State of the State: Lujan Grisham decries gun violence, lauds economy and urges 180-day school year

SANTA FE — “Enough.”

That’s what Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Tuesday in response to gun violence in her State of the State address, as she called for a gun safety package that would ban assault weapons and make purchases of automatic and semiautomatic weapons legal only for people at least 21 years old with a two-week waiting period, among other gun control measures.

In her address to state representatives, Lujan Grisham covered a broad range of topics, including affordable housing construction, education and clean energy. But the governor, who last year instituted a public health order restricting where people can carry guns, highlighted the proposed gun control legislation.

“This is the most important work we’re going to do,” she said. “Because all the other stuff, the jobs, the futures, the homes, the education — really, we can’t keep New Mexicans safe.”

Guns and public safety

While Democratic leadership said its priorities match up with most of Lujan Grisham’s firearm legislation, House Speaker Rep. Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, didn’t directly respond to an inquiry on whether Democrats would support an assault weapons ban.

“As is the case with any bill that is germane, meaning it falls into the scope of the governor’s executive message or within the scope of the budget process, all of those bills will be considered,” he said. “They’ll be heard. They’ll have a fair hearing. They’ll have votes.”

Martinez said some bill sponsors have talked with Republicans about the gun legislation. He pointed to a bill that Rep. Raymundo Lara, D-Chamberino, and Minority House Leader Ryan Lane, R-Aztec, worked on last session.

“It is my hope that we can get folks to the table to talk about this and have a productive conversation,” Martínez said.

But Republican leadership said Lujan Grisham’s proposed legislation would take away New Mexicans’ constitutional rights.

Senate Minority Leader Gregory Baca, R-Belen, said if New Mexicans had to legally follow the governor’s proposed gun measures, they would put themselves at risk by doing so.

“What we have is we have criminals running the streets, breaking the law, obtaining firearms illegally, which I can tell you will not change,” he said. “We’re not going to convince criminals to not commit crimes with firearms by going in and registering and doing background checks.”

Lane said New Mexico has a mental health and criminal problem that needs to be addressed instead.

“Our state doesn’t have a gun problem,” he said. “New Mexico is very unique (in) that both right and left we celebrate the Second Amendment.”

But gun control isn’t the only way Lujan Grisham wants to create a safer New Mexico. She renewed her push for changes to the pretrial detention system — legislation that was pursued last session but, facing constitutional questions, ultimately failed.

Baca said he agrees with proposals to keep criminals behind bars. He also said he supports rehabilitation for people who show promise.

Baca urged lawmakers to consider the upcoming election, in which every seat in the House and Senate will be up for grabs. He said legislators will have to go back to their constituents and “explain to them why they’ve done nothing wrong and you’re restricting them.”

Housing and homelessness

Part of Lujan Grisham’s pitch to improve public safety includes cracking down on panhandling — something Republicans said is common ground — and mandating treatment for people suffering from addiction who find themselves on the wrong side of the law — people who, she acknowledged, are often unhoused.

But much of Lujan Grisham’s address focused on the development of housing instead. She requested millions for housing, including home buying programs like down payment assistance. The governor also pitched ideas to help private developers build more housing, including $250 million in low-interest loans, and a state mandate that local governments use zoning best practices to cull “outdated and overlapping regulations.”

“Too often, housing development is stalled by a complicated web of zoning and permitting requirements that vary from city to city and county to county,” Lujan Grisham said. “To build for the future, we need to fund development and then get out of our own way.”

Economy

The New Mexico economy was also a focus of Lujan Grisham’s hour-long speech. The governor touted achievements, including the highest number of jobs in the state’s history and impressive job growth, noting some of the companies that have recently announced expansions or relocations to New Mexico.

And the governor announced in her speech that Calgon Carbon Corp., a Pennsylvania-headquartered company, is coming to Bloomfield.

Baca said it’s ludicrous for Lujan Grisham to take credit for job creation in the state.

“Just three years ago, this governor shut down 40% of our small businesses in this state. Now she touts job creation,” he said. “I guess when you’re flat at the bottom, you have nowhere to go but up. But let’s not forget who put us there.”

Clean energy and oil & gas

Part of that economic development includes clean energy and conservation investments. Lujan Grisham requested $500 million in Severance Tax Bonds to create the Strategic Water Supply, an idea to contract with the private sector to use brackish salt water, unusable for drinking or agriculture, for green hydrogen, solar panels and wind turbines, among other production and storage uses.

“We are demonstrating that a healthy environment and a strong economy are not in conflict, offering a new model — the New Mexico model — for states like ours across the country,” Lujan Grisham said.

Despite a push from the Lujan Grisham administration for more clean energy, the state saw record-breaking revenues again in 2023 from the oil and gas industry. But data released by the state in December found less than 1% of the State Land Office’s $2.75 billion in revenue came from renewable energy.

Oil and gas are funding nearly half of the state’s general fund in the upcoming fiscal year.

Baca said these huge revenues are largely ignored, and Lujan Grisham barely mentioned them in her speech. Multiple Republican spearheads, including Baca and Lane, highlighted New Mexico’s natural resources on Tuesday.

“We have natural resources that nobody else has,” Baca said.

Several times throughout the speech, Lujan Grisham was interrupted by protesters declaring that “Global warming is a war!” and wearing shirts reading “Protect what’s sacred,” and other messages advocating for a ceasefire in Palestine and climate change action.

It was a flash to 2022, when the Youth United 4 Climate Crisis Action, one of the protesting organizations this year, interrupted a tense first session, calling hydrogen a false solution to climate change. At that time, Lujan Grisham was pushing for the state to become a federally funded hydrogen hub. New Mexico wasn’t ultimately picked.

Education

More time in school, the science of reading and targeted support for the state’s lowest-performing schools were all issues Lujan Grisham also covered. In her budget recommendation for the next fiscal year, she proposed at least $2.9 million to cover transportation costs for schools to have 180 instructional days per year.

“I’m calling for an expansion of the school year to 180 days,” Lujan Grisham said in her speech. “More quality instruction makes a difference. … It’s challenging, but it’s time that we do the right thing for our kids in New Mexico.”

Requiring students to spend 180 days in school has been a point of hot debate lately. A proposal by the Public Education Department that would require public schools to have 180 instructional days per year outside of teacher professional work time was met with a flood of public criticism late last year.

The PED has not yet made a decision on the proposal, a department spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.

“There is a thirst in New Mexico for freedom of choice in education,” Baca said.