[LWVNM Action] Do we need a wrap-up meeting?

Wed Apr 16 11:37:30 MDT 2025

*I can't attend tonight. Attached here is a relevant report on the session.
As AAUW's State Public Policy Chair, I tracked bills according to many
overlapping Public Policy Priorities. AAUW's convention is a week before
LWVNM's and will be held in Las Cruces, where several folks are long-time
members of both organizations. This is true also for the CNM, SFC, and LA
branches. List of legislation is at the end.  *

*AAUW-NM - Spring 2025 Public Policy Report *

The 2025 legislative session ended fairly successfully in terms of new laws
aligned to AAUW’s priorities.  Please see the links to our legislative
tracker and the Secretary of State’s definitive list of signed and
chaptered bills below.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham sent legislators a “clear message” letter
on April 11 after signing 116 bills, vetoing 18, and pocket vetoing 17
others. She also made 87 line-item vetoes to the state budget lawmakers
passed and cut many capital outlay projects. She wrote, “in a time of
extraordinary
challenges, New Mexicans need discipline and urgency from their elected
officials. What they received this session was far too often the
opposite. Hundreds
of bills never saw the light of day on the House or Senate floor or even in
committees, not because they lacked merit, but because the Legislature ran
out of time or simply refused to give the legislation a hearing. Some,
like legislation
to regulate synthetic cannabinoids and keep dangerous substances out
of the hands
of children, died while waiting for concurrence-a process that can take less
than a minute.  Yet in those final hours of the session, and in the wake of a
mass shooting in Las Cruces that went unacknowledged by House leadership, the
House found time to debate the merits of a state bread. And the
Legislature found
time to pass not one, not two, but three separate license plate bills. . . .
 where lawmakers claimed they did not have time to hear a bill that would have
helped build more housing for New Mexicans. That was not just a missed
opportunity,
it was a misuse of time and priorities. We are living in perilous and
unprecedented
times. The stakes for our State have never been higher. We need a Legislature
that rises to the occasion and focuses on the work that truly matters to the
people of New Mexico.”.

While we do agree with the governor’s harsh criticism about wasting time on
frivolous topics, most of her vetoes and many of her pocket vetoes are
concerning, short-sighted, and inexplicable. Legislators did accomplish a
significant amount of work, including substantial tax reform and providing
funding for housing, tribal education, environmental protection, and
numerous budget items which she vetoed. Yes, they could have done more, but
they did meet day and night through most weekends and managed to pass an
impressive number of bills that would have improved our state. Given her
past support of our law-abiding, hardworking immigrant families and
students in general, it was very disappointing to see her pocket veto of
HB64, which would have provided eligible non-citizens access to
scholarships to help them obtain the necessary credentials to participate
in our workforce. Please see this wrap-up for more information.
*https://sourcenm.com/2025/04/11/majority-of-new-mexicos-annual-spending-passes-governors-veto-test/
<https://sourcenm.com/2025/04/11/majority-of-new-mexicos-annual-spending-passes-governors-veto-test/>*

***

*AAUW-NM Legislative Tracker 2025 *

*https://nmlegiswatch.org/trackers/aauw
<https://nmlegiswatch.org/trackers/aauw>*

We are extremely grateful to Eduardo Santiago of Los Alamos for designing
and constantly updating our absolutely terrific legislative tracker. He
made significant improvements throughout the session to reflect changes in
hearing schedules and agendas, to post vote counts, and to alert us when
amendments and different versions of legislation appeared. His color coding
made it so easy to find results and information. I have deleted most of the
bills that didn’t get close to the finish line. In this simplified version,
please see the bright green on the right side for the bills that passed
both chambers, committee and final floor votes; see what was chaptered into
law (most of which become effective June 20) and what the governor vetoed.
The rest of the bills that passed both chambers and were not signed were
pocket vetoed. In the link here, you’ll notice that I’ve modified the view,
so it focuses on bills that made it across the finish line. Blue indicates
Democratic sponsorship; red is Republican; and purple indicates bipartisan
sponsorship. We are so fortunate that Ed has agreed to track our bills
again next session, which will save us lots of time and frustrating work.
His trusty program was updated several times a day during the session
through the present. Legislative Council Service could improve My
Roundhouse if they worked with Ed. Let’s encourage leadership to institute
rules in each chamber before the short session of the biennium begins that
will allow them to continue work on some of the legislation that was *in
medias res* on March 22.

