Ready, set, legislate! Lawmakers poised to move key bills quickly once 30-day session begins - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
Most legislative sessions start slow and gradually build to a frantic, sleep-deprived crescendo.
But the 30-day legislative session that begins Tuesday at the state Capitol could see quick action, as leading Democratic lawmakers have vowed to fast-track bills dealing with health care, roads and immigration detention facilities to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's desk.
A similar approach was also used during last year's 60-day session as a way to get bills passed in advance of the legislative logjam that typically takes place in a session's final days.
Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said the bills set to move quickly have been studied in the run-up to this year's session and debated in previous legislative sessions.
At a glance:
Hundreds of bills are expected to be filed during the 30-day legislative session that begins Tuesday at noon at the state Capitol in Santa Fe. Here are some key session dates:
- Jan. 20 — Session begins.
- Feb. 4 — Last day to introduce legislation.
- Feb. 19 — Session ends.
- March 11 — Deadline for governor to act on approved bills.
"I think there are four bills that have had a lot of work, have made a lot of progress in prior sessions and are ready to go," Wirth told the Journal, referring specifically to two interstate medical compact bills, a $1.5 billion road bonding bill and legislation prohibiting New Mexico local governments from contracting with federal agencies to detain immigrants for civil violations.
He also said a bill backed by Lujan Grisham to expand the grounds for involuntary mental health commitment will move quickly in the Senate during the session's opening week, though he said the bill could find trickier footing in the House.
House Minority Leader Gail Armstrong, R-Magdalena, said she has mixed feelings on the legislative blitzkrieg strategy, as Republicans at times draw out debate on bills — each bill can be debated on the House floor for three hours under the chamber's rules — in an attempt to slow how quickly Democratic-backed legislation can advance.
"I think fast-tracking on bipartisan (bills) is OK, but fast-tracking on controversial bills is hard," she said.
She also said Republicans — who are outnumbered by Democrats in both the House and Senate — would propose a range of bills dealing with health care and public safety issues.
"We're focused on playing defense, but we're also bringing forward ideas," Armstrong said in an interview.
For his part, House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, said affordability would be a driving focus during this year's session, citing efforts to increase funding for affordable housing and prevent steep health care premium increases for some New Mexico residents.
He also said legislators would debate more proposals dealing with New Mexico's long-troubled child welfare system, but expressed misgivings about bills to increase criminal penalties for violent juvenile offenders without also expanding treatment and prevention programs.
"What I'm not going to do is lock up kids and throw away the key," Martínez told the Journal. "That does not work. It has not worked in the past and it's not going to work now."
Bills proposed during last year's session to expand New Mexico's criminal code for juvenile offenders and extend the length of probation for released underage defendants both failed to win approval.
Governor's last chance to shape legacy
This year's session marks Lujan Grisham's final regular session as governor, as she is barred under the state Constitution from seeking a third consecutive term this year.
With her tenure nearing its end, the governor has asked lawmakers to fund a universal child care initiative she announced in September. So far, legislators have balked at the request, as it was not funded in a legislative budget plan released this month.
Lujan Grisham will deliver her final State of the State Address to lawmakers on the session's opening day on Tuesday, but her approach to the issue has rankled some lawmakers.
"I think she went about it all wrong," Armstrong said of the universal child care initiative. "She put us in a really tough position."
Leading Democratic lawmakers have sounded a more conciliatory tone, though Wirth acknowledged New Mexico's two previous governors — Democrat Bill Richardson and Republican Susana Martinez — did not have much success with legislators as their terms drew to a close.
"There's no question that there's a transition that's happening, but I'm encouraged there have been communications with Gov. Lujan Grisham and I think there's still a lot of good things we can do and super important things we can do," Wirth said.
While Lujan Grisham has sparred with Democratic legislative leaders over crime-related issues in recent years, she's continued to work with top-ranking lawmakers on bills on other topics.
