After a brief 30 days, the 37th New Mexico Legislature came to a close at noon on Thursday. It was the last regular session under Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who called it “remarkably productive” at a press conference shortly afterwards with House and Senate leadership.
The governor praised lawmakers for putting her free universal child care program into law. The program will get $160 million to expand access. But lawmakers also made future copayments possible for high-income households if the state budget declines.
“We are the only state in America to deliver that promise to families,” she said. “We're the only state in America that focused on affordability more than the things we've already done, Medicaid, SNAP, utility support, all of it.”
In a statement, the New Mexico Republican Party disagreed with the Universal Child Care Expansion bill saying that though they agree on supporting families that qualify for childcare assistance, the cost is unsustainable.
This was a budget session, but Lujan Grisham also pushed for several health care-related bills to address the medical provider shortage here. Those included reforming medical malpractice laws and authorizing medical licensing compacts. She thanked her fellow Democratic lawmakers and touted her party’s values.
“We put their protection, their dignity, their civil rights and our agenda on the forefront every single session and beyond. And if every state would do that, I believe that Americans would be less angry, less disenfranchised, and we would all be safer in an environment because it was built on that respect and dignity,” she said.
The state Republican Party issued a statement saying it supported medical malpractice reform, interstate medical compacts, and involuntary commitment for some people. But it felt differently about many other issues. Chairwoman Amy Barela wrote that Republicans were serious about making communities safer, providing more access to health care and spending tax dollars responsibly. Whereas Democrats prioritized their time on a “hate-everything-Trump” policy agenda.
“Instead of delivering real results for hardworking New Mexicans this legislative session chased a radical left agenda that would have done irreparable harm to our great state,” Barela added.
Public safety was a major priority for the governor and some bills like earlier intervention for those suffering from mental health issues, did pass. But others, like pre-trial detention for violent crime suspects, juvenile crime bills and increased penalties for felons with firearms fell short.
“When you have someone who's buying 50 guns every week, they aren’t keeping them, and when most of the arrests show us that that purchase was legal for that firearm, we have a problem in the state,” she said.
Lujan Grisham had floated the possibility of a special session if some bills she wanted did not pass. She said no one knows what the next 10 months will hold.
Support for this coverage comes from the Thornburg Foundation.
