SANTA FE, N.M. – The dust has finally settled after the 30-day legislative session. March 6 was the deadline for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to approve any bills approved by state lawmakers.

Anything she didn’t sign before noon Wednesday is automatically vetoed, but it turns out there weren’t many bills left for her to sign.

State lawmakers only sent 72 bills to the governor’s desk this year, and that’s out of the more than 600 they brought to the Roundhouse.

The governor signed 69 of those into law, that’s 95%. That includes a historic $10.2 billion state budget – the largest in state history.

There’s significant funding boosts for almost every state department, and a billion dollars going into trust funds:

• 3% pay raise for public school teachers and staff, and all state employees
• $90 million in statewide beautification projects
• More than $500 million for road improvement projects

Not everything lawmakers stuffed into the budget survived, though. 

The governor used her