Democratic leaders in the New Mexico House of Representatives on Tuesday announced their child well-being priorities for next year’s legislative session, most of which centered around reforming the state’s troubled child welfare agency.
At an Albuquerque news conference, House Speaker Javier Martínez (D-Albuquerque) and several Democratic state lawmakers outlined their plans to sponsor legislation in the 2027 session that would create a three-member commission to oversee the state Children, Youth and Families Department, revise confidentiality protections in the state Children’s Code, ban congregate care for foster youth under the age of 12 and equip the recently formed Office of the Child Advocate with subpoena power.
What to do with CYFD has become a key issue in the race to become New Mexico’s next governor. That has intensified after recent reports that alleged CYFD staffers dropped a foster teen at the U.S.-Mexico border and instructed him to walk alone into Ciudad Juárez to reunite with his estranged mother.
“The time to talk about the problem is over,” Martínez said. “It’s time for action, and it’s time to take care of our most vulnerable children.”
Tuesday’s announcement came just weeks after the New Mexico Department of Justice gave lawmakers on the interim Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee dozens of legislative and policy recommendations to reform CYFD. Many of the proposals for the 2027 legislative session mirrored the NMDOJ’s recommendations.
The group of lawmakers at Tuesday’s news conference said they had not yet decided whether to present these proposals as an omnibus bill or as several pieces of legislation. The 2027 legislative session will be a 60-day session, meaning lawmakers are freed up to tackle issues beyond the state budget.
But even the state budget will focus on child welfare, Rep. Meredith Dixon (D-Albuquerque) said.
Dixon, who serves as vice chair of the standing House Appropriations and Finance Committee, said that CYFD’s funding requests in the next state budget will be “carefully reviewed” to make sure they reflect healthy staffing levels, vacancy rates and more.
“As we develop the upcoming state budget, we will prioritize investments in services for at-risk youth,” Dixon said.
State lawmakers acknowledged that many of the proposals were not necessarily new. Rep. Michelle Paulene Abeyta (D-To’Hajiilee), for example, said her 2025 legislation to create the Office of the Child Advocate was significantly pared back before it became law. Namely, she said, the state Senate removed provisions in the office’s guiding legislation to give it subpoena power.
“Today, we are back to restore its teeth,” she said.
A new governor will preside over the 2027 legislative session as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is term-limited. Martínez, for his part, said he stands ready to work alongside New Mexico’s next governor on these issues, whether it’s Democratic nominee Deb Haaland or Republican nominee Gregg Hull.
New Mexico Senate Republicans are set to hold a half-day task force meeting, titled “Reimagining CYFD,” at Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque on Wednesday. Former cabinet secretaries are scheduled to speak before the Republican lawmakers, according to an agenda for the event.
