NM Legislative Recap March 17: What's shaking out, or not, at the Roundhouse
With five days remaining in New Mexico's 2025 legislative session, some bills that we thought would be important at the starting line have become law, while others have made little to no progress.
For example, several high-profile bills like paid family leave and a tax on alcohol are most likely not going to move forward before the final gavel at noon Saturday.
After an acrimonious special session in 2024, legislators and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham vowed to prioritize behavioral health and crime bills, passing a package of bills within the first half of the session for her approval.
Lawmakers had sent 11 Senate bills and nine pieces of House legislation to the governor's office for her approval, as of Monday.
Source NM previewed some of the big bills in public safety, water and climate and housing — here's what's moving, or not, since the session started.
The day before the session, the state's attorney general and a senator announced a push to combat two forms of harm that affect young people: hazing and cyberbullying.
To become laws, both the hazing bill and the cyberbullying one still need to pass two committees in the Senate and go through the entire process in the House of Representatives. Another lawmaker last week indicated that transparency legislation at a similar point in the process was 'out of time.'
Legislative leaders made public safety and behavioral health the priorities for the session's first 30 days. They sent Lujan Grisham three bills that together aim to get more people into mental health treatment rather than dismissing their cases because they're unable to stand trial, while stiffening penalties for crimes related to guns and fentanyl trafficking, and she signed them on Feb. 27.
A senator and a representative are carrying a proposal to make comprehensive sexual education available to every student in New Mexico, as a way of preventing teen pregnancies, sexually transmitted disease, sexual violence, bullying and sexual harassment.
Two Senate committees have passed the bill, and it awaits a vote on the Senate floor. To become law, it would still need to go through the committee process and a floor vote in the House of Representatives.
One of Lujan Grisham's signature proposals from last session is moving forward, although it's been radically reshaped this session. House Bill 137, the Strategic Water Supply, is limited to developing projects and grants for treating brackish, or salty waters in deep aquifers, stripping proposals dealing with oil and gas wastewater entirely. HB137 has an outstanding Senate Finance hearing and a Senate vote to clear.
A bill to empower New Mexico to regulate pollution in surface waters such as streams and rivers, and continue the yearslong process to develop a state program for permits, is on the cusp of passage. Senate Bill 21 cleared all assigned committees and a Senate vote, and now awaits a hearing before the full House.
Several bills to reform the oil and gas industry and enshrine greenhouse gas reduction goals into state law failed to clear committees this session.
Rep. Kristina Ortez (D-Taos) told Source NM in a text message that two bills to beef up climate and public health tracking are not going to make it across the finish line this session, but that she will bring back the bills 'in full force, next year.' Those are House Bill 108, which proposed a $1.1 million program to track health impacts from extreme heat wildfire and more at the New Mexico Department of Health; and House Bill 109, which proposed a $12 million Climate Resilience Fund to offer up to $1 million grants to local and tribal governments for climate preparation and response.
Two housing-related bills are making it farther this session than they have in previous years. One of them, which bans so-called 'source of income' discrimination, was introduced in at least two prior sessions but never made it out of committee.
House Bill 339, which Reps. Angelica Rubio (D-Las Cruces) and Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe), sponsored, has passed the House and one Senate committee. It would prohibit landlords from turning away prospective tenants who carry housing subsidies like Section 8 vouchers.
A similar bill, sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Cates (D-Rio Rancho), would require landlords to calculate prospective tenants' rent-to-income ratios only after subsidies like child support or Section 8 are accounted for. That bill has not yet gotten a hearing, so it's likely dead.
A new state Office of Housing is also on its way toward clearing both chambers. Lawmakers last session voted against the bill, which would create an executive housing office tasked with collecting data and establishing a statewide strategy to deal with housing shortages. This year, it's cleared the House and is slated for a hearing soon on the Senate Floor.
Advocates also hope Senate and House leadership will move forward on bills that would expunge eviction records after a certain number of years, prohibit the use of artificial intelligence algorithms to recommend maximum rent prices and crack down on excess rental application fees.
The House's state budget proposal includes $110 million for housing development, including transitional housing, primarily in Bernalillo and Doña Ana counties, where lawmakers say the need is greatest. It would include almost $46 million to housing providers to focus on addressing homelessness.
