El Rito Media News Services

ROSWELL — Southern New Mexico lawmakers have been assigned to legislative committees as activity at the Roundhouse kicks into high gear.

On Jan. 21, opening day of the session, the 42 members of the New Mexico Senate and 69 members of the New Mexico House of Representatives learned which committees they would be on. There are nine standing committees in the Senate and 14 in the House, each tasked with screening and considering legislation before it goes to the floor for a vote by all representatives and senators.

Committee assignments in the New Mexico Senate are determined by the Senate Committees’ Committee, which is chaired by Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque), according to Chris Nordstrum, spokesperson for the New Mexico Senate Democrats.

As the committee chair, Stewart appointed a bipartisan slate of members to mete out the assignments.

Brittany Dickerson, spokesperson for the New Mexico House Republican Caucus, said the speaker provides the assignments in the House with recommendations from the minority party.

State Rep. Mark Murphy (R-Roswell) of House District 59 will be on the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee and the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee.

Murphy, the president of an oil production company, said his position on the Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee will allow him to analyze bills related to the oil and gas industry.

Murphy also expressed enthusiasm for the role he will play as a member of the Commerce and Economic Development Committee, which he claimed could help him with efforts to secure additional state funding for the National Championship Air Races scheduled to happen in Roswell later this year.

State Rep. Angelita Mejia (R-Dexter) of House District 58 was tapped for the House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee and for the House, Labor, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.

House District 54 state Rep. Jonathan Henry (R-Artesia) was placed on the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee and the House Tax and Revenue Committee.

The top Republican on the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee will be state Rep. Jimmy Mason (R-Artesia) of House District 66, which includes parts of Chaves, Eddy and Lea counties.

Mason also holds a spot on the House Rural Development, Land Grants and Cultural Affairs Committee.

Sen. Candy Ezzell (R-Roswell) of Senate District 32 is now the ranking member, also known as the top Republican, on the Senate Conservation Committee. That panel of lawmakers will consider legislation related to water resources, the environment, natural resources and some issues that could impact the energy industry.

Ezzell will also be on the Senate Education Committee. Democrats hold a majority on all committees, but Ezzell said the Education Committee consists of five Democrats and four Republicans.

Sen. Larry Scott (R-Hobbs) of Senate District 42 will be on the Conservation Committee and be a ranking member of the Senate Health & Public Affairs Committee.

Senate District 42 encompasses parts of Eddy, Lea and Chaves County.

Jake Cooper
El Rito Media

A river algae problem that threatened to sink Carlsbad’s popular Christmas on the Pecos festivities appears to be under control, at least for now.

City officials say measures taken to subdue the burgeoning vegetation, including the use of mechanical harvesters that pull algae out of the water, have reduced the growth to a manageable level.

The harvesters were deployed last fall to combat the heavy algae that reportedly started appearing in the river in July 2022.

Nancy Brantley, who lives along the river on Riverside Drive, said the bloom eventually became “a solid mat across the river.”

Deputy City Administrator KC Cass said the city bought two Weedoo TC Work Series mechanical aquatic weed harvesters for about $175,000 to remove the algae from the water. So far, he said, the city has removed and disposed of 125 dumpsters (about 30 cubic yards each) of the algae.

City officials notified the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish of the problem in 2022, and samples were collected. The New Mexico State University Plant Diagnostic Clinic identified the samples as brittle naiad and Eurasian milfoil, both plants that are considered invasive by the clinic.

A third species, sago pondweed, was identified by Game and Fish in April 2024, according to a letter sent by the city to residents with homes along the river.

The “aquatic bloom” has barbs that attach to swimmers, researchers said. Many have reported that the weeds can easily tangle with the blades of boats.

Brantley said her family stopped boating on the river “because it’s so bad, it sucks up the growth, and then (the motor) gets stopped up and then you’ll ruin your motor.”

‘Acting responsibly’

A diagnostic report from NMSU Plant Diagnostic Clinic said herbicides should not be used. The clinic suggested the city try physically removing the weeds. Cass said the city decided to proceed as the clinic suggested and set out to address the problem without contaminating the water with chemicals from herbicides.

“I think acting responsibly is the way to go,” he said. “We were fortunate to find the people that we did to come and help us. They did a tremendous job to help train us and get some of this stuff out.”

Not only did the bloom affect private boat owners, but it also was on the verge of impacting Christmas on the Pecos, the annual event that features boat tours along the river to view homes decorated for Christmas. The 45-minute boat rides start the day after Thanksgiving and continue until New Year’s Eve.

Sponsored by the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, Christmas on the Pecos is one of the chamber’s biggest fundraisers each year. Chamber Chief Executive Officer Chad Ingram said about 15,000 people rode the boats last year, an estimated 75% percent of them from outside Eddy County.

