Adrian Hedden
Carlsbad Current-Argus
achedden@currentargus.com

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham described a state in need of reforms to address crime, homelessness and climate change during her annual State of the State speech Jan. 21 in Santa Fe.

Lujan Grisham delivered her remarks at the start of the 2025 Legislative Session, vowing to support a multitude of initiatives and calling for lawmakers to introduce and pass bills to advance the governor’s multiple agendas.

The session will run for 60 days, until March 22, with a Feb. 20 deadline for introducing legislation. The governor will have until April 11 to sign bills into law after they are passed by the House and Senate – or “pocket veto” them by taking no action.

During her speech, the second-term governor – who is ineligible to run for reelection in 2026 due to term limits – focused largely on public safety, including initiatives to respond to widespread crime, homelessness and poverty.

“That’s why I’m proposing new initiatives to tackle our crime problem, expand affordable housing, protect at-risk children, improve our health care system and more,” she said. “I look forward to working with lawmakers over the next 60 days to create an even better New Mexico.”

Criticism of the governor was swift following her speech with New Mexico Republican Party Chair Amy Barela questioning a pattern she described as the administration overspending on programs and public services that have so far failed to diminish a variety of problems facing the state.

“While we acknowledge the governor’s sentiment that New Mexicans deserve better, her same approach of throwing more money at the many issues in our state has not produced results,” Barela said in a statement following the speech.

“Over her 6-year tenure, the state budget has increased by approximately 73%, yet critical areas like education and child welfare remain last in the nation.”

Republican leaders in the Legislature were also critical of the governor’s policies, but said they were eager to begin tackling crime and a “revolving door” of criminals being arrested and released back into society to reoffend.

Rep. Alan Martinez (R-23), who serves as minority whip in the House, said Republicans believed the answer to repeat offenders was bringing back cash bail after the practice was ended in New Mexico by voters via a constitutional amendment in 2016.

Last year, the GOP also attempted to crack down on repeat offenders in Senate Bill 122, which would have prevented pretrial release for those charged with crimes deemed “serious violent offenses” or felonies when a firearm was used.

That bill died before receiving a committee vote.

“The Governor is right when she says removing repeat offenders from our streets is just common sense,” Martinez said. “House Republicans have a solution to reinstate cash bail to address this problem head-on. We are hopeful that this will open the door to conversations about real tough-on-crime bills with our Democrat colleagues in the House.”

Barela was also critical of the governor for what Republicans say is her lack of support for the oil and gas industry, which is largely centered in New Mexico’s southeast Permian Basin region and credited with supplying about $13 billion in state and local revenue in the last year.

Barela slammed the governor for policies the GOP chairwoman said would stymie the energy industry’s growth without making a measurable impact on pollution and climate change.

Lujan Grisham called for legislation during the ongoing session to reform the state’s Oil and Gas Act, a law that governs several facets of how the industry works. Democrats in recent sessions introduced legislation to add language that would impose a one-mile setback between oil and gas sites, homes, hospitals and other sensitive areas while also increasing fees paid to operate on state land.

Democrats have introduced bills in the early days of the session to prohibit certain natural gas emissions in areas identified for having “high ozone” or smog levels, such as the Permian Basin, and to establish “children’s health protection zones” where oil and gas development near schools would be banned.

A resolution introduced by Democrats would add “environmental rights” to the state’s constitution, a move critics worried could expose New Mexico to future lawsuits and block development projects in several sectors.

The governor had yet to publicly take a stance on those bills, but did support increased fees in the Oil and Gas Act and legislation to support the “Strategic Water Supply” – a past proposal by Lujan Grisham to allow the state to buy wastewater from the oil and gas industry for reuse in other sectors.

“While the governor briefly acknowledged the record oil and gas revenues, she once again failed to thank the oil and gas industry for contributing nearly half of our state’s budget while proposing legislation that threatens to eliminate this vital sector by 2050,” Barela said.