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The Senate passed Senate Bill 305, which would create a task force to improve recruitment and retention of foster parents; and Senate Bill 481, which would create a new State Fairgrounds District, which could issue up to $1 billion in bonds to redevelop or relocate the State Fair.
The Senate rolled the remainder of its calendar to an evening session scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday.
The House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 175, which would allow the Child Care Revolving Loan Fund to be used by more providers and to expand existing buildings; House Bill 244, which would lower the minimum age of magistrate judges from 30 to 28 years old; House Bill 348, which would raise civil penalties for water violations for the first time since 1907; House Bill 456, which would allow state agencies to use a price agreement for architectural or engineering services up to $2 million, not exceeding $15 million over four years; and House Bill 586, a zombie bill resurrecting Senate Bill 14, which would allow the Health Care Authority to review proposed mergers or acquisitions of health care facilities for potential negative health care impacts.
At press time on Monday, the House was debating House Bill 426, which would require mobile home park owners to notify each resident and the Mortgage Finance Authority (MFA) of any offer for purchase the owner intends to accept. A similar proposal in 2023 didn't make it so far.
On Monday morning, the House Health and Human Services Committee passed Senate Bill 219, the Medical Psilocybin Act, and it will now head to the House floor for a vote. That is the last action needed for the bill to be sent to the governor's desk to be signed into law. Rep. Elaine Sena Cortez (R-Hobbs) cast the only vote in opposition.
The bill would allow providers to prescribe medicinal psilocybin to treat patients for post-traumatic stress disorder, major treatment-resistant depression, substance use disorders, end-of-life care and other conditions approved by the Department of Health.
'I'm supportive, you don't have to convince me of how beneficial this could be for a lot of people,' Rep. Jenifer Jones (R-Deming) told the bill sponsors during the meeting.
House Health also voted to table Senate Bill 166, which would have redefined 'harm to self' and 'harm to others' in state law to allow for more people to be civilly committed into a locked facility.
The House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee passed House Memorial 57, which would call for a study of recruitment and retention of police instructors; Senate Bill 42, which would require healthcare providers to screen for substance-exposed newborns at birthing facilities and have plans for safe care before these babies are discharged; and Senate Bill 52, which would align mileage reimbursements for lawmakers and their staff with the U.S. General Service Administration rate.
The Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee passed Senate Bill 426, which would repeal an obsolete law related to the New Mexico School for the Blind and visually Impaired; Senate Bill 433, which would allow dentists and dental hygienists licensed in other states to practice in New Mexico, and vice versa; House Bill 77, which would require the state's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to develop an annual outreach plan; House Bill 117, which would allow physicians' assistants or nurse practitioners to sign a death certificate when a doctor isn't around; House Bill 129, which would shorten the state worker probationary period from one year to six months; House Bill 448, which would create the Office of Housing Planning and Production; and House Bill 453, which would create a creditworthiness assistance program that would provide property managers with assistance for unpaid rent or rental property damages.
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed Senate Bill 146, which would fix language in the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children; House Bill 101, which would allow 'commissioned' police officers to carry firearms in polling places; House Bill 178, which makes several changes to the Nursing Practice Changes Act to clarify the scope of practice for various categories of licensed nurses and expand the Board of Nursing board's powers, among other changes; House Bill 182, which would increase retirement benefits for district, Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, appellate and state Supreme Court judges, and reduce the number of years a judge must serve before qualifying for a benefit; House Bill 183, which would do the same for magistrate judges; and House Bill 281, which would exempt hair braiding from licensure requirements under the Barbers and Cosmetologists Act (read more about that from our friends at KUNM).
The Senate Education Committee passed House Bill 195, which would create a salary tier system for school nurses; and House Bill 433, which would direct three state agencies and the Legislative Education Study Committee to study the availability of career and technical education courses and instructors.
The Senate Rules Committee passed House Bill 298, which would clarify procedures for mayoral vacancies, appointments and the roles of local governing bodies.
The Senate Finance Committee passed Senate Bill 495, which would make university radio stations eligible for an equipment replacement fund that currently only applies to university television stations; House Bill 240, which would allow the New Mexico Finance Authority (NMFA) to make grants and loans from the drinking water state revolving loan fund for local water projects; and House Bill 449, which would create a statutory framework for funding big university projects, including student housing.
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