Jan. 8—Expect the New Mexico Legislature to jump into action when the 60-day session kicks off in less than two weeks.
Senate Majority Floor Leader Peter Wirth told members of Santa Fe’s business community Wednesday the Legislature is taking a different route this year by prioritizing in the first 30 days a package of behavioral health bills and a public safety package centered around a criminal competency bill.
“The idea is to get them up to the governor 30 days in,” Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said in an interview after the annual legislative preview event hosted by the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce and held this year at La Fonda on the Plaza.
“Rather than have all the bills and all the chaos and then at the very end we see what comes through, you’re going to have both House and Senate working and prioritizing these issues,” he added.
Wirth said the plan to expedite the two packages of bills reflects the priority lawmakers are placing on public safety.
“That was never the issue and the reason the special session broke down; we just weren’t ready with those bills,” he said, referring to a special session centered on public safety Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham called in July that ended in five hours with lawmakers giving much of her agenda the cold shoulder.
Wirth and other members of Santa Fe County’s all-Democratic legislative delegation expressed optimism for the upcoming session, which starts Jan. 21.
But they also acknowledged the challenges New Mexico is facing in the public safety and behavioral health arenas.
“I’ve been reflecting on it a lot as I drive around town,” said state Rep. Reena Szczepanski, D-Santa Fe.
“I see a lot of people that need a lot of help, and we are not reaching them in the way that they need to be reached, and we are not ensuring that our communities feel safe when they are doing their daily activities, so that’s got to change,” added Szczepanski, who is the incoming House majority leader.
The behavioral health package, which will start in the Senate, will include a proposed billion-dollar trust fund that would “spin off $50 million a year to start” for behavioral health and an infrastructure bill in the range of $150 million to $200 million, Wirth said.
“We have got to rebuild our behavioral health system,” he said. “It was decimated by changes that were made in the prior administration, and we’ve not yet recovered.”
Lawmakers also discussed other bills they plan to introduce during the session.
Sen. Liz Stefanics, D-Cerrillos, said her bills include a proposal to restore a cost of living increase for state retirees who are 65 and older and a river stewardship program. She said she’s also working on a bill that would expand the definition of burials in New Mexico.
Existing state statute “talks about being buried in the ground. It talks about cremation,” she said. “But we’re going to try to do natural, organic reductions,” also known as human composting.
Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.