Senate Republicans blame Democrats for not letting ‘common-sense’ legislation through

Jan. 21—SANTA FE — Despite many items on Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s legislative agenda matching up with Republican priorities, Senate GOP leadership criticized how she wants to go about finding solutions. They also touted their efforts — that they’ve been doing for years, they added — to implement “common-sense solutions” on crime only to have them blocked by the governor’s own party.

“Look at the special session,” said Caucus Chair Sen. David Gallegos, R-Eunice, referring to the half-day session over the summer called to address crime. “We did not leave. The Democrats did.”

The state needs to address catch and release issues, said Minority Floor Leader Sen. William Sharer, R-Farmington, at the news conference held after the governor’s State of the State Address kicking off the 2025 Legislature.

He outlined specific policies like enhancing criminal penalties, implementing more aggressive pretrial detention and expanding the justice system’s ability to deal with human trafficking.

“The real solution to crime is certainty of punishment,” Sharer said.

He also later said it’s not “the person sleeping on the street” who’s the crime problem; it’s cartels. But he’s hopeful President Donald Trump will address that, he said.

Ultimately, Republicans found issue with the governor’s focus on behavioral health programs as a way to address crime. Sharer said while that’s a factor, it takes time to build up a health system, and Senate Minority Whip Sen. Pat Woods, R- Broadview, added that the state doesn’t have the number of practitioners it needs to change the system.

To that effect, Lujan Grisham, in her speech, proposed a medical malpractice program, saying insurance rates for doctors and health care providers shouldn’t be higher in New Mexico than in neighboring states or the national average. Woods said he’s been asked to co-sponsor a bill with Sen. Martin Hickey, D-Albuquerque, for this, but he’s skeptical the Democratic majority would ever let it be heard.

“We have things that we believe will work, but we’ve got to get at least heard in a committee,” Woods said.

Majority Floor Leader Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said in a statement to the Journal that there are ways to recruit and retain medical professionals “without harming the patients we need to protect.”

“The compromises we reached on malpractice claim caps in 2021 and then again in 2023 were a result of bringing everyone to the table; all parties were on board and the measures passed with bipartisan support,” he said. “Undoing these important changes to the law now will only harm patients and allow insurance companies to evade responsibility for compensating hurting families.”

The Senate Republicans also disagreed with Lujan Grisham’s ideas for the long-troubled Children, Youth and Families Department, which included hiring an outside oversight expert to analyze CYFD’s performance and creating an independent agency to ensure CYFD resolves complaints from parents and families. House Republican leadership has voiced support for policies that hold CYFD more accountable.

“It’s a real problem. We’re not protecting our children,” Sharer said. “And so her solution was to create another government program when I think the government programs are what’s failing us. We need something else.”

Other priorities the Senate Republicans announced at the conference include reinstating local school boards, rolling back electric vehicle mandates and removing regulatory barriers for small businesses, like insurance liability payout requirements.

House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, in his speech after being sworn in on the floor earlier in the day as Speaker of the House, reminded legislators the parties are here to work together for the benefit of New Mexicans.

“We can and we should have heated debates, yet we can still treat each other with civility and respect,” he said.

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