Jessica Leija tears up a little as she talks about her son, Enrique Leija, who was murdered in 2021, during a Remembrance Memorial for Homicide Survivors hosted by New Mexico Crusaders for Justice in the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. Leija was one of many who attended the memorial to speak of their deceased loved ones and try to persuade policymakers to pass tougher laws against violent offenders. Jim Weber/The New Mexican
The Santa Fe New Mexican:
Getting cheesy: Senators spent 20 minutes on the floor Tuesday afternoon discussing their connections to Southwest Cheese — a Clovis cheese and whey manufacturer — and to cheese in general, in commemoration of Southwest Cheese Day.
Each legislator had a “pretty good slab of cheese” at their desks as a gift, said Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview.
Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, said legislators “all look forward to” Cheese Day each year.
“Such an incredible plant, such an incredible business, but I do have this kind of nagging question,” Stewart said, “and that is, when you take your block of cheese home and you put it in a refrigerator, how long will it last?”
“Well, there’s no shelf life on good cheese because it’s supposed to be eaten immediately,” replied Sen. Candy Spence Ezzell, R-Roswell.
The discussion finished with a “big round of applause for all those involved in the cheese industry.”
Medical arbitration: The House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee voted 4-2 Tuesday to advance House Bill 15, which would create a confidential conference process for patients or their representatives who are injured or killed after receiving medical care, potentially reducing lawsuits.
Under the bill — sponsored by Rep. Marianna Anaya, D-Albuquerque, and Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe — statements made during so-called “adverse outcome conferences” would not establish fault or negligence. The patient or representative would have the right to have legal counsel present, and the health care provider could make an offer to compensate the patient or their representative.
The two parties could also enter into a settlement, though the conferences would not prohibit or change the process of a patient bringing forth a lawsuit against the provider.
Anaya said she believes some of New Mexico’s major hospitals already have similar practices in place. Many other states have similar laws, known as “apology laws.”
Currently, if a medical provider in New Mexico apologizes for an accident or error, it can be used in a court of law. Under HB 15, statements made during adverse outcome conferences could not be, Anaya said at the hearing.
Republican Reps. John Block of Alamogordo and Stefani Lord of Sandia Park voted against the bill, which now heads to the House Judiciary Committee.
Office of New Americans: House Bill 124, which would create an Office of New Americans as a division of the state Department of Workforce Solutions, advanced through the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on a party-line vote.
The bill — sponsored Rep. Cristina Parajón, D-Albuquerque, and four other Democrats — defines “new Americans” as “people residing in the United States who are not citizens of the United States or who were not citizens of the United States at birth.” It outlines the division’s duties and annual reporting requirements, which, if the bill passes, would include analysis of the economic impact, status, population and workforce numbers of new Americans in New Mexico.
Immigrants make up almost 13% of the state’s labor force, according to the Workforce Solutions Department. These workers make up an even greater share in the agriculture, construction and manufacturing industries.
The department established the Office of New Americans in 2024 using grant funding; HB 124 would formalize the office’s role within the department. The bill does not feature an appropriation request because of continued grant funding through fiscal year 2027, according to the fiscal impact report. Beginning in fiscal year 2028, funding — estimated at $250,000 annually — would be required to operate the department.
New Mexico’s office is one of 23 convened across the country by the American Immigration Council and the World Education Service. Miles Tokunow, executive director of Contigo Immigrant Justice, said Minnesota’s Office of New Americans has become critical amid the crackdown by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the state.
“New Mexico deserves the same — an Office of New Americans that can meet the complexity and cruelty of the current immigration system with coordinated support, dignity and real pathways to inclusion,” he said.
After the vote, Block said he worried the bill could be used in the future to give free legal counsel to people seeking legal status in the U.S.
“I just have some heartburn with the vagueness of how it’s working,” Block said.
More bills on the agenda: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham sent 13 executive messages to the House and Senate Tuesday authorizing the consideration of additional bills during this year’s 30-day session.
Highlights include Senate Bill 214, which would stiffen penalties for reckless driving as well as raising fines for other traffic violations, and Senate Bill 78, which would add nuclear energy to the list of energy sources that satisfy the renewable portfolio standard.
Traffic safety and energy were themes of the new bills — another, Senate Bill 73, would require driver’s education courses to include at least three hours of instruction on “driving with vulnerable road users,” according to the governor’s message. Another bill that hasn’t yet been introduced would boost oversight of microgrids, and yet another would create an Energy Affordability and Grid Reliability Commission.
Another would require schools to ban cellphones and direct grant funding to districts that follow through.
Quotes of the day: “I think the reason why my wife married me is because my family is cheese royalty.” —Sen. Carrie Hamblen, D-Las Cruces, who said her great-great-grandfather John Jossi invented brick cheese.
“That is going to be a mailer: ‘Rep. Lord is so pro-crime!!!’” —Rep. Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park, after accidentally saying she was “pro-crime” when she meant “anti-crime”.