That includes an effort to codify in state law a 2019 executive order that directed New Mexico to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030. The governor is expected to include the so-called Clear Horizons Act on the agenda for this year's session — though its approval is far from certain.
"The governor is a steadfast leader, and she's got big ideas that she often proposes to the Legislature," Martínez said. "Some of them have come to fruition and others have not, and I don't expect that to change."
A slow burn on some hot-button bills
While lawmakers could act in the session's opening days to advance some measures, the fates of other proposals likely won't be decided until the session's final days.
That could include proposals to change New Mexico's medical malpractice system, which was revamped in 2021 but has continued to generate fierce debate at the Roundhouse in subsequent years.
House Majority Leader Reena Szczepanski, D-Santa Fe, said during a Friday news conference she's planning to file legislation protecting doctors' personal assets from being seized under medical malpractice cases.
"No physician should face losing their home or their vehicle as the result of a medical malpractice case," Szczepanski said.
Rep. Jenifer Jones, R-Deming, has also filed a medical malpractice bill that she said would help stabilize New Mexico's health care system, and other proposals could also emerge.
New Mexico is facing a worsening health care provider shortage, as the state is projected to be 2,118 doctors short by 2030, according to a Cicero Institute report.
In addition, a legislative survey of physicians who work or previously worked in New Mexico found about 65% of doctors said they were considering relocating out of state. New Mexico's medical malpractice laws that do not cap punitive damages were the most common reason cited by doctors who participated in the survey.
Fred Nathan, the executive director of Think New Mexico, a Santa Fe-based think tank that has advocated for changes to the state's medical malpractice law and other health care-related legislation, expressed optimism about such measures winning approval during this year's session.
"The need to address the doctor and healthcare worker shortages is becoming more urgent and as a consequence it is more likely that there will be forward progress achieved this session on medical malpractice reform as well as joining all 10 of the interstate healthcare worker compacts," Nathan said.
However, the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association has opposed recent proposals to overhaul New Mexico's medical malpractice laws and insisted critics' claims are overblown.
Feliz Rael, the group's president, said the state Trial Lawyers Association is only aware of one case in which a doctor had to pay out of his personal assets. That case involved the watering down of chemotherapy treatments, Rael said.
As the debate has simmered, Lujan Grisham has increasingly supported the push to change New Mexico's medical malpractice laws in recent years, and Wirth said the Governor's Office has convened recent talks between hospital officials, lawyers and other involved parties.
"Having been in the middle of many of these negotiations, we've been able to make changes when the parties are able to find that sweet spot," Wirth said.
Budget fights taking shape
The only bill lawmakers technically must pass during the 30-day session is a new spending bill for the fiscal year that begins in July.
House and Senate budget-writing committees already started holding hearings last week to jump-start the process, including hearing presentations from state agency leaders.
So far, the biggest difference between the governor's spending plan and a Legislative Finance Committee plan is funding for the universal child care initiative. While the governor proposed spending an additional $160 million in the coming year on state-subsidized child care assistance, the legislative plan would only earmark about $10 million in additional funding for the program.
Armstrong predicted the issue would be one of the biggest fights of this year's session, saying the governor's plan is "just not affordable" and could undermine family values.
Martínez, who led a 2022 push to increase the annual distributions from a state permanent fund for early childhood programs, said he supports the concept of universal child care but said there are "philosophical" differences of opinion about how such a system should be built out.
Meanwhile, changes to the state's tax code could also generate debate at the Roundhouse.
After the Governor's Office floated the idea, Wirth said he's warmed to the idea of crafting a tax package using non-recurring dollars that could have a set expiration date of three years after enactment. Such a package could include tax breaks for medical providers and New Mexico's burgeoning quantum industry.
"I actually think that's fiscally responsible given all the headwinds coming from Washington," Wirth said.
While New Mexico state spending has increased by more than 70% since 2019, projected state revenue levels were pared back late last year in part due to impacts of a federal budget bill signed by President Donald Trump.
