On January 21, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham delivered her 2025 State of the State address to begin the 60-day legislative session. Governor MLG both praised and prodded legislators during her State of the State Address, lauding the state’s efforts to reduce poverty but urging lawmakers to do more to curb high violent crime rates. The governor unveiled new proposals to help businesses pay for their security costs and exempt foster parents and grandparents raising their grandchildren from paying income tax. She also said New Mexico is in a “state of crisis” due to crime and focused much of her 50-minute speech on public safety issues. During her State of the State address, the Governor covered education, child care, the Children Youth and Families Department, the economy, environmental concerns, housing and homelessness and health. At the end of her hour speech, she doubled down on crime and public safety.
Some of the specific proposals discussed by the Governor during her address include the following:
PUBLIC SAFETY
- Updates to criminal competency laws to ensure individuals repeatedly cycling through New Mexico’s courts receive treatment instead of being released.
- Stronger penalties for convicted felons in possession of a firearm in the COMMISSION OF A CRIME.
NARRATIVE:
The Governor focused much of her 50-minute speech on public safety issues. She said New Mexico is in a “state of crisis” due to crime. Lujan Grisham said this:
“Too many of us simply don’t feel safe in our communities, and that is, frankly, unacceptable.”
The Governor drew a rare standing ovation from Republican legislators and a few Democrats when she called for legal changes to hold violent repeat offenders accountable.
Democrat House and Senate leadership have been working on their own package of crime and behavioral health bills for this year’s session. Some have said the governor’s proposals will face tough opposition after a contentious special session last summer. This without a doubt will include her proposal to make it easier to hold defendants accused of certain violent crimes behind bars until trial know as “pre trial detention.” Similar proposals have repeatedly stalled in committee in recent years due largely to constitutional concerns.
The 2025 legislative session comes after of the governor’s failed special session on crime last summer. In her State of the State Address, Lujan Grisham outlineed specific public safety proposals, including updates to criminal competency laws, and creating stronger penalties for convicted felons who are found with a gun while committing a crime. Lujan Grisham said this:
“It is a small but significant group of repeat offenders and criminals who wreak a large percentage of the havoc on our people and our businesses. We can not, we must not let this continue. We need the tools to overcome this challenge.”
Republican leaders in the legislature said they share the governor’s commitment to fight crime and said they hope to see their proposals get approved this session. Minority Floor Leader Sen. Bill Sharer (R-Farmington) said this:
“She’s more focused on behavioral health than on what the real crime was, and so, we as Republicans have been talking about real crime solutions for a long time.”
Republican leadership called for changes to keep accused criminals in jail pending trial, ramping up penalties, and creating “certainty” among criminals by emphasizing that if they commit a crime, they will go to prison. Republican leaders also called for independent oversight of CYFD but through a special office within the New Mexico Department of Justice.
HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS
- Establishing a state Office of Housing supported with funding and expertise.
- $50 million in development subsidies to build houses for people who are priced out—making homebuying more affordable in New Mexico.
- $50 million to fight homelessness with dedicated services that lift individuals up and help them become stable, productive members of society.
NAARATIVE:
Gov. Lujan Grisham touched on housing, saying the state should create an Office of Housing to oversee new developments. In addition, she would like to see $50 million go toward development subsidies to help build houses and make homebuying more affordable in New Mexico. The governor also requested that an additional $50 million go toward fighting homelessness, $50 million go toward the Rural Health Care Delivery Fund, and $100 million be set aside for behavioral health expansion.
HEALTH CARE, BEHAVIORAL HEALTH & CHILD WELL-BEING
- Establishing an independent Child Protection Authority, jointly appointed by the legislature and the executive, that ensures CYFD adequately resolves all complaints from families and foster parents.
- Moving the responsibility for CARA—the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act that helps pregnant mothers and newborns affected by substance abuse—to the Department of Health.
- Investing an additional $50 million in the Rural Health Care Delivery Fund and $100 million in behavioral health expansion.
- Establishing a state-sponsored medical malpractice program.
Governor Lujan Grisham said this during her State of the State address:
“The state has a duty to provide a fully supported behavioral health system that meets New Mexicans where they are.”
