[LWVNM Action] 2026 chaptered legislation

[Judy Williams]

Thank you Ed!  I didn't know all the gory details about changes and how
hard it is to find these.  Judy

On Mon, Mar 2, 2026 at 7:02 PM Ed Santiago via Action <
action at mailman.swcp.com> wrote:

> Ooooh, finally something I can respond to! From the Legislative Drafting
> Manual[1]:
>
>     Assignment of Session Law Chapter Numbers
>
>     After the governor signs a bill, it is sent to the Office of
>     the Secretary of State. The secretary of state assigns the
>     next available chapter number and the act becomes part of
>     the session laws for that year.
>
>  [1]
> https://www.nmlegis.gov/Publications/Legislative_Procedure/drafting_manual.pdf
>
> (Thank you, Akkana, for having pointed me to nmlegis Publications)
>
> What this means in practice: signed *BILLS* [2] (only bills) will get
> a sequential chapter number: Feed Bill is 2026 chapter 1, etc. Where
> it gets nasty is in bills like 2026 SB38[3] which read:
>
>     REPEAL.--Laws 2020, Chapter 69, Section 6 is repealed
>
> Which is super horrible because a normal human has to go to the SOS
> web site, find 2020 laws, then find Chapter 69, then find the original
> bill, then find what section of NM code it changed. Phew.
>
>  [2] https://nmlegiswatch.org/bills/signed
>  [3] https://nmlegiswatch.org/bills/SB38
>
> I'm working on code for my bill web site that will archive past
> legislation, index it by year and chapter, and provide useful
> hyperlinks for humans. I couldn't get it done in time for this
> year, but it should be live by next session.
>
> HTH,
> Ed
> --
> Ed Santiago  [he/him]          Toolsmith          ... at edsantiago.com
>
>
>
> On Mon, 2 Mar 2026 18:50:10 -0700, Akkana Peck via Action wrote:
> >I think the word "chaptered" probably relates to being incorporated into
> >a chapter of the NM legal code. But that's just a guess; I've never
> >found anything on nmlegis or elsewhere that explains the term.
> >
> >        ...Akkana
> >
> >Richard Mason via Action writes: > Chaptered is the next step
> >after the Governor signing. > > Pocket veto means vetoed by in
> >action > > On Mon, Mar 2, 2026 at 4:49 PM Joanne Turnbull via
> >Action < > action at mailman.swcp.com> wrote: > > > Sorry to be so
> >“dumb” but: > > > > 1. Does ‘chaptered’ mean waiting
> >the governor’s signature? > > > > 2. ‘Pocket veto’ means
> >vetoed by inaction? > > > > Joanne Turnbull > > 207-831-0310 > >
> >turnbulljoanne at gmail.com _______________________________________________
> >Action mailing list Action at mailman.swcp.com
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>
>
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