Special session, here we come: MLG says session IS indeed on tap

07.31.2025

It’s official, MLG is going to call a special session of the Legislature. We’ve heard September, but expect something to happen this fall. As Dan Boyd of the Albuquerque Journal notes in his article the Gov. plans to:

Reinforce state’s Medicaid and food assistance programs in response to federal budget bill.

• Enhance criminal penalty for felons convicted of possessing a firearm.

• Prohibit New Mexico cities and counties from entering into agreements with federal government on immigration detention facilities.

Each of these issues plays in some way into the work of RGF. We’d likely oppose or at least want to tweak the 1st item, support the 2nd, and oppose the 3rd. Here we’ll discuss the 1st which will likely occupy a fair amount of time as it is easily the most complicated of the three. The options are as follows:

  1. The Legislature (as we’ve noted) has plenty of money and can easily pour state money into the Medicaid and SNAP programs to replace lost federal funds. This is the wrong approach but also by far and away the most likely one.
  2. The Legislature could replace SOME, but not ALL of the federal cuts which would result in overall cost savings and a somewhat streamlined Medicaid budget. This approach has potential, but it would require MLG and the Legislature to tacitly admit that Congress and Trump are at least partially correct in reducing Medicaid spending.
  3. The Legislature COULD leave the cuts intact and make needed changes to medical malpractice laws, GRT taxation of medical service providers, and enter New Mexico into various health compacts. They COULD have done that in the 60-day session, but won’t.
  4. Another approach (possibly by Republicans) could be to push for efforts to ensure that Medicaid dollars are spent for their intended purpose, not fraudulently. The link is to a 2022 LFC report highlighting potential steps to that end.

We don’t know exactly what the Gov. will put on the Legislature’s agenda. Undoubtedly MLG will be trying to avoid a debacle like the crime-focused special session of last year.