Top Democratic legislators say New Mexico is poised to weather the uncertainty — at least for now — due to the decision in recent cash-flush years to set aside some money in trust funds for future use.
But Republicans have argued more of the state's budget surplus should be returned to taxpayers, either by reducing the state's personal income tax or providing rebates.
With the state's revenue growth showing signs of cooling off, debate at the Roundhouse on such issues could intensify — especially in a 30-day session in which time is at a premium.
"I just want everyone to get along," said Armstrong, "but unfortunately that's not how politics works."
Advocacy groups push to expand immigrant services, driver protections during session - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
A group of eight New Mexico immigrant advocacy groups say they’ll push the Legislature to expand data privacy protections and increase funding for services during the session beginning Tuesday.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office has said the governor will include for consideration a proposal banning public entities from enabling immigrant detention during the 30-day session, which is otherwise focused primarily on passing the state budget.
Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos said in a news release this week that they support the detention measure, known as the “Immigrant Safety Act.”
“The Immigrant Safety Act is a critical step to protect New Mexican families by closing existing gaps in state law and prohibiting new detention contracts,” the groups said in a statement.
But they are also calling on lawmakers to go farther to protect immigrants. They released a platform in English and Spanish calling on the Legislature to restrict the sharing of license plate data; make permanent the existing Office of New Americans; expand funds for immigrant legal services; and expand workforce development opportunities for immigrants.
Groups comprising the “New Mexico Immigration Legislation Working Group” include Contigo Immigrant Justice, the Semilla Project, Semilla Action, CAFé Accion and the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, along with the ACLU and El Centro.
“During these unprecedented times of uncertainty and growing challenges for immigrant communities, it is essential that we work together to promote safety, expand opportunity, and support our families across New Mexico,” the groups said in a statement.
On Friday, the Democratic Party of Santa Fe endorsed a similar platform, including a “New Mexico Driver Safety and Privacy Act” that the party says would ensure people “residing in New Mexico and engaged in lawful and constitutionally protected activities would not have their private and confidential information shared with any agency seeking to detain or deport them.”
Earlier this week, New Mexico Sen. Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe) and Rep. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos) pre-filed legislation that sought to provide “limitations on the sharing of automated license plate reader information and requiring reporting,” according to the bill description.
The bill text was not immediately available, House Democratic leaders said during a news conference Friday, but they said they are pushing for the legislation.
The advocacy groups said the state currently has “no limits” on automatic license plate reader technology, which means outside organizations including the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency can access it.
So they called on the Legislature to pass a bill that “would establish guardrails so surveillance data cannot be misused against immigrants, patients seeking medical care, or protesters,” the coalition said in a statement. “The Legislature must adopt these protections to safeguard privacy and prevent federal overreach.”
Regarding the immigrant detention legislation, Democrats in the majority have said they have reached a consensus on the bill and are hoping to pass the “Immigrant Safety Act” within the first two weeks of the session.
But Republicans said Thursday they oppose the legislation that they said would undermine federal immigration law and also would devastate local economies.
“The only outcome of ‘banning’ ICE Detention Facilities in New Mexico would be the destruction of New Mexico jobs and economic support for local communities,” Sen. Bill Sharer (R-Farmington) said in a statement. “Furthermore, by disrupting the enforcement of federal law with this virtue-signaling, Democrat lawmakers would enable violent criminals, who are in the United States illegally, the ability to continue terrorizing our neighborhoods.”
Actor Timothy Busfield's attorneys say an investigation undermines state's child sex abuse charges - By Audrey Mcavoy, Associated Press
Emmy Award-winning actor Timothy Busfield's attorneys told a court Friday he should be released while he awaits the outcome of child sex abuse charges against him because an independent investigation undermined the state's allegations, the parents of his accusers have a history of fraud and dishonesty, and he passed a polygraph test.
Busfield was ordered held without bond at his first court appearance Wednesday, a day after he turned himself in to face charges stemming from allegations that he inappropriately touched a minor on the set of a TV series he was directing in New Mexico.
