NM Legislative Recap March 18: Poetry in motion

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19-03-2025

Poetry the therapy pony makes a stop at the Roundhouse on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Danielle Prokop / Source NM)
Poetry was in motion at the Roundhouse.
On Tuesday, the Gypsy Vanner therapy pony from the Loving Thunder Ranch in Rio Rancho paid a visit to the Roundhouse. The ranch, operated by Poetry's handlers Tuwana and Mike Raupp, received state funds last year for a pilot project of equine therapy programs for at-risk kids, expanding on the work the ranch already does with veterans and people with disabilities.
'She's here to offer a little love,' Mike Raupp said, leading her around the building to peek in windows and allowing people to pet her.
Poetry's visit was part of New Mexico's Outdoor recreation day at the Roundhouse, which included a variety of programs encouraging New Mexicans to get outside, whether riding a horse, a four-wheeler or an inflatable raft.
Carl Colonius, the program director at the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division, told Source NM that the state should celebrate the recent investment of $6.5 million from the Outdoor Equity Fund to support educational outdoor experiences for New Mexico's kids.
'We want folks recreating in our public lands to reflect the diversity of the rest of our state,' he said.
In both chambers, bills are picking up the pace as we roll into the last four days of the Legislature.
House Bill 12 would create an alternative process for police officers to ask a judge for an Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order, if a reporting party isn't available or doesn't want to be involved.
Pared-down gun seizure bill clears second committee
The Senate passed HB12 on Monday night, sending it to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's desk.
Wesley Clum, a senior at Bosque School in Albuquerque and leader of its Students Demand Action chapter, told Source NM on Tuesday his organization supports HB12, as well as Senate Bill 279, which would prohibit the importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, receipt or possession of gas-operated semi-automatic firearms, magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, and devices that convert semi-automatic guns into fully automatic ones.
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed SB279 on March 7 but it still needs to get through the Senate Finance Committee and then the entire process in the House of Representatives to reach the governor's desk.
Clum said he wants to see lawmakers advance SB279 and doesn't understand why it was referred to the Senate Finance Committee.
'We are an independent state, and New Mexicans need to stand up against the NRA,' he said. 'When we have Democratic legislators stalling it, it needs to stop.'
Both chambers have now approved 33 bills, including 29 within the last week. A list of those bills can be found here. Three bills, including House Bill 143 (more on that bill below), are scheduled for concurrence committees, meaning lawmakers will have to reconcile differences between both chambers' versions of the bills before sending them to the governor.
On Monday and Tuesday, both chambers had signed off on 14 bills, including one that beefs up enforcement of unlicensed cannabis vendors, and another that funds wildfire suppression.
The Senate concurred with the House on Senate Bill 17, sending a bill with parole changes to the governor. SB17 would enact a series of changes to modernize the Parole Board and how the body considers incarcerated people's requests for parole.
The Senate also passed five House Bills during Tuesday's floor session, kicking them up to the governor's office. Those include: House Bill 191, which would create two wildfire-related permanent funds administered by the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department: the post wildfire fund and the wildfire suppression fund; House Bill 54, which, as amended, would require defibrillators in all schools, not just high schools, along with cardiac response plans based on nationally recognized and evidence-based guidelines; House Bill 192, which would appropriate $2.8 million from the general fund to the Department of Information Technology in FY26 to pay a year of subscriber fees for the digital trunked radio communications system (used by various agencies that provide law enforcement, fire, medical or other emergency services); House Bill 10, which would establish the Enforcement Bureau within the Regulation and Licensing Department and grant it law enforcement authority to investigate and enforce violations under the Cannabis Regulation Act; House Bill 323, which would revise exemptions under the Engineering and Surveying Practice Act to clarify when business-employed engineers must be licensed
Make sure to check out Source's bill tracker as we near the session's end.
Late Monday evening, the Senate approved House Bill 143, which would require greater transparency from lobbyists in the Roundhouse. It still needs a concurrence vote from the House of Representatives because the Senate Rules Committee removed an amendment that was added to the bill during the floor debate in the House.
'I know how hard it is for New Mexicans to get a real and true account of what happens during their legislative sessions,' Co-sponsor Rep. Sarah Silva (D-Las Cruces) said in a statement. 'This is one step in helping them do that.'