Two Weedoos could be spotted on the Pecos harvesting the algae through early November, clearing the way for Christmas on the Pecos. The harvesters did their job, and the boat rides continued as planned.

Ingram said that although business was not affected by the algae, he felt bad for those who came to Carlsbad over the summer and “probably didn’t have the best experience. I think it affected our local individuals a lot, not being able to get out there.”

Long-term solutions

The machines weren’t the city’s first attempt to combat the algae.

New Mexico Game and Fish permitted the introduction of triploid grass carp into the river to eat the algae, reducing its size and clearing the water. From July 2022 to June of last year, 4,750 carp were released at a cost of $35,750, according to a letter city officials sent to residents.

Cass said that once the Weedoo trims the algae to an acceptable level, the carp eat the plants to keep the bloom at bay. He said the river will be monitored for algae growth.

“We’ll continue to run our boat and cruise five days a week,” he said.

Adrian Hedden
El Rito Media

Crime and mental health took center stage as New Mexico lawmakers convened Jan. 21 in Santa Fe, with several bills already introduced in the opening days of the 60-day legislative session.

In the months leading up to the session, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham unveiled a series of policy priorities related to crime and public safety throughout the state. The topic was positioned to be Lujan Grisham’s signature issue during the last two years of her final term as governor.

To that end, the governor hosted town meetings in Las Cruces, Albuquerque, Espanola and Alamogordo, along with several listening sessions in rural areas such as Carlsbad, Farmington and Clovis.

During her Jan. 8 town hall meeting at the Tays Center in Alamogordo, Lujan Grisham said she was targeting stronger penalties for criminals possessing guns while committing crimes and also looking to strengthen the state’s ability to force defendants into treatment if they are deemed incompetent to stand trial.

So far, the push for public safety reform appears to be working with bills designed to tackle criminal penalties and behavioral health reforms emerging in both the House and Senate.

Here are some of the key public safety bills and initiatives to watch during this year’s legislative session.

Criminal competency

House Bill 4, sponsored by Rep. Christine Chandler (D-43) of Los Alamos, would require that a report from a psychiatric professional regarding a defendant’s mental competency to stand trial also include an opinion as to whether such a defendant qualifies for involuntary commitment to a psychiatric facility.

The bill was referred to the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee for its first hearing.

Fentanyl exposure as child abuse

Sponsored by Rep. Andrea Reeb (R-64), House Bill 136 would allow defendants to be charged with child abuse if they were believed responsible for exposing children to fentanyl. State law already allows the charge to be assessed for exposing children to methamphetamine use.

Abuse of a child not resulting in death is considered a third-degree felony for the first offense and a second-degree felony for second and subsequent offenses. Abuse resulting in death is a first-degree felony.

HB 136 was yet to be assigned to a committee.

Behavioral health planning

Senate Bill 3 would require the Administrative Office of the Courts to divide the state into behavioral health regions, seek public input from those regions and develop regional plans to address behavioral health issues in each of them.

SB 3 was sponsored by Sens. Peter Wirth (D-25), Mimi Steward (D-17) and William Sharer (R-1), and assigned to the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee.

Regional plans will be made up of four phases with no more than five state-funded priorities per phase, identify local resources and include timelines to develop services and plans to obtain federal funding.

The bill also would require the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance to provide a set of standards for behavioral health services included in the regional plans, task the Legislative Finance Committee with evaluating costs, and specify that any funds appropriated under the bill must be guided by the regional plans.

Public safety and justice system funds

Senate Bill 2 was sponsored by a bipartisan group of senators: Benny Shendo (D-22), George Munoz (D-4) and David Gallegos (R-41). The bill proposed several appropriations based on the regional plans required by SB 3, totaling more than $100 million for multiple state agencies for public safety and health care initiatives.

SB 2 was referred to the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee and is awaiting a hearing.

Here are the agencies that will be funded by SB 2.

Administrative Office of the Courts: $8.7 million for grants to local districts to help with court case management and to map out regional needs across the state.

Health Care Authority: $60.5 million to offer grants for local communities to fund regional treatment facilities, both inpatient and outpatient.

Corrections Department: $1.3 million for grants to support services for inmates discharged from the prison system.

Department of Public Safety: $5 million for local law enforcement grants to fund mobile crisis response, recovery and outreach equipment and vehicles. Another $11.5 million would be appropriated to Health Care Authority to staff vehicles and response teams.

University of New Mexico: $1 million for outreach to the homeless, including mobile health units, treatment and telemedicine. Another $1 million would go to the Department of Health to fund its outreach for the homeless.

Department of Finance and Administration: $48 million to create a program to expand housing service providers’ programs dealing with substance abuse, mental health treatment and transitional housing.

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.