NARRATIVE:
Governor MLG addressed the troubled Children Youth and Families Department giving her expectations on how department problems should be addressed going forward. She made substantial proposals beginning proposal to help foster families. She wants to exclude them from personal income tax, and she wants to increase their monthly stipends by up to $900, per child. Surprisingly, she said she wants more oversight of CYFD, something she has resisted in the past. The Governor proposed an independent outside expert to evaluate the department’s performance and report those findings to her and the Legislature every six months. She said she believes regular reviews will help them make real-time adjustments.
The governor also addressed the crisis of abused children falling through the cracks which has plagued the CYFD. The Governor MLG said this
“I’m also calling for a new independent Child Protection Authority, jointly appointed by the Legislature and the executive, that will ensure CYFD adequately resolves all complaints from families and parents. Another indicator about what’s happening or not happening.”
The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) program is designed to help mothers with substance abuse and their babies, The governor focused on CARA and the changes she wants lawmakers to tackle this session. Advocates have been pushing for several changes. The first being to move the CARA program to the Department of Health.
This program is extremely complicated, involving several state agencies. What happens now is when a mother gives birth to a substance exposed baby, the hospital is supposed to create a plan of care. It’s supposed to be a safety net for those children, but there are massive gaps. Agencies have gone back and forth with which one is supposed following up with the families, and making sure they get the help they need. Many families have fallen through the cracks and children have died. Lujan Grisham said this:
“The truth is too many families did not adhere to the spirit of that program, that’s why I believe it’s time to make these interventions mandatory for these families.”
Legal concerns have been raise in the past about mandating plans of care without legal intervention from the state. The intent of the original bill was to ensure families are getting help. Without that, mothers are getting arrested for the deaths of their babies with some facing prison time.
EDUCATION
- Making the new Office of Special Education permanent in law—establishing consistent statewide standards for all K-12 special education students.
- Establishing a $50 million annual investment in the Indian Education Fund.
- Creating a comprehensive math and STEM program to match our strides in literacy.
NARRATIVE:
During her State of the State address, the governor put emphasis on education and family policy and she called for legislators to fix problems with the New Mexico Children, Youth & Families Department. Lujan Grisham said she would like to see the department receive more funding and for an outside oversight group to be created to ensure CYFD adequately resolves all complaints from families and foster parents.
In regard to education, the governor said she would like to permanently establish an Office of Special Education, which would set statewide standards for all K-12 special education students. She also proposed incentives for schools that ban cell phone use during school hours and funding for improved safety measures.
New Mexico has struggled for decades when it comes to public education. However, Governor MLG shared encouraging statistics. She celebrated the Legislature’s previous investments in education, including the $30 million lawmakers spent on a summer reading bootcamp last year. She said students involved in the program saw an 11% increase in reading skills, and she wants the legislature to allocate even more money for the program.
This year, the Governor is prioritizing universal free childcare. She told lawmakers 30,000 New Mexican children already benefit from the state-funded program, and she’s asking for another $205 million to make free childcare available for every New Mexico family. Lujan Grisham said this:
“Let’s become the first state in America to give every child the start they deserve with universal access to high quality child care today and for the future, set the standard for America New Mexico.”
The governor doubled down on a 180-day school calendar initiative that faced strong opposition last year and it is likely to face even more this year.
CLIMATE AND ENERGY
- Updates to the Oil and Gas Act.
- Establishing a state-sponsored fire insurance program outside the private market to protect families and their homes – and to help make people whole when tragedy strikes.
- A strategic water supply for clean energy projects, advanced manufacturing, and even putting out wildfires.
NARRATIVE:
Lujan Grisham did not specifically mention President Donald Trump during her speech but did cite several climate-related initiatives that may well be affected by Trump executive orders to stop Biden climate change initiatives. She recognized several individuals working to monitor methane gas emissions and urged lawmakers to codify an order requiring the state to have net-zero emissions by 2050. That plea prompted a standing ovation from Democratic lawmakers, while GOP lawmakers looked on impassively.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
- Provide $20 million to assist in expanding or relocating qualified business entities that are stimulating economic development and producing public benefit.
GOVERNOR IGNORES REFORMING CHILDREN’S CODE
Surprisingly, Governor MLG made no mention of juvenile justice reform. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say they are ready to crack open the Children’s Code and make some changes. Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman has declared a crisis in juvenile violent crime and is seeking major changes to the Children’s Code. Teenage homicide and auto theft are now at crisis levels and the key question is whether there should be adult consequences for teens accused of serious crimes? The governor clearly chose not to make this a key issue for her.