A judge will hold a detention hearing on Tuesday to determine whether Busfield will remain in jail.
Albuquerque police issued a warrant for his arrest last week on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse. A criminal complaint alleges the acts occurred on the set of the series "The Cleaning Lady," which was filmed in the city.
In a video shared before turning himself in, Busfield called the allegations lies. Busfield, who is married to actor Melissa Gilbert, is known for appearances in "The West Wing," "Field of Dreams" and "Thirtysomething."
According to the criminal complaint, an investigator with the police department says the child reported Busfield touched him on private areas over his clothing on one occasion when he was 7 years old and another time when he was 8.
The boy's twin brother told authorities he was also touched by Busfield, but did not specify where. He said he didn't say anything because he didn't want to get in trouble.
Busfield's attorneys said in court filings that the allegations against him emerged only after the boys lost their role in the TV show, creating a financial and retaliatory motive. The filings detailed what the attorneys said was a history of fraud by both the father and mother.
They cited an investigation by Warner Bros. into the allegations, which they said prosecutors didn't include in their criminal complaint, found the allegations unfounded. Independent witnesses supported the report's conclusions, the court filings said.
Busfield also submitted letters vouching for his character. His passing of the polygraph test aligns with the other information submitted, his attorneys said.
Legal experts say New Mexico is among a few states that allow polygraph evidence in criminal cases, but a judge has final say over whether one can be used. There are strict requirements for admission.
Judge invalidates top federal prosecutor's appointment, but leaves him in charge under new job title - Colleen Heild, Albuquerque Journal
The Trump administration's effort to install a U.S. attorney for New Mexico without U.S. Senate confirmation has failed, but a federal judge allowed Ryan Ellison to be a top prosecutor under another title.
Ellison is among six U.S. Department of Justice appointees, two of whom have been controversial, who have lost their interim or acting U.S. attorney titles over the past year after federal courts invalidated their appointments as unlawful.
"The issues presented arise in a context unfamiliar to most citizens, lawyers and, judges," wrote Senior U.S. District Judge David Ogden Nuffer in a 53-page ruling released Wednesday. "The fundamental pillars of checks and balances among co-equal branches of the United States federal government are implicated."
In less than a year, Ellison has gone from an assistant U.S. attorney to interim U.S. attorney and then "acting" U.S. attorney.
The Alamogordo native now holds the title of first assistant U.S. attorney after lawyers for about 20 criminal defendants challenged his acting U.S. attorney appointment as illegal and asked for his disqualification from and dismissal of their pending cases.
"Mr. Ellison is not, and was never, a validly acting United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico," Nuffer said in his ruling. "He has been invalidly claiming to serve in that capacity since his resignation as interim United States Attorney on August 13, 2025."
There is no U.S. attorney for New Mexico, but the judge ruled that Ellison will assume that responsibility for the most part as the second-in-charge.
New Mexico's U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, both Democrats, issued a statement Thursday saying, “New Mexicans deserve a chief federal prosecutor focused on keeping our communities safe. And that requires a fidelity to the law, which this administration is clearly uninterested in.”
Lawyers for the defendants pointed out that the Trump administration has attempted to use similar methods of installing acting U.S. attorneys in New Jersey, Nevada, the Los Angeles area, northern New York and in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Nuffer was asked to hear the Ellison appointment challenge in September after all New Mexico's federal judges recused themselves.
Typically, the president would send a nominee for U.S. attorney to be confirmed by the Senate, as happened with Ellison's predecessor Alexander M.M. Uballez, an appointee of President Biden in 2022.
After Trump took office and asked Uballez to resign, Ellison became an interim U.S. attorney April 17, a temporary post that had a 120-day term.
To stay in office without the traditional U.S. Senate confirmation, Ellison resigned that post Aug. 13, several days before that term expired. The next day, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi designated him the first assistant U.S. attorney with authority to serve as acting U.S. attorney.
