After passing a bill to help wildfire relief and outpatient treatment, state legislators adjourned Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s public safety special session on its opening day sine die—or indefinitely.
Lawmakers’ move capped more than a week of push and pull between the governor, who announced the special session last April, and legislators and advocacy groups, who raised concerns about the civil rights repercussions of some of her proposals, such as ones related to competency hearings and panhandling.
The approved feed bill, which pays for the special session’s operations, allocates $100 million from the general fund for wildfire and flooding efforts; and $3 million to the Administrative Office of the Courts for the pilot programs—one of which will impact the First Judicial District that covers Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties.
While the session ended, the tension has not.
“We used our time effectively in this special session to deliver critical relief for our brothers and sisters in need and take tangible steps to improve behavioral healthcare in our state,” House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, said in a statement following the end of the session. “In the months ahead, House Democrats will continue our work to bring stakeholders together and develop smart, meaningful solutions that truly improve community safety and access to essential services.”
For her part, the governor released a statement in which she said the Legislature had demonstrated “it has no interest in making New Mexicans safer” due to its failure to consider her public safety measures backed publicly by law enforcement and some city leaders. She added it was “noteworthy” that many Republicans showed support for the blocked bills.
“The Legislature should be embarrassed at their inability to summon even an ounce of courage to adopt common-sense legislation to make New Mexicans safer. For those of you who go home to sound of gunshots, who see hypodermic needles in your parks, and the families desperate to get a loved one living on the street the help they deserve, I’m sorry that most of our elected officials didn’t even try,” Lujan Grisham said. “This was one of the most disappointing days of my career, and the public should be outraged. My promise to you is that I will not stop fighting to protect you and your families.”
During a press conference following the session’s adjournment, Martínez said Democratic lawmakers worked hard to “roll up our sleeves to vet the proposed legislation” because they “share the sense of urgency about crime in the state.” However, they never reached consensus, he added.
“We’ve engaged with the governor’s office in good faith. We’ve provided feedback in public meetings as well as in private conversations of the multiple drafts of the bills that we saw. An idea has been floated that we legislators did not want to do the work, and I’d like to dismiss that outright,” Martínez said. “We’ve put hours of work—hundreds of hours of work for that matter—both in public and in private settings. At the end of the day, the reasons that these bills are not moving forward are 100% substantive. What we passed here today actually responds to the needs of New Mexicans right now.”
President Pro Tem Sen. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, reiterated her belief that the bills were not ready for consideration, but also reaffirmed the party’s commitment to continue to work on the proposals ahead of the 60-day regular session in January 2025.
“The right pieces are falling in place,” Stewart said, noting the New Mexico Supreme Court’s Commission on Mental Health and Competency is crafting recommendations to rework criminal competency laws. “The legal complexity and constitutionality of these issues cannot be overstated, and we look forward to reviewing that proposal when it’s ready to be rolled out in the fall.”
Lujan Grisham noted her ability to call multiple special sessions during a press conference July 17 dedicated to signing the official proclamation for the session. State Rep. Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe, tells SFR while “it’s well within her right” for the governor to do so, she believes a “more transparent” process works better.
“During a normal session that we already think is too short—60 days or 30 days—it’s a real discussion…We need to use that process properly because you don’t want to penalize the wrong people, you don’t want to make a problem worse, you don’t want to put jurisdictions in situations where they’re required to do something they don’t have resources to do,” Serrato says. “So I think we should focus on getting the best policies out, and I think going through the process in the interim will be the best way to do that.”
She adds she has heard concerns from constituents regarding the implementation of Lujan Grisham’s proposals “for the people that are actually on the streets.”
State advocacy groups, which had previously decried the governor’s proposals, lauded lawmakers for ending the session quickly.
“We are grateful to see the legislators, who were elected to represent the communities they live in, do the right thing today,” Nayomi Valdez, public policy director at the ACLU of New Mexico, said in a statement. “Providers, advocates, and lawmakers agreed that New Mexicans deserve real solutions, not political theater. We look forward to continuing to work with every stakeholder in developing evidence-based, smart solutions that make all New Mexicans safer.”
The statement from the ACLU, Bold Futures, Equality New Mexico, and the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness said the groups would support several proposals in next year’s 60-day session,including:
- Legislation that would develop and implement a Medicaid state plan amendment to create a system of certified community behavioral health clinics around the state.
- Legislation that would prohibit landlords across New Mexico from refusing to lease housing to tenants whose rent is subsidized by the government.
- Legislation that would prevent excessive and mandatory rental fees not included in rent.
- Legislation that would provide funding for municipalities to build community crisis response teams that lessen the burden on law enforcement and offer services to those most in need.
“Many of the issues our communities are facing stem from decades of underinvestment,” Bold Futures Public Policy Director Kat Sanchez said in a statement. “A large majority of lawmakers recognize that, and refused to be strong-armed into passing bills that would have harmed our communities. Because of their courage, compassion, and willingness to listen to community advocates and experts, we’re all better off. We know the safest communities have the most resources, and we’ll keep working with legislators to ensure our communities have what they need to thrive.”