Fallout from NM’s one-day “special” session
Regardless of the merits of each of the bills and whether New Mexico’s crime challenges can be solved by passing more laws (as opposed to enforcing them) New Mexico’s GOP legislators were able to position themselves as “willing to work” with Gov. Lujan Grisham on crime. And, as she made clear in her post-session statement Gov. Lujan Grisham placed blame for the session’s failure (rightly) squarely at the feet of Democrats who control the Legislature.
Among other strongly-worded points, MLG wrote, “The legislature as a body walked away from their most important responsibility: keeping New Mexicans safe. But it is noteworthy that a majority of Republicans would have passed many or all of these bills — they were blocked.”
Does this mean thawing relations with the GOP or that MLG is might be willing to push some moderate GOP priorities (like GRT reform or tax cuts)? It is doubtful. But, with just months to go in the campaign, it would seem that GOP legislative campaigns have a ripe political issue in the form of the Democratic Party’s inaction on crime.
Two interesting aspects of the situation:
- Gov. Lujan Grisham has had six years in office to address crime issues and make them a priority. Why call a special session NOW?
- The Gov. and her allies have spent six years (including the 2024 Democratic primaries) working to make New Mexico’s Legislature as “progressive” as possible. But it is these very “progressives” (including Speaker Javier Martinez and Majority Leader Wirth) who remain unwilling to address crime. With the Democrats having moved even further to the political left in June (thanks to MLG’s efforts) how does she expect to get action on crime?
