With President-elect Trump set to take office in January, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has called his state’s Legislature into a special session to protect its policies against Trump’s agenda. In New Mexico, Democrats will maintain control over both chambers of the Legislature and continue to hold every statewide elected office next year. But Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has not followed Newsom’s lead. House Speaker Javier Martínez told KUNM that the Legislature is prepared to further protections in January’s regular session as needed, but that New Mexico is already “Trump-proof.”
Interview Highlights:
- On California’s special session to protect state policies from the Trump administration’s agenda: “In New Mexico, we have Trump-proofed our policies.”
- If the state Department of Justice tells the Legislature it needs more resources to go to court with the federal government: “We will absolutely consider that and make that happen.”
- On protecting abortion in New Mexico’s constitution, not just state law: “If community groups who work on this issue feel like that's what we need to do, then that's where we'll go.”
- On President-elect Trump’s promise to institute mass deportations: “We will ensure that our people are protected here.”
- If lawmakers introduce a ‘sanctuary state’ bill or other mass deportation protections: “I'll be ready to support those.”
- On Trump’s threat to roll back the Inflation Reduction Act: “I think that you'll see an effort by the Legislature to ensure that those programs continue.”
Javier Martínez: Well, look, Gavin Newsom is running for president. So, you know, God bless him. I guess he could go out there and showboat as much as he wants. In New Mexico, we have Trump-proofed our policies. We have some of the most generous tax policies for working people and small business owners in the country. We've protected abortion care for women and families here in New Mexico. We have some of the most aggressive climate initiatives and goals in the country. And, last I checked, states have a lot of say in a lot of day-to-day policies. So, I feel that the work that we've done over the last several years allows us to keep delivering for the people of New Mexico. And we're going to keep doing that in the upcoming 60-day session. But I'm also not going to showboat and pretend to, you know, be some sort of superhero wearing a cape against a guy who was duly elected president the United States.
KUNM: Do you think that Newsom's special session is insincere?
Martínez: You know, I don't know that I would call it "insincere," but I think that any state that pushes in the last few months of a calendar year before somebody takes office in Washington D.C. to Trump-proof — I mean, what have they been doing the last four years?
KUNM: His call is to bolster the state's resources to go to court over civil and reproductive rights, climate action and immigration. Is New Mexico already prepared to do the same?
Martínez: New Mexico is prepared to do the same. And I think that, in the upcoming legislative session, if our New Mexico Department of Justice feels like they need more resources to bolster up their operation to take the federal administration to court, then we will absolutely consider that and make that happen.
KUNM: New Mexico has codified abortion protections, but not constitutionally. We spoke during your campaign, and you said that you would support such an effort, but you weren't sure it was necessary. Does an impending Trump presidency and a GOP-led U.S. Senate and House change that at all?
Martínez: No. I mean, it's the rights of the state to decide abortion care post-Dobbs decision. In New Mexico, its statutes protect access to abortion care. Does abortion care have to be protected in the Constitution? I think we're good. I don't think we need to do that. But, you know, if the experts, if community groups who work on this issue, feel like that's what we need to do, then that's where we'll go.
KUNM: In 2019, both chambers in the state Legislature failed to pass a "sanctuary state" bill that would have prohibited state and local agencies from cooperating with federal immigration authorities to hold or deport people, and would have limited sheriffs' and jails' authority to hold ICE detainees. Would something like this be back on the table this year with Trump promising mass deportations?
Martínez: New Mexico already does not coordinate with federal immigration authorities. New Mexico has a long-standing tradition of embracing the stranger, of welcoming the stranger — whether you're in the oil fields of Hobbs or up in the farms of northern New Mexico. The reality is that Trump's mass deportation promise would not only create a huge humanitarian crisis, but it potentially will destroy the economic backbone of this country, including New Mexico. That's what he's promised. I hope he doesn't do it but, at the end of the day, New Mexico will be prepared to protect the people who live here, who pay taxes here, the people with whom we pray, the people with whom our kids go to school with, our relatives and friends. We will ensure that our people are protected here.
KUNM: Do you anticipate there being proposals to codify that kind of protection or strengthen kind of the "tradition" that you're referring to?
Martínez: I would expect colleagues of mine to introduce those types of protections if needed. And, you know, I'll be ready to support those.
KUNM: Considerable federal funds have come into New Mexico through the Inflation Reduction Act. President-elect Trump has threatened to roll back parts of that law, including rescinding unspent funds. Will there be an effort to bolster the Inflation Reduction Act-funded programs in the legislative session?
Martínez: Yeah. I mean, I think that you'll see an effort by the Legislature to ensure that those programs continue to deliver for people.
KUNM: Will that look like bolstering those programs with state funds?
Martínez: Sure, yeah, and also continuing the investments that we made in things like career technical education, right? We're not going to let Trump's wishy-washyness on these things end the opportunity for families in rural New Mexico who depend on the IRA for those jobs.
