The Santa Fe New Mexican
State lawmakers introduce hundreds of measures in a 60-day legislative session, and the race to get them passed by both chambers begins on day one.
Many of them, such as this year’s House Bill 510, which would have made Lenny Roybal’s “Red or Green?” the official state chile song, failed to reach the finish line.
Chile, a New Mexico staple, had better luck this year with Senate Bill 188, which will declare “the aroma of green chile roasting” the official state aroma if the governor gives it her signature. It passed both the House and Senate after it was amended from an original version that called for the state aroma to be “green chile roasting in the fall”.
Here’s where several other notable measures stood when the session ended noon Saturday:
What passed
Legislation signed by the governor:
- House Bill 1: $45.7 million to fund operations at the Capitol during the legislative session.
- House Bill 7: The Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care Freedom Act, which prohibits local governments from restricting access to abortion or gender-affirming care.
- House Bill 9: Criminal penalties for adult gun owners whose weapons are accessed by minors who commit crimes in which someone is threatened, injured or killed.
- House Bill 95: Preserving the Office of Renewable Energy at the State Land Office.
- House Bill 127: Raising the minimum salary for public school educational assistants to $25,000.
- Senate Bill 1: The Regional Water System Resiliency Act, allowing for regional water utilities.
- House Bill 130: Mandating more learning time, a total of 1,140 hours, in all public schools.
- Senate Bill 6: $100 million in relief for victims of the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire still waiting for federal aid.
- Senate Bill 26: Transferring excess oil and gas revenue to the Severance Tax Permanent Fund.
- Senate Bill 47: Eliminating suspension of a driver’s license as a penalty for nonpayment of fines.
- Senate Bill 53: Prohibiting storage and disposal of radioactive materials or waste at a new facility without state approval.
- Senate Bill 64: Eliminating life sentences with no parole for juveniles convicted of murder.
- Senate Bill 364: A Governmental Conduct Act change clarifying lawmakers can use legislative stationery and cite their position when representing constituents, without compensation, before a state agency.
Legislation that passed both chambers
State government
- House Bill 2: A record $9.57 billion state budget for fiscal year 2024.
- House Bill 8: Establishing a new state Creative Industries Division.
- House Bill 169: Removing secrecy in misconduct complaints against a lawmaker filed with the Interim Legislative Ethics Committee.
- House Bill 505: A more than $1 billion capital outlay measure for a wide array of projects across the state, including $10 million for a clinic in Doña Ana County that would provide abortions.
- Senate Bill 160: Transferring transportation oversight from the Public Regulation Commission to the Department of Transportation.
- Senate Bill 442: Pay hikes of nearly $60,000 for the governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor, state treasurer and state land commissioner. The governor’s pay raise will not take effect until a new governor steps into office in 2027.
Taxes, wages & fees
- House Bill 547: An omnibus tax reform package including taxpayer rebates, a reduction in the gross receipts tax and increases in tobacco and alcohol excise taxes.
- House Joint Resolution 5: Asking voters to decide on an amendment extending a property tax exemption for veterans considered 100% disabled to those who have less severe disabilities.
- House Joint Resolution 6: Asking voters to decide on a constitutional amendment increasing a property tax exemption for all veterans with an honorable discharge.
Crime & public safety
- House Bill 232: Limitations on public release of some law enforcement video.
- House Bill 234: Increasing penalties for mass shoplifting, also known as organized retail crime.
- House Bill 306: Prohibiting “straw” purchases of firearms, in which a person knowingly buys a gun for some who can’t legally own one, such a felon.
- House Bill 345: Allowing for $5,000 recruitment payments for new firefighters.
- House Bill 357: Creating recruitment and retention funds for law enforcement officers, corrections officers and public attorneys.
- Senate Bill 29: Allowing early parole for elderly, terminally ill inmates.
- Senate Bill 215: Establishing the crime of bestiality.
Education
- House Bill 126: Changes to high school graduation requirements.
- House Bill 134: Requiring menstrual products to be available in public school restrooms.
- House Bill 191: Increasing the annual funding sent from the Early Childhood Education and Care Fund to the early childhood agency to $150 million from $30 million.
- House Bill 199: Increasing the at-risk index in the public school funding formula.
- House Bill 533: Allowing districts to cover “up to 100%” of educators’ insurance premiums.
- Senate Bill 4: Free meals for all students in public schools.
- Senate Bill 397: Calling for public school-based health centers.
Health care
- House Bill 400: A study on the feasibility of a state-administered health care coverage plan.
- Senate Bill 7: A Rural Health Care Delivery Fund.
- Senate Bill 13: Protections for out-of-state abortion patients and providers from civil or criminal actions by states where abortion is illegal.
- Senate Bill 16: Changing the Human Services Department to the Health Care Authority Department.
- Senate Bill 471: Protections for medical professionals who decline to provide aid in dying.
- Senate Bill 523: A change in the Medical Malpractice Act capping malpractice payouts at $1 million for some small, independent outpatient clinics rather than letting the cap rise to $6 million.
Human rights
- House Bill 31: Eliminating a requirement to publish name changes.
