As debate on the New Mexico Senate floor stretched into Friday afternoon, Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee staff members addressed the crowd in a committee room with an apologetic tone: Committee Chair Sen. Linda López (D-Albuquerque) was concerned about the impending winter storm creating dangerous road conditions, they said, so the hearing on several pieces of proposed legislation would be rescheduled for Monday.
Frequently during debate on the Senate floor, lawmakers reminded one other of the impending storm as a reason to adjourn early.
That didn’t stop some, like Sen. Jay Block (R-Rio Rancho), from engaging in debates over proposed legislation before the Senate. Senate Bill 2, which would fund statewide highway infrastructure projects in part with increased registration fees for passenger vehicles, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. It would also allow the State Transportation Commission to issue bonds to finance road projects.
“Adding fees and taxes onto businesses, which are going to pass that onto the consumers — I hear about affordability all the time from those on the left. You’re actually making it worse with this bill,” Block said during debate over the bill, which passed 31-9 with amendments.
Among the proposed laws the Senate Health and Public Affairs committee was scheduled to discuss were Senate Bill 6, which aims to appropriate nearly $547 million for a new University of New Mexico School of Medicine, and Senate Bill 8, which would funnel $650 million into the state’s Behavioral Health Trust Fund. The fund was signed into law after the 2025 legislative session as a way to rebuild the state’s behavioral health system.
Medical compact bill advancesNew Mexico moved closer to entering an interstate medical compact Friday afternoon.
The state Senate voted 40-0 to pass Senate Bill 1, the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Act. The bill aims to ease the state’s health care worker shortage by making it easier for licensed professionals from other states to practice in New Mexico.
“This is a big step forward,” Sen. Rex Wilson (R-Ancho) said on the Senate floor. After voicing his support, though, he told his fellow senators that the legislation was not a cure-all for the many health care challenges facing the state. “This is not a substitute for the big issue we need to deal with in terms of revisions to our malpractice laws.”
Fellow Republicans shared Wilson’s sentiment.
“Make no mistake, we are far from truly accomplishing our goals for New Mexicans,” Senate Minority Leader Bill Sharer (R-Farmington) said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “If we fail to reform our state’s medical malpractice laws, New Mexico will continue to drive healthcare providers out of our state.”
Reading bill moves forwardMembers of the Senate Education Committee on Friday advanced the High-Quality Literacy Instruction Act, which would build on the state’s structured literacy requirements in public schools. Senate Bill 37, sponsored by state Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque) and Rep. Joy Garratt (D-Albuquerque), has been endorsed by the Legislative Education Study Committee. Stewart told the committee the bill builds on work the Public Education Department has done over the last several years to improve literacy rates and ”attempts to set in framework a way that we can help everybody learn to read in our public schools.”
Suicide Awareness DayNew Mexico’s most recent health data shows a 9% increase in suicide deaths in 2024. Rosella Sanchez, the director of community and stakeholder relations for the state’s 988 crisis line, said she wants more New Mexicans to understand their options for free resources. The 988 phone line is a free, confidential resource for people experiencing mental health crises.
“It’s for anyone, any time, any struggle. It’s not just for suicidal ideation, anybody can call no matter what situation they’re going through,” she told Source NM. “There’s no judgement, no shame.”
Sanchez offered resources in the Roundhouse rotunda as part of the Legislature’s “Suicide Awareness Day.” The line has reached more than 80,000 New Mexicans, she said.
The state revamped the 988 line in 2022 following the federal passage of the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act, which funded the resource for mental health, substance use or suicidal crises. In addition to the phone number, the NMConnect app allows for text messages and provides videos and links to local resources.
The New Mexico Crisis and Access Line, which answers the 988 calls made in New Mexico, offers counseling, Sanchez said, along with connections to resources for alcohol or substance misuse. Additionally, there is a peer-to-peer warmline to offer a “non-crisis line, for a listening ear,” she said.
Looking aheadAfter a busy first week for the legislative session, the halls of the Roundhouse were noticeably less lively Friday morning.
Source NM had planned to cover the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee hearing Friday afternoon, and will keep eyes on legislation for the new UNM School of Medicine and the Behavioral Health Trust Fund when they are discussed next week.
Also early next week, the House Education Committee will review House Bill 47, which would amend insurance contributions for public and charter schools across the state, and House Bill 24, known as the “Professional Recruitment and Retention Act,” which would aid licensed professionals including registered nurses and dentists with buying a house.
The House Judiciary Committee will also review a slew of bills related to entering interstate compacts for licensed professionals.
Later in the week, the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources committee plans to hear the “Green Amendment,” a proposed change to the state’s constitution to enshrine a right to “clean and healthy air, water, soil and environment.” House Joint Resolution 3 is sponsored by Democratic Reps. Joanne Ferrary (Las Cruces), Joseph Franklin Hernandez (Shiprock) and Patricia Roybal Caballero and Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, both of Albuquerque. If passed, the voters would decide on the constitutional amendment in the next general election.
This is the sixth year lawmakers have introduced similar legislation.
