Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham

By ROBERT NOTT and DANIEL CHACÓN
The Santa Fe New Mexican

When Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham delivered her 2023 State of the State address on the opening day of this year’s legislative session, she charted a course of her priorities for lawmakers over the following 60 days.

Such addresses, dismissed by some, avidly followed by others, say much about what any governor’s political agenda is and what he or she sees as the top issues impacting their state.

With one week left to go in this year’s session, which ends at noon on March 18, how has the governor fared with her initiatives?

It’s a mixed bag.

“Overall, we’re feeling good about where things are right now. As the governor likes to say, a lot can happen in a week during the session,” Maddy Hayden, a spokeswoman for the governor, wrote in an email Saturday.

Here’s a roundup of early successes, still-alive proposals and initiatives that probably don’t have much of a chance at this point. Time is working against most of the bills now, and ultimately lawmakers — with or without the governor’s blessing — will start prioritizing what they think needs to make it over the finish line by Saturday.

Wins

Fire relief: Lujan Grisham said the state would provide $100 million in grants to counties devastated by the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, a conflagration ignited by a federally driven prescribed burn gone wrong.

While those counties await federal aid, Senate Bill 6 offers no-interest loans to help with needs such as repairing roads and restoring water systems. 

Counties taking advantage of the loans can repay the state with expected Federal Emergency Management Agency funds, which may take years to come in.

Lawmakers in both legislative chambers moved quickly to approve SB 6, and Lujan Grisham has already signed it.

Gun storage law: Lujan Grisham called for safe-storage laws to keep youth from getting their hands on guns.

House Bill 9 would create two crimes: negligently making a firearm accessible to a minor who brandishes it or uses it to threaten someone, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail; and negligently making a firearm accessible to a minor resulting in great bodily harm or death, a fourth-degree felony carrying an 18-month prison term.

Supporters have dubbed the bill the “Bennie Hargrove Act,” in honor of the 13-year-old Hargrove, who was shot and killed at an Albuquerque middle school in August 2021.

Authorities say the boy accused of shooting Hargrove brought his father’s gun to school to commit the crime. Both legislative chambers have passed the measure, and the bill now goes to Lujan Grisham. Hayden said she plans to sign it “in the coming days.”

Abortion: Lujan Grisham said she wanted to codify a woman’s right to access an abortion in this year’s session, and she succeeded: House Bill 7 prevents local governments from restricting abortion or gender-affirming health care.

The bill cleared the Legislature despite opposition from Republicans and some Democrats in both chambers and now goes to the governor’s desk.

Losses

Guns: Lujan Grisham called for a ban on assault weapons in her address. A little over a month later, she acknowledged it was unlikely such legislation would make it through the session.

While several gun control bills, including ones that would ban certain guns or larger magazines, were introduced this year, the most controversial ones, such as the assault weapons bans or the 14-day waiting period bills, haven’t made it to a House or Senate floor vote yet. With a week left to go, it would take a lot for any of them to get the traction to get through both chambers by Saturday.

“The governor continues to fight for common-sense gun legislation, much of which is moving through the Legislature,” Hayden wrote. “Those measures include the safe storage bill, which she will sign in the coming days, banning straw purchases (which passed with bipartisan support), a 14-day waiting period and the ability to sue gun manufacturers.”

Rebuttable presumption: The governor, who was hammered on the campaign trail over the state’s crime problem, called for establishing a “rebuttable presumption” to keep repeat violent offenders awaiting trial off the streets instead of letting them be released pretrial.

Sen. Linda Lopez and Rep. Meredith Dixon, both Albuquerque Democrats, proposed a measure to establish a presumption that no conditions of release would protect the community from defendants charged with violent crimes such as first-degree murder, first-degree child abuse, sexual exploitation of a child and child trafficking.

The bill essentially died in its first hearing after the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee tabled the bill amid concerns it was unconstitutional.

Clean Future Act: Lujan Grisham vowed the state would take another step in its sustainability efforts by codifying its zero-emissions goal in state statute.

“There should be no question that New Mexico is committed to a cleaner, healthier future,” she said at the time.

Sen. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, proposed a bill to codify emission reduction targets and recently promulgated methane waste rules in state statute.

After receiving praise from some lawmakers, Sen. Joe Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, ripped the proposal apart, saying it resembled a nonbinding memorial instead a law, and voted with the Republicans on the committee to stall the bill. He also said the bill lacked any enforcement mechanisms.

Still in the running

Rebate checks: Lujan Grisham called for tax rebates of $750 for individual taxpayers and $1,500 for married couples filing jointly.

Earlier this week, an omnibus tax policy package had reduced the amounts to, respectively, $300 and $600. After negotiations with the Governor’s 

Office, a compromise was reached. A $9.4 billion spending plan approved by the Senate Finance Committee assumes rebates of $500 for single filers and $1,000 for joint filers.

But stay tuned — anything can happen in the last week.

Health Care Authority Department: The governor called for the creation of a state Health Care Authority Department to establish a single department responsible for health care purchasing, regulation, oversight and policy. Among other measures, the department would be able to leverage its purchasing power to buy more affordable health insurance for state and other public employees.

Senate Bill 16 would turn the existing state Department of Human Services into the Health Care Authority Department while moving a number of other health-related divisions into the new department. The bill has cleared the Senate and has to pass through one more House committee before going to the floor of the House for a final vote. It has a chance.

Rural health help: Lujan Grisham wants a rural health care fund to provide financial aid to rural health care facilities trying to hire more staff or expand services — or just survive. Senate Bill 7 would do just that, and it’s on its way to the floor of the House of Representatives for a final vote.

However, while the governor hoped for $200 million in the fund, it’s more likely to have somewhere around $80 million to $100 million, according to the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Liz Stefancis, D-Cerrillos.