More than 500 people gathered on the south side of the Roundhouse Thursday to celebrate the signing of House Bill 9, which bans local governments from signing detention contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and local law enforcement from serving federal immigration warrants.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed HB9, along with three other bills Thursday. Her timing coincided with Youth Power Day, hosted by the climate justice nonprofit Semilla Project.
“We didn’t get this very important piece of legislation passed into law because of one person, it’s because of you all,” Rep. Angelica Rubio (D-Las Cruces) told the crowd.
The crowd answered her remarks with boisterous shouts of “whose house, our house,” and “people, power.”
When another Las Cruces Democrat took the stage, though, the mood changed.
Rep. Nathan Small (D-Las Cruces), who chairs the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, tried to speak about $3 million in outdoor equity grants in the budget, which could be used to expand outdoor learning and careers to address pollution.
“Do you worry about what is going to happen in our mountains and our rivers?” Small asked the crowd of climate advocates. “What we have now, with the New Mexico Legislature, is money to support you guys, getting out there, doing work and making a good wage.”
Members of the crowd, however, shouted “shame on you.”
Jovanny Hernandez shouted and booed along with a handful of other people, and then made his way inside to confront Small in the lobby of the Roundhouse, citing concerns over its projected emissions and water use.
“Yeah, we have different opinions on it,” Small told him. “But it’s going to use less water than 20 or 30 acres of pecans.” Small said he would work to develop the region’s infrastructure and require more renewable energy sources to provide power for Project Jupiter.
Hernandez replied: “I hope you go to bed thinking about what you’ve done to Doña Ana County.”
Governor signs 4 priority bills Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed four bills into law Thursday morning, including interstate medical compacts and the ICE detention ban. As she signed her name to each piece of legislation, she praised lawmakers from both sides of the aisle for coming together and working on these priority issues.
But she made it clear that she wants to see more action before the session ends at noon on Feb. 19, particularly on medical malpractice reform and universal child care.
“This early in the session, getting legislation passed is hard, even with an interim and years of work,” Lujan Grisham told a packed room of lawmakers, advocates and reporters Thursday morning. “I am proud of the Legislature. They don’t need that, but I think the public needs to know that they are getting incredible things done.”
Just hours after Lujan Grisham signed the bills into law, the House of Representatives passed its 10th compact bill of the session.
It’s a sprint, not a marathon The House Rural Development, Land Grants and Cultural Affairs Committee convened a couple minutes after 9 a.m. Thursday morning. On the agenda: House Bill 268, a feasibility study for a statewide land grant and acequia museum, and House Bill 288, which would direct funding to the New Mexico Historic Women Marker Program.
After nearly seven minutes — less than half the time needed to listen to an Iron Butterfly song — the committee advanced both bills and adjourned for the day.
“With that, that’s the end of one of the quickest, most efficient meetings,” committee Chair Rep. Linda Serrato (D-Santa Fe) said before bringing her gavel down.
Looking ahead
As the governor calls on lawmakers to prioritize her universal child care initiative, a measure that would only require co-pays from high-earning families under certain economic circumstances is scheduled for its first hearing. The Senate Education Committee is scheduled to discuss Senate Bill 241, the Child Care Assistance Program Act, at 9 a.m. Friday.
Lawmakers will be working on the weekend, as a lengthy hearing is expected Saturday for Senate Bill 18, the Clear Horizons Act, in the Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee. The bill, which would mandate climate pollution reduction goals, advanced through its first committee on a 5-4 vote earlier this week.