USES FOR NM’S HISTORIC REVENUE WINDFALL
A back drop to the 60-day session is the state’s historic revenue windfall. New revenue estimates released by Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) in December projected that legislators will have $892.3 million in “new money” available during the 2025 legislative session. The “new money” projection figure represents the difference between projected revenue and current total spending levels. The $892.3 million figure is upwards of $233 million more than was projected in August of this year. In all, the nearly $13.6 billion in projected revenue for the coming budget year is roughly $3.4 billion more than the state’s $10.2 billion budget.
Gov. Lujan Grisham proposed two new state-sponsored insurance programs that could be funded from the revenue windfall. One of those programs would help New Mexicans struggling to get homeowners’ insurance policies in parts of the state threatened by wildfires. The Governor said this:
“No New Mexican should be priced out of a fire insurance policy.”
The other insurance program would establish a state-sponsored medical malpractice plan. While Lujan Grisham did not provide details, she expressed concern that current medical malpractice insurance rates are hampering the state’s efforts to recruit and retain more health care providers. The governor said this:
“Insurance rates for doctors and health care providers shouldn’t be any higher in New Mexico than in neighboring states, and they most certainly shouldn’t be twice the national average.”
The governor said during her State of the State address that her administration and lawmakers are making “smart choices” with the projected $13.8 billion in revenue for the coming year, but only briefly mentioned the source of the budget surplus. State Republican Party Chairwoman Amy Barela said this in a statement:
“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.”
Links to quoted and relied upon news sources:
https://www.koat.com/article/new-mexico-governor-state-of-state-2025/63496404
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
It was very disappointing that Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham did not elaborate or propose in great detail as to what should and can be done with the state’s historic revenue surplus. On December 3, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and state officials announced that the state intends to fund and move the NM State Fair grounds to a new location without identifying a new location nor cost to rebuild, yet she made no mention of it during her State of the State address.
The 2025 New Mexico legislative session will again be hot and heavy on how to spend the historic surpluses, and they should be spent on major capital improvement projects. There is indeed a lengthy list on what the surplus can be spent upon. The list includes:
Major infrastructure needs such as roads and bridge repair, funding for wastewater projects, dams and acequia projects, the courts, law enforcement and the criminal justice system, funding for our behavioral health care system, job creation endeavors, economic development programs, funding for the Public Employee Retirement funds to deal with underfunded liabilities and benefits should all be topics of discussion during the upcoming 2025 legislative session. All merit serious consideration and funding with the historic surplus.
Whenever surpluses in state revenues occur, fiscal conservatives always begin to salivate and proclaim all taxation is bad and that rebates and tax reform are desperately needed and the only way to spend the surpluses. The tired and old political dogma has always been that tax revenues are the people’s money and anything in excess of what is actually needed over and above essential government services should be returned to the taxpayer. It is a short-sighted philosophy believing that only essential, basic services should be funded with taxpayer money such as public safety. If that were the case, there would be no public libraries, no museums, no zoos, no mass transit expansions and no memorial monuments.
What all too often is totally ignored because lack of revenues are major capital outlay projects that are for the benefit of the public and that improve the overall quality of life. Roads and water projects are such priorities but are not exclusive. Given the sure magnitude of the surplus, it is likely municipalities, citizens and interest groups will be asking for funding for special capital projects such as swimming pools, parks, recreation facilities, sport facilities and entertainment venues. The Governor and the legislature should listen and fund such projects during the 2025 Legislative Session while they can.
FINAL COMMENTARY
It is clear that the Governors State of the State address was somewhat more subdued than those delivered in the past few years. This no doubt was in part to the fact that the Governor’s relationship with the legislature has declined in the past year, especially after the disastrous special session she called last summer on Public Safety where the legislature failed to enact any and all legislation she requested.
In this year’s State of the State address, the Governor was far more conciliatory. Although she again made public safety and crime a top priority, she was not at all as confrontational. She emphasized the popular and bipartisan issues of child education and welfare. The Governor appeared to bend over backwards to stress a turn away from confrontation and was clearly promoting a more collaborative relationship with the Legislature. She repeatedly cited efforts she said had been successful from working together, giving shout-outs like: “You did it! and “You can do it!”
Her conciliatory tone in her State of the State address with the legislature is a sign that she has finally learned the valuable lesson that compromise is the only way to get things done with the New Mexico legislature.
The link to a related article is here: