a certain amount of things on the bus in their cart,” Rogers said. “The folks I’m most concerned about are our transit-dependent folks and our seniors.”
Rogers said she’s excited about the mayor’s executive order, which she says she and her constituents helped to develop through the district’s Food Systems Project focused on food insecurity.
“He’s basically modeling what he’s doing off of what we started in District 6, which I’m grateful (for). Taking it citywide is needed,” she said.
Rogers said the executive order is an “economic development opportunity” for those in her district who have been working with food.
Rogers said that while the expediting business permitting process is “a step in the right direction,” the city’s food permit requirements still present one of the biggest barriers to food access, since businesses must have a commercial kitchen to sell food or produce.
The International District doesn’t have a commercial kitchen available for nonprofits or markets to rent, as other neighborhoods in Albuquerque do.
“It’s definitely something that the mayor can do to help just ease the barriers for folks,” Rogers said.
The mayor’s executive order will waive permitting fees for one year, but the terms of the new permanent rule will go through a public comment period in the coming weeks, said city spokesperson Jeremy Dyer.