Sen. Jeff Steinborn, HB143's co-sponsor, told Source NM concurrence usually happens quickly, but said he did not know when the bill would be scheduled for a second floor hearing.
HB143 would require a paid lobbyist to file a lobbyist activity report within 48 hours of trying to influence an issue or help writing a bill, or changing their position on a bill.
'What we're going to find is if signed into law, this is going to be kind of a gamechanger for our level of understanding of who is involved in bills that are being put before us and helping to shape our debate,' Steinborn said. 'Right now, this very important information is kept secret from us.'
On Tuesday the Senate named the tortilla the official state bread, with only a few mentions of sopapillas, unanimously passing Senate Bill 315. Adaline McIntosh, a fifth grade student from Las Cruces, joined sponsors Sens. Joshua Sanchez (R-Bosque) and Carrie Hamblen (D-Las Cruces) on the floor as the expert witness, and even brought freshly cooked tortillas for lawmakers from Andele Restaurant in Mesilla. Senators took turns asking McIntosh about the best ways to use tortillas in meals and the differences between traditional and alternative ingredients.
The Senate also passed Senate Bill 146 which corrects two incorrect citations to federal law in an interstate compact for teaching military children; Senate Bill 58, which would expand the Early Childhood Education and Care Department's role in regulating child care providers; Senate Bill 495, which would allow public schools to receive funding for educational television and radio stations; and Senate Bill 401, which would make public school broadband infrastructure eligible for tax severance bond funding.
The House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 219, which would create a program for New Mexicans to receive medicinal treatment using psilocybin, a psychedelic found in mushrooms, for pre-qualified behavioral health conditions; Senate Bill 252, which would allow licensed social workers to provide telehealth services; Senate Bill 345, which would give more pathways for teachers, educational assistants, interpreters and counselors to obtain licenses; Senate Bill 39, which would add rare diseases to the list of conditions that don't require prior authorization or step therapy; House Bill 112, which would allow federal background checks for cannabis licenses; Senate Bill 101, which would raise the cap on livestock inspection fees; and House Bill 120, which would create the Office of Accessibility to provide reporting and technical assistance to state facilities and websites.
At press time on Tuesday, the House was debating Senate Bill 7, which would allow, but not require, municipalities to manage stormwater runoff as a utility.
The House Transportation, Public Works and Capital Improvements Committee passed Senate Bill 327, which would create a special registration license plate for the lowrider capital of the world; Senate Bill 236, which would create a special registration license plate promoting motorcycle safety awareness; and Senate Bill 128, which would prohibit special license plates that are derogatory, offensive or are otherwise inappropriate.
The Senate Finance Committee passed Senate Bill 197, which would make amendments to the Municipal and County Bond Revenue acts and the Emergency Medical Service Act; House Bill 56, which would increase Medicaid rates for services provided at birth centers; House Bill 128, which would create a local solar access fund to issue grants to counties, municipalities, school districts, land grants-mercedes and Indian nationalism tribes and pueblos to establish solar infrastructure; House Bill 41, which would appropriate $13.25 million from the public project revolving fund to the drinking water state revolving loan fund, the local government planning fund and the cultural affairs facilities infrastructure fund; House Bill 157, which would create new licenses for site administrators and school administrators; House Bill 174, which would require community pharmacies be paid professional dispensing fees no lower than what Medicaid pays in professional dispensing fees; and Senate Bill 425, which would reauthorize 421 capital outlay projects that were authorized in previous years.
The Senate Indian, Rural and Cultural Affairs Committee passed House Bill 519, which would transfer operating duties for the African American Performing Arts Center from the New Mexico State Fair to the center's proposed board of directors; and Senate Memorial 24, which would recognize the cultural and historical significance of El Santuario de Chimayo and the annual Easter pilgrimage..
The Senate Conservation Committee advanced a pair of bills to address current and future contamination from PFAS. The committee also passed House Bill 348 which would increase the fines for violating water laws for the first time since 1907; House Bill 219, which would designate Slot Canyon Riverlands a state park; House Bill 427, which would amend the Water Project Finance Act with criteria for real-time water quality monitoring projects; House Bill 361, which would allow the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department to repurpose depleted oil and gas wells for energy storage or geothermal energy development; and House Bill 295, which would confirm that transmission lines owned by the Renewable Transmission Authority is exempt from property taxes.
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