New Mexico
State lawmakers prepare for upcoming special session
New Mexico state lawmakers are heading back to the Roundhouse this week for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s public safety special session.
SANTA FE, N.M. – New Mexico state lawmakers are heading back to the Roundhouse this week for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s public safety special session.
It’s been in the works for months now and with just three days left to prepare it seems legislative leaders aren’t feeling very confident about the governor’s top goals.
“The unintended consequences of passing something that is not ready are far too great,” said Speaker of the House Javier Martinez.
“Unfortunately, it feels a little bit like the governor’s throwing spaghetti up against the wall to see what sticks,” said House Minority Leader Rod Montoya.
Martinez and Montoya appear to be on the same page when it comes to Lujan Grisham’s special session agenda.
“We just don’t think that a special legislative session is the place to do it, given how complex these bills are,” said Martinez. “These are very, very complicated areas of law. As one of my colleagues said, this is actually kind of rocket science.”
He’s talking about the governor’s plan to rework New Mexico’s criminal and civil competency laws. They’re proposals that consumed nearly half a dozen legislative meetings ahead of the special session, and are still far from the finish line.
“The committees that have seen these bills have seen variation after variation after variation of bill that, frankly, the legislators, are unwilling to bite on any one of them,” said Montoya.
But that’s not because lawmakers don’t support the big picture idea.
“Do I think that these things need to be addressed? Absolutely. Will they have an impact? Yeah, they will,” said House Minority Whip Alan Martinez.
And not for lack of trying either.
“We’ve been working diligently, very hard over the past several weeks, six dedicated interim committee meetings to these issues, countless staff hours, countless legislative hours working on these different concepts,” said Martinez. “We just don’t think that we’re in a place where there’s agreement.”
But it seems both sides do believe the special session may be much shorter than anticipated.
“We’re not even sure necessarily if there will be a session, or if there is a session. We don’t know if we’re gonna walk in and gavel down because there’s no consensus and walk out the door,” said Montoya.
“Whether or not we have a special session, whether or not it lasts 15 minutes or lasts a today, this work is going to continue, right? A special legislative session is not the end all be all for these issues,” said Martinez.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say one of the other big concerns here is the price of a special session. It costs taxpayers roughly $50,000 a day to bring lawmakers back. Without some type of consensus ahead of time, it seems that money could go to waste.
So what are the big hangups on the competency bills? It seems lawmakers want more time to address constitutional concerns.
These bills would essentially force some New Mexicans into behavioral treatments against their will, and there are a lot of potential issues there.
Some lawmakers also raised concerns about the simple lack of behavioral health resources across New Mexico, and suggest these bills might be putting the cart before the horse.
Leapfrog released its 2026 spring hospital safety grades.
Grades are assigned based on overall performance, including patient safety.
The Leapfrog Group’s goal is to publicly report patient safety and quality information for the benefit of consumers, purchasers, and referring physicians as they make decisions about where to seek care and where to direct patients,” the company stated on its website.
Here’s how your local hospitals performed.
MountainView Regional Medical Center – A
Leapfrog gave MountainView an “A.”
“Being the only hospital in Doña Ana County to earn an ‘A’ from The Leapfrog Group speaks to the high standards our team sets – and meets – every day,” said MountainView CEO Patrick Shannon. “This achievement reflects the dedication of our physicians, nurses, and employees to deliver the safest care possible for our community.”
“An ‘A’ Grade is a strong sign that MountainView is deeply committed to protecting patients from harm,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We commend the leadership, Board, clinicians, staff and volunteers for the role each played in earning this distinction.”
The hospital performed better than average in several areas including low infection rates, addressing safety problems, and ICU care. The hospital received below average performances ratings in surgical site infections post colon surgery, communication about medicine and discharge, communication with doctors and nurses and nursing and bedside care for patients.
Memorial Medical Center – B
Memorial Medical Center received a “B” grade from Leapfrog.
The hospital performed well in effective leadership, reduction and prevention of infections and addressing safety problems.
The hospital received below average ratings for kidney injury after surgery, serious breathing problems, harmful events, communication about medicine and discharge, and communication with doctors and nurses.
Not rated by Leapfrog were Three Crosses Regional Hospital.
Nearby top rated hospitals
Leapfrog gave an A to William Beaumont Army Medical Center and Del Sol Medical Center in El Paso. Las Palmas Medical Center in El Paso received a B.
How did other New Mexico hospitals perform?
A recipients were:
- CHRISTUS Southern New Mexico in Alamogordo
B recipients were:
- Lovelace Women’s Hospital in Albuquerque
C recipients were:
- Carlsbad Medical Center in Carlsbad
- CHRISTUS St. Vincent in Santa FE
- Eastern New Mexico Medical Center in Roswell
- Lovelace Medical Center-Downtown in Albuquerque
- Lovelace Regional Hospital in Roswell
- Lovelace Westside Hospital in Albuquerque
- University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque
D recipients were:
- San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington
- UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center in Rio Rancho
Explore the full survey results at https://www.hospitalsafetygrade.org/.
Jessica Onsurez is editor of the Las Cruces Sun-News. Reach her by email at jonsurez@usatodayco.com.
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) — The Social Security Office released the most popular baby names for 2025 on Thursday. And here in New Mexico, we saw some familiar names top the charts once again.
Coming in at No. 1 for girls is Mia, and as for the boys, Noah ranks No. 1. That’s no change from 2024 when Mia and Noah also led the pack, both coming in at No 1. For 2025, there were a total of 66 babies named Mia and 115 babies named Noah, while in 2024, there were 81 Mias and 105 Noahs.
What do the names mean? Online sources list a few different interpretations for Mia, but one common association is with the Italian word “mia,” which means “mine.” As for Noah, the name is most commonly associated with the prominent bible figure. It’s thought to mean “rest,” or “comfort.”
Here’s a look at some of the other top baby names in New Mexico for 2025.
- Girls:
- Olivia (65 total)
- Sophia (65 total)
- Sofia (60 total)
- Camila (59 total)
- Eliana (57 total)
- Isabella (56 total)
- Amelia (53 total)
- Aria (45 total)
- Aurora (45 total)
- Boys:
- Liam (109 total)
- Mateo (99 total)
- Elijah (76 total)
- Santiago (70 total)
- Sebastian (69 total)
- Ezra (67 total)
- Elias (66 total)
- Ezekiel (66 total)
- Levi (69 total)
Nationally, Olivia and Liam are the most popular baby names, and have been for the past seven years, according to the Social Security Administration. As for the fastest-rising names, Klarity jumped nearly 1,400 spots on the girls’ list, and Kasai jumped 1,108 for boy names.
Other names rising in popularity for boys include Atlas, Adriel, Emiliano, Arthur, and Archer. On the girls’ list, Ailany, Sienna, Amara, and Georgia are becoming more popular.
You can find the full list by state online.
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