On Tuesday, Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham opened the 2025 legislative session with her State of the State address and focused on child welfare, green energy, and cracking down on crime.
Senator Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque , is majority whip and said it was probably the best speech he’s heard from the governor.
“I think it was so far reaching and so wide ranging and so positive,” he said.
He was specifically grateful for the governor’s focus on reforming the Children, Youth, and Families Department.
“I think that's going to be a very positive thing for New Mexico's children. I will likely be the sponsor of most of that legislation,” he said.
Padilla said the governor’s agenda is probably realistic for the 60-day session.
“Sometimes governors will come forward and have such an enormous agenda that you get maybe a third of it, or a half of it done,” he said. “I would say that everything that the governor proposed was meaningful and achievable.”
Representative Alan Martinez, R-Rio Rancho, is minority whip and said he was glad to hear Lujan Grisham focus on crime.
“I've been here now three years and I've seen the Republicans introduce a lot of these bills,” he said. “But you know, crime doesn't only affect Republicans. It affects Democrats too. Why it took so long for them to listen to their communities? I'm still kind of confused about that part.”
He doesn’t consider the last six years under Lujan Grisham a success.
“We're still last in education, we're still first in crime, and we're still having problems at CYFD,” he said. “We've introduced bills to help reform CYFD, to provide oversight to CYFD. Some of those bills never even got a hearing in committee.”
Martinez said a proposed paid family medical leave bill would mean higher taxes for the business community.
“If you're a good business owner, you're going to take care of your employees,” he said. “But it should be their choice. I don't think the government needs to come in and mandate this and that.”
The legislative session will run through March 22nd at noon.
Support from the coverage comes from the Thornburg Foundation.