- House Bill 207: Expanding protections under the Human Rights Act, particularly for members of the LGBTQ community.
- House Bill 314: Expediting the process of cannabis crime expungement by allowing individuals to make requests.
- Senate Bill 71: Prohibiting discrimination against transplant recipients based on disability.
- Senate Bill 426: Creating a Civil Rights Division in the Attorney General’s Office.
Energy & environment
- House Bill 142: Calling for oversight of the San Juan Generating Station cleanup.
- House Bill 184: Changes to appointments of members of the State Game Commission.
- House Bill 525: Authorizing improvements to dozens of community water projects.
- Senate Bill 9: Creating the Conservation Legacy Permanent Fund and the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund, with a $25 million appropriation to the former and $50 million appropriation to the latter.
- Senate Bill 72: The Wildlife Corridors Act, creating a fund to cover costs of wildlife underpasses, overpasses and other measures to prevent collisions with vehicles.
Elections
- House Bill 4: A sweeping expansion of voter rights and protections that includes automatic registration at the Motor Vehicle Division and allows felons to vote immediately after their release from prison.
- Senate Bill 43: Creating a crime of election-related intimidation.
- Senate Bill 180: Election code changes, allowing confidentiality of elected or appointed public officials’ home addresses.
What failed
Legislation vetoed by the governor
- House Bill 125: Calling for a task force study on dual credit programs in which high school students enroll in college courses.
Measures that died in the legislative process
State government
- House Bill 11: A new Office of the Child Advocate in the Attorney General’s Office to oversee the Children, Youth and Families Department.
- House Bill 80: Limiting the governor’s emergency powers.
- House Bill 300: Allowing telework for state employees.
- House Joint Resolution 1: Asking voters to decide on a constitutional amendment creating an Independent Redistricting Commission.
- House Joint Resolution 2: Asking voters to decide on a constitutional amendment that would allow for 60-day legislative sessions every year.
- House Joint Resolution 8: Asking voters to decide on a constitutional amendment providing salaries for members of the Legislature.
- Senate Bill 208: Banning TikTok from state government devices.
- Senate Resolution 1: Banning senators from drinking on the job.
Taxes, wages & fees
- House Bill 25: One of several bills to raise the state’s minimum wage above its current $12 an hour.
Crime & public safety
- House Bill 50: Banning high-capacity gun magazines.
- House Bill 60: Increasing penalties for fentanyl trafficking.
- House Bill 97: Appropriating funds to reduce an arrest warrant backlog.
- House Bill 100: Creating a 14-day wait to purchase a gun.
- House Bill 101: Banning sales of assault weapons.
- House Bill 128: Allowing chemical castration of sex offenders as part of their release.
- House Bill 153: Increasing penalties for cattle rustling when there are multiple stolen livestock.
- House Bill 338: Requiring firearms training for film crews.
- House Bill 445: Broadening the definition of human trafficking and creating tougher penalties.
- Senate Bill 174: Creating a presumption of dangerousness for some defendants accused of violent crimes, which could be rebutted at a pretrial detention hearing.
- Senate Bill 368: Exempting law enforcement officers from using video cameras when they are working undercover.
Education
- House Bill 43: Teaching affirmative consent in public school sexual education courses.
- House Bill 285: Creating an Office of Special Education in the Public Education Department.
- Senate Bill 422: Prohibiting new charter schools in districts where many students already attend such institutions.
- Senate Bill 494: Requiring colleges and universities to justify tuition and fee hikes.
- Senate Joint Resolution 1: Asking voters to decide on a constitutional amendment eliminating the position of public education secretary and creating a state school board.
Health care
- House Bill 51: Creating a prescription drug affordability board.
- House Bill 263: Creating overdose prevention centers.
- House Bill 393: Studying the use of psilocybin for mental health.
- Senate Bill 150: Monitoring newborns with exposure to alcohol or drugs.
Human rights
- Senate Bill 172: Prohibiting civil immigration detention.
- Senate Bill 252: Limiting police use of force.
- Senate Bill 388: Raising the minimum age a child can be held in custody to 12 from 11.
Energy & environment
- House Bill 346: Transferring unused water rights to the state.
- House Bill 426: Clean fuel standards.
- Senate Bill 74: Requiring new energy generating facilities to generate clean energy.
- Senate Bill 77: Requiring installation of solar panels and electric vehicle charging stations in new homes.
- Senate Bill 164: Increasing the oil and gas royalty rate.
- Senate Bill 165: The Local Choice Energy Act.
- Senate Bill 243: Banning certain types of single-use plastic bags.
- Senate Bill 493: Studying the feasibility of tapping the state’s brackish water
- Senate Joint Resolution 6: Asking voters to decide on a constitutional “Green Amendment”.
Elections
- House Bill 54: One of several bills calling for open primary elections, in which voters with no major-party affiliation could cast a ballot.
- House Bill 217: Lowering the voting age to 16.
- Senate Bill 44: Banning firearms within 100 feet of a polling place during an election.
- Senate Joint Resolution 7: Asking voters to decide on an amendment creating nonpartisan open primary elections with ranked-choice voting.