Please keep in touch with your legislators and/or with their District
Legislative Aides, whose contact information is available at
https://www.nmlegis.gov. We owe a debt of gratitude to our unpaid
legislators for their service during legislative sessions and throughout
the year. Their active participation in interim committees, researching
issues, and responding to requests from constituents leads to better
policies. Warts and all, New Mexico is an exemplar in fighting for the
 core values of our diverse population  and in appropriating generous
funding to support the needs of vulnerable people and the public at large.
We are indeed facing unprecedented challenges given the uncertainties of
massive federal funding cuts to healthcare, education, and other segments
of our economy.

*Meredith Machen, AAUW-NM Public Policy Chair, **meredith.machen at gmail.com*
<meredith.machen at gmail.com>*, *

505 577-6337 AAUW-NM’s Public Policy Priorities,
https://aauw-nm.aauw.net/publicpolicy/.

*AAUW-NM’s Priorities-Successes 2025-*

*New Laws as of 6/20/25 and a 2026 Ballot Question**

*Education*

HB63

Public School Funding Formula Changes

G.A. Romero

HB69

Loan Forgiveness Multiplier Act

Garratt

HB71

Early Childhood Ed & Care Transfers

Gallegos

HB89

Graduate Scholarship Act Changes

Hochman-Vigil

HB156

Increase Educational Salaries

Garratt

HB157

New School Licenses

Garratt

HB167

Higher Ed Payment of Certain Tests

Garratt

HB487

Protection of Hispanic Education Act

Torres-Velasquez

SB11

Anti-Distraction Policy in Schools

Brantley, Maestas

SB75

Educational Retirement Changes

Figueroa

SB82

Public School Capital Outlay Changes

Soules

SB201

Public Ed Reform Fund Uses

Gonzales

SB345

Teacher and Instructional Support Licensure

Figueroa

SB401

Broadband for Education

Padilla

*Elections/Government*

*HJR2

Eliminate Pocket Vetoes (Constitutional amendment)

McQueen

SB16

Non-Majority Voters in Primary Elections

Figueroa/Wirth

*Environment*

HB128

NMFA Local Solar Access Fund

Szczepanski

SB23

Increase Oil & Gas Royalties

Munoz

SB33

Wildfire Prepared Act

Stefanics

SB37

Strategic Water Reserve Fund

Stefanics

*Health Care *

HB56

Medicaid Reimbursement for Birth Centers

Herndon

HB214

Doula Credentialing and Access Act

Gallegos

SB1

Behavioral Health Trust Fund

Munoz/Stefanics

SB3

Behavioral Health Reform & Investment Act

Wirth/Sharer

SB57

Medicaid Provider Patient IPRA Info

Wirth

SB88

Medicaid Trust Fund & State Supported Fund

Munoz/Sharer

*Public Safety and Privacy, Housing, and Immigration*

HB8

Criminal Competency and Treatment

Chandler

HB12

ERPO Changes

Garratt

SB36

Sensitive Personal Info Nondisclosure

Sedillo Lopez

SB267

Housing Application Fees

Hamblen

SB364

Law Enforcement Qualifications

Nava/Brandt

*For the content of this legislation and other new laws, please see*

*https://www.sos.nm.gov/2025-signed-chaptered-bills/
<https://www.sos.nm.gov/2025-signed-chaptered-bills/>*

*AAUW-NM Legislative Tracker 2025 *

*https://nmlegiswatch.org/trackers/aauw
<https://nmlegiswatch.org/trackers/aauw>*

Meredith Machen
meredith.machen at gmail.com
505 577-6337

On Wed, Apr 16, 2025 at 9:46 AM Akkana Peck via Action <
action at mailman.swcp.com> wrote:

> We had talked about having a wrap-up meeting after the veto deadline is
> passed. Do people want to meet tonight and talk about the session? I think
> we mostly have a pretty good idea of what passed and didn't pass (thanks to
> Dick's great tracking sheets and other reports to this mailing list), but
> there might be other issues to discuss.
>
>         ...Akkana
> _______________________________________________
> Action mailing list
> Action at mailman.swcp.com
> https://mailman.swcp.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/action
>
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