Five things Gov. Lujan Grisham is asking for this legislative session – Source New Mexico

In a speech to state lawmakers on Tuesday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham outlined wide-ranging priorities for a packed 30-day session that she said would “capitalize on this momentum” generated in the four years since she became governor in 2019.

Between several interruptions by a group of environmental and anti-war activists, the governor asked the Democratic-majority New Mexico Legislature to increase funding and embrace her vision for an array of programs She cited record revenues generated largely by oil and gas production and ongoing problems with gun violence and child welfare she hoped to address.

State analysts project that the record revenues the governor touted will begin to level off in the next few years. 

“We’re demonstrating that a healthy environment and a strong economy are not in conflict. We’re offering a new model – the New Mexico model – for states like ours all across the country,” she told lawmakers and hundreds of spectators gathered for a joint session in the House Chambers.

She will face divisions within her own party over the fate of big proposals in a short timeframe, and the Republican minority quickly criticized the speech as an overly rosy view of New Mexico’s present and future. 

“If you listen to the governor’s remarks, you would think that New Mexico was first in every important metric,” House Minority Leader T. Ryan Lane (R-Aztec) told reporters. “Turns out we’re 50th, unfortunately.”

Below are five proposals the governor outlined in her opening-day speech.  

Guns

The governor reiterated her proposals to rein in gun violence, especially involving young people, that she unveiled last week as a major priority of the session. 

Lujan Grisham wants to ban assault weapons, increase the minimum gun purchase age to 21, impose 14-day waiting periods and increase penalties for felons who possess guns, among other reforms. 

See a full list of the governor’s proposed reforms here and more on this aspect of her speech here. 

“These are common-sense measures that will save lives,” she said. 

House Republicans disagreed with the governor’s gun reform proposals, arguing that if successful they would add additional burdens to law-abiding gun owners. But they saw in the governor’s proposals aspects of their own anti-crime legislation that has failed over the past years. 

“They have always just been ignored. But now we’re in an election year,” said Jim Townsend (R-Artesia), House minority whip. “Voila.” 

The governor spent more time on her wide-reaching criminal justice reforms than for any other topic during the hour-long speech. She also seeks to ban panhandling, hold repeat burglary defendants in jail and mandate treatment for those jailed repeatedly for crimes related to substance abuse. 

Education

More than half of the state budget goes to education, including higher education. The governor requested at least $90 million from the Legislature for what she said are investments in proven strategies to improve literacy and educational outcomes. 

She’s asking for $30 million apiece for a new statewide “literacy institute,” a free summer literacy program for 10,000 students reading below grade level and to embed experts in low-performing schools to “identify our challenges, determine immediate solutions and give our kids vital support.”

“Every student – and frankly, every New Mexican – should be given the opportunity to learn to read to the best of their ability,” Lujan Grisham said.

The governor is also asking the Legislature to require and fund a 180-day school year for all students, even those in some rural areas that only meet four days a week. Her budget proposal says mandating 180 days of school time across the state would be more than $100 million, which she hopes the Legislature will fund.

Water fund

The governor is touting a proposed solution to the state and world’s water woes by asking the Legislature to set aside $500 million over the next two years to inspire a “first-of-its-kind” industry in New Mexico. 

The governor hopes that investment will spur industries to come up with ways to transform aquifers of brackish water, the wasteful byproduct of oil and gas drilling, into water that can be used for manufacturing or other uses. Between 2 billion and 4 billion acre-feet of brackish water may exist in New Mexico, according to state estimates. 

“Around the globe, access to water is now the great challenge of the century. New Mexico can  turn that into an opportunity,” she said. 

If the Legislature approves the fund, New Mexico will promise to buy treated water, which will reduce the risk private companies take on as they innovate and invest in treatment facilities in the state.Repurposing even a little water that otherwise went to waste could prove vital amid increasing aridification in the Southwest, the governor’s office has said. 

Democratic leaders, at a news conference before the speech, commended Lujan Grisham for “bold” ideas she’s offered ahead of the upcoming session, but they did not weigh in on the so-called Strategic Water Supply program, saying they wanted legislative committees to vet all proposed legislation through the normal process. 

Read more about the governor’s environmental priorities here.

Housing

Amid a national crisis of housing supply and affordability, Lujan Grisham is seeking a half-billion-dollar investment in building homes and making them easier to move into. 

She’s asking lawmakers to allocate $250 million in low-interest loans to spur private-sector home construction, plus $250 million to help new homeowners pay their down payments or afford other payments. 

The governor intends to create an Office of Housing for buyers and sellers across the state, she said in her speech. She also recently hired a new housing policy adviser.

The average rent in Albuquerque increased more than 26% since 2019, according to data compiled by the Washington Post. 

Several lawmakers said they intend to introduce legislation this session to ease the affordability crisis among homebuyers and renters. One such bill would ban landlords from turning away tenants who had government-subsidized housing vouchers. 

Housing solutions are vital to the state’s prosperity, the governor said.

“A house is so much more than a roof over your head. More affordable homes mean more families on their feet, more workers able to work, more stability, more hope and more opportunity,” Lujan Grisham said.

Clean-up

To wrap up her speech, the governor pointed to volunteers who corralled helpers to pick up trash across the state. One of them is Kevin Rapp, she said, a Santa Fe man who with other volunteers cleaned up hundreds of pounds of trash. Another is a Carlsbad city councilor who leads an annual river cleanup. 

The governor is asking for $43 million for a statewide clean-up initiative for things like picking up trash, improving state properties and fixing roads. 

“By doing this work together, we can show our commitment and deepen our connection to our shared home.”