SANTA FE, N.M. – State lawmakers have less than 24 hours to get bills up to the governor’s desk, and it seems like juvenile justice reform will have to wait another year.

Democrats and Republicans had ideas to tackle juvenile crime this legislative session, and it seems like none of them will cross the finish line.

Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman has repeatedly said juvenile crime is the number one public safety issue in Albuquerque – and across the state – and he had ideas to fix it.

Republican lawmakers carried a bill working to expand the list of crimes where juveniles can be charged as adults, and lower the age of serious youthful offenders from 15 to 14.

Democrat lawmakers killed that bill in its first committee. Instead, they prioritized a bill focused on rehabilitation.

The Juvenile Connections Act would’ve expanded intervention programs for at-risk youth, strengthened the juvenile probation system, and increased resources for foster kids and juvenile suspects getting out of the system. It also added voluntary manslaughter to the list of serious youthful offenses, among other changes.

The bill cleared the House and looked like it was going to clear the Senate until the debate took some turns.

“Research shows, Mr. President, that prosecuting youth as adults does not enhance public safety,” said state Sen. Linda Lopez. 

“It is not right that you just slap these kids on the hand and let them just keep getting worse and worse and worse,” said state Sen. Pat Woods. 

“This notion that there’s a slap on the wrist and there’s no accountability right now is just not true,” said state Sen. Harold Pope. 

“You know why those kids go to the cartels? Because there’s not a male role model,” said state Sen. William Sharer. 

“Locking them up, just on the assumption that they then will not cause further harm, is not doing what the juvenile justice system is supposed to do,” said state Sen. Antoinette Sedillo-Lopez.

It appears lawmakers in both the House and Senate tried making this bill a last-ditch juvenile justice reform effort, squeezing in all sorts of other measures. But it was just too much for lawmakers to swallow at the last minute.

“This was introduced as a bill about services and extra programming, and it got hijacked. It got hijacked by our friends in the minority and our friends in the majority,” said state Sen. Moe Maestas. “If we don’t pass this bill, we are going to go home on both sides of the aisle with zero bills dealing with juvenile justice and public safety with regards to young people.” 

That was the end of the juvenile justice reform conversation this year. KOB 4 will be watching to see how the governor, lawmakers and law enforcement leaders decide to move forward after this session.