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Monday, August 04, 2025A Special Session Of The Legislature? MLG Leans Into One But The Necessity Called Into Question --During the last special session of the legislature last July, it took only hours for MLG's crime-fighting proposals to be ignored and for the 112 lawmakers to adjourn and go home. All other bills also died. She risks the same outcome if she insists on another special. --That's because there is no preordained deal with the legislative leadership. It's been a head-scratcher, that the Governor goes into these sessions with no agreement, an essential element to get what she feels is needed. She appears on on track to see that happen again. It may be that she knows crime is such a top-of-mind concern that doing something, doing anything, strengthens her public position. --MLG says a chief reason for the special would be to approve legislation to shut down the three ICE detention centers in the state in reaction to Trump's immigration enforcement. That proposal failed to pass at this year's regular session and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joe Cervantes waved a red flag over the plan at a committee hearing last week. --Also, let the state's congressional delegation do their job. ICE is a federal issue. US Reps Gabe Vasquez and Melanie Stansbury as well as Sen Heinrich have been active on that front. There is no need for the Governor to confront DC over this now unless it is for political purposes. --The Guv's concern about federal cuts to Medicaid and food stamps is shared by many but the fact is that most of the big cuts don't even take effect until after the November 2026 midterm elections.The legislature's regular January '26 session will provide plenty of time to prepare and even then uncertainty will still prevail over whether the cuts will stay in place. --The cuts to the social safety net have been addressed in part by the establishment of a $50 billion Rural Healthcare Fund which should prevent drastic measures from occurring at the state's rural hospitals, although Democrats express skepticism over the fund's effectiveness. --New Mexico's giant surpluses from the oil boom can cover the Medicaid and food stamp cuts in the intermediate term--if they happen--and it would take a simple measure during a regular session to transfer funds to them. Exactly what the Fourth Floor expects to walk away with from a special is foggy. Until the reasoning becomes less opaque and pre-session deals are announced, Republicans will score points accusing MLG of grandstanding. Bringing attention to her deep disagreement with the White House on immigration, her support of the social safety net and her longtime advocacy for sterner gun control measures are widely supported by the majority party. It's just that a regular session--not an expensive and nonproductive special session--is the appropriate venue. THE MLG VIEW  You said at the end of the legislative session you wanted a special session to address crime, juvenile crime in particular. Is that still a possibility? It is still a possibility. We’ve been meeting with leadership staff. There’s more movement to be in a more productive place for a special session. But we’re not where we need to be and there’s no reason to call them and not have any effort. Plus, I don’t want to do three or four or five or six special sessions, as we see what rolls out from the feds, particularly in the next couple of days [this interview took place on May 21, prior to the U.S. House May 22 passage of the GOP budget bill]. And I think there’s widespread agreement by the Democratic leadership that we should adjust our priorities and our budgets to reflect whatever we need to do and can do in the short term to protect New Mexicans. Do you have an ideal scenario of how the state would make up Medicaid funding shortfalls? I think that the fact that we’ve got money in reserves…there are things that we can do. My pitch to the Legislature today—and of course, I haven’t seen what’s coming, although I have a pretty good idea—is we should try to sustain to the degree that we can for a year. And it’s really two [years] between now and when [the 2026 midterm elections] would take hold in Congress, but see if you can stem the closures of rural hospitals and healthcare clinics, and that we don’t lose any movement to hold onto OBGYNs, which is precarious. That’s my perspective today. It’s still a lot of money and we’d have to game it out. It could be as little as $1 billion that we’d have to come up with in healthcare. It could be as much as $3 billion and that’s before you get to education and the [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program]. This is the Home of New Mexico Politics. |
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