Nuffer wrote that the method used by the Trump administration was "an apparent attempt to contravene the clear and plain limitations Congress implemented for the temporary filling" of the U.S. attorney's job. But Nuffer, an Obama appointee, noted that the "tension between the Executive and Congress regarding (such appointments) is not unique to this administration."
He also rejected the criminal defendants' request for dismissal of their charges filed when he held the acting post, as well as finding no need to disqualify him from supervising those cases.
"Since I was appointed last April, I’ve repeatedly used the phrase 'for however long I serve' because the duration of my time leading the United States Attorney’s Office has always been uncertain. Even though my title has changed, my mission remains the same," Ellison said in a press release on Thursday.
It wasn't clear whether Trump will ever nominate a U.S. attorney for New Mexico subject to Senate confirmation during the remainder of his term.
"As the top federal prosecutor in New Mexico, I will work tirelessly to enhance public safety for all New Mexicans," Ellison added. "I look forward to continuing to work with public servants of all political stripes for the betterment of our state — for however long I serve.”
Nuffer noted that it was reasonable to infer that because of Ellison's length of service, which spanned multiple executive administrations, he is a career official with knowledge of the U.S. Attorney's Office.
"And there is no record evidence that he lacks the qualification or the ability to serve in the role of (First Assistant U.S. Attorney)," the judge wrote. "Defendants have also failed to identify sufficient legal authority demonstrating that the motive behind Mr. Ellison's designation somehow invalidates the designation."
In the five other cases, one of Trump's former private attorneys, Alina Habba, was found to be unlawfully appointed to the U.S. attorney's job in New Jersey. In eastern Virginia, a judge ruled that another of Trump's former personal lawyer, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed as interim U.S. attorney and dismissed cases she had brought against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey.
Mark Baker, a former assistant U.S. attorney who is a private attorney in Albuquerque, said of Nuffer's ruling, "Like in other parts of the country, the Trump administration distorted the process for confirming the U.S. Attorney. That violates the Constitution. The only surprising thing about yesterday’s ruling is that Ryan 'Ry' Ellison and the administration made a federal court issue an order confirming that the Constitution still matters.
"Every other person to serve as U.S. Attorney has submitted to Senate confirmation before trying to serve as the top federal law enforcement officer in this state. It’s dangerous for the State, crime victims, defendants, and law enforcement to not have a legitimate, vetted, and confirmed U.S. Attorney," Baker added.
State Republican Party Chairwoman Amy Barela issued a statement, saying, “This decision affirms the validity of Mr. Ellison’s designation as First Assistant U.S. Attorney and his commitment to public safety that benefits all New Mexicans."
"Ryan Ellison has done exactly what he was put in his position to do — responsibly, respectfully, and in a nonpartisan manner by following the rule of law," Barela stated. "New Mexicans deserve effective leadership that focuses on securing our state first, not political theater aimed at undermining justice.”
Santa Fe school board puts off E.J. Martinez decision, will weigh more options - Santa Fe New Mexican
The Santa Fe school board continues to delay a final decision on what to do about E.J. Martinez Elementary School.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the board was not able to keep a December promise to come up with a plan for the school. Instead, the board on Thursday indicated its intent to study three options.
Thursday night’s meeting of the Santa Fe school board ran late into the night. Eventually, the board voted to reassess three options: to rebuild E.J. Martinez; to keep E.J. as a “school within a school” at Chaparral Elementary, where they are currently attending school — or to do so within Milagro Middle School.
The New Mexican reports the vote followed a long and emotional public comment period. Public comment was characterized by strong support for the school remaining intact in some form. E.J. Martinez parents, teachers and students asked the board to adopt a plan that would keep the school’s community together.
Many of them promoted a solution the district has been exploring since November: moving E.J.’s students and teachers into Milagro Middle School.
The New Mexican reports that option was not embraced by Milagro staff at the meeting.
Last year, the board voted to not rebuild E.J. Martinez after estimates placed the cost of a rebuild project at $35 million.