Members of Congress: U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján and U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury delivered words of encouragement to lawmakers Tuesday during a joint session of the Legislature.

Luján, who spoke first, got off to an emotional start by remembering his late father, former House Speaker Ben Luján, who served in the chamber for nearly four decades.

“On a day like today, you’d think after 10 years,” he said before pausing as his voice cracked with emotion, “it’d be easier to be here and address each and every one of you. But mom’s here.”

As he looked into the chamber, Luján said he was reminded of visits he was “fortunate” to have with legislators, including a meeting in Las Vegas, N.M., to discuss the impact of the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire on that city’s water system.

“It was state legislative leadership that said, ‘We can do better here. We can come together,’” he recalled.

“And I want to thank you all because you recently passed that idea that started on a little path next to a major waterway,” he said, referring to a $100 million wildfire relief bill signed into law Monday by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Stansbury urged lawmakers to pass a bill that would block public bodies from preventing access to reproductive or gender-affirming health care, which the House took up Monday, as well as a bill supporters say would expand voter access in the state.

It was a homecoming of sorts for Stansbury, a former state representative.

“It’s good to be home, not only here in New Mexico but here in the people’s house, in the Legislature, where I was so honored to have the opportunity to serve with so many of you here … in what is one of the most diverse, the most female, the most LGBTQ-plus and the most progressive legislatures in the history of the state of New Mexico,” Stansbury said.

Doctor shortages: Repeatedly saying New Mexico is dealing with a crisis, Senate Republicans Tuesday called on Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Democrats to work with them on a series of bills they say are designed to address the state’s shortage of physicians and other health care providers.

“We have organizations within the state that really are facing closure this year — not next year, this year — because they cannot stay in business the way things are going,” Senate Minority Leader Greg Baca of Belen said during a news conference attended by several doctors and other medical professionals.

Baca highlighted the state’s medical malpractice law, which he said is “undeniably a disaster” that has left independently owned outpatient facilities unable to obtain insurance. The New Mexico Medical Society and others have advocated for a lower cap on damages for such facilities.

A Republican-sponsored bill to cap damages at $750,000 for outpatient facilities not owned or controlled by a hospital was tabled by a Senate committee Monday.

Sen. Mark Moores, R-Albuquerque, who is sponsoring a similar bill, said he and his wife, Lisa, experienced New Mexico’s doctor shortage firsthand last week when they went to the hospital for the birth of their son. He said they didn’t see a single doctor from the time they checked in Wednesday until the time they left Friday.

“We felt safe because we did know that doctors would be available for an emergency,” he said. “But think about that. That is the state of health care in New Mexico today.”

Plastic bag ban: A bill that would prohibit grocery stores, restaurants and other retailers from providing their customers single-use plastic checkout bags made it out of its first House committee Tuesday.

The House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee endorsed House Bill 432, which would enact the Plastic Waste Reduction Act, on a 7-3 vote, with Republicans opposing the measure.

“This was important step forward in this bill, so I’m very hopeful that this bill has a real chance of passage,” said Sen. Jeff Steinborn, a Las Cruces Democrat who is cosponsoring the bill with Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque.

The bill has undergone a few minor tweaks since it was originally introduced, including an exception for plastic newspaper delivery bags.

Albuquerque City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn was among those who testified in support of the bill. She said Albuquerque experienced a “noticeable difference” in less litter after its ban went into the effect. The ban, however, later was repealed.

“I’ve never seen a political issue that got so many young people to participate, and it was heartbreaking after the ban went away,” she said. “One young person emailed me and [wrote]: ‘But I thought government was supposed to do good.’ And I think that this is our opportunity to show young people that government can do good, that this bill can do good for the city of Albuquerque, for the entire state of New Mexico.”

Quote of the day: “We graduated from the same high school. He graduated a couple of years after me even though he looks much more old than I do.” —Sen. Greg Baca, R-Belen, poking fun at Arsenio Romero, who was tapped Tuesday as Cabinet secretary of the state Public Education Department. Baca and Romero both graduated from Belen High School.