A package of six bills designed to address crime passed the House Judiciary Committee in the legislature Wednesday and is set to be debated by the full House.
The committee passed the package in a 7-4 vote along party lines, with Republican members voting against it.
The bills which are now wrapped into a package called House Bill 8 are:
House Bill 4 which would expand treatment options for some mentally ill defendants and expand the circumstances in which defendants deemed dangerous and unfit to stand trial could be involuntarily committed.
House Bill 38 banning devices which would convert a semi automatic firearm into a fully automatic firearm
House Bill 31 which would increase the penalty for making a shooting threat
House Bill 16 which would increase penalties for trafficking fentanyl
House Bill 106 which expands the circumstances under which law enforcement can seek a warrant to draw blood if they suspect intoxication
House Bill 50 which would increase penalties for vehicle theft
One committee member, Rep. Matthew McQueen (D-Sandoval), expressed reservations about packaging the bills together, later clarifying to KUNM that he objected to the possibility of blood draws without a warrant.
Two Republican members said they voted no because the package does not include efforts to address juvenile crime. Law enforcement leaders, including Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman, have raised concerns about increased crime by young people. Rep. Nicole Chavez (R-Albuquerque), whose son was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2015, said that she believed juvenile crime had worsened since then, and Rep. Andrea Reeb (R-Chaves) called the issue a "humongous problem".
Committee chair Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos) said that delinquency law is complicated.
"I think we need the time and the deliberative process to work on that bill," she said. "And I'm sorry people are disappointed that we didn't rush it through. But rush doesn't mean good. Rush often gets outcomes that are not good."
A coalition of 11 organizations called the Public Safety Coalition, which includes the ACLU and Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless, released a statement that it said would have been shared in public comment today. Chair Chandler said that there would be no public comment because the bills had already been debated with public comment.
The statement said that House Bill 4, focusing on criminal competency, is "already not ideal" and is "being packaged up with proposals that are bad for communities and will not work."
It added that the package, "is not going to achieve actual safety; it will only create new crimes, lengthen sentences, and use the criminal legal system to force people into psychiatric facilities that have yet to be built.” Bill sponsors have acknowledged that the provisions in House Bill 4 will require considerable expansion in behavioral health capacity.
