Governor signs off on 60 bills, including measures dealing with primary elections, psilocybin

SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday signed into law bills making it easier for roughly 310,000 independent voters in New Mexico to cast ballots in primary elections and creating a state-run psilocybin program for medical patients.

The measures were among 60 bills signed by Lujan Grisham in a flurry of bill action during her final week to act on legislation approved this year by lawmakers.

Other signed bills included a measure, Senate Bill 364, allowing non-citizens to be hired as law enforcement officers in New Mexico if they are authorized to legally work in the United States.

The governor, who traveled out of state last week to speak at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, did not hold a news conference Monday to announce the bill signings.

But that didn’t stop supporters of the signed bills from celebrating their final approval.

Backers of the bill creating semi-open primary elections in New Mexico said the change could boost voter turnout rates, starting in the 2026 election cycle.

“This will ensure the voices of hundreds of thousands of folks across New Mexico will be heard in our primary elections, and Common Cause is honored to be a part of a movement expanding access to voting when we see so many states trying to restrict it,” said Molly Swank, the executive director of Common Cause New Mexico.

Under the current system, independent voters, or those who decline to align with a political party, must change their party affiliation in order to vote in primary elections.

But critics describe that process as cumbersome for county clerks, and say few independent voters have utilized it. Independents currently make up about 23% of the state’s more than 1.3 million registered voters.

Meanwhile, the governor also signed legislation that will allow patients diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse disorders and several other conditions to legally use psilocybin, or magic mushrooms, under medical supervision.

The approval of a state-run psilocybin program will make New Mexico the third state to authorize use of the drug in such circumstances, following in the steps of Oregon and Colorado. Several military veterans urged lawmakers to pass the bill during this year’s session, citing their own experiences with psilocybin use.

In all, the governor has signed 84 bills passed by legislators during the 60-day session that ended March 22. She has also vetoed two bills, a measure allowing local school boards to determine the number of annual school days and legislation dealing with probation and parole changes.

A total of 111 bills are still awaiting action before Friday’s deadline, including a $10.8 billion state spending plan for the budget year that starts in July and a tax package approved by lawmakers during the second-to-last day of the session.

A high-profile bill requiring registered New Mexico lobbyists to disclose which bills they actively supported — and which bills they lobbied against — is also still awaiting the governor’s signature.

Any bills that are not signed before the deadline are automatically vetoed, under what’s commonly referred to as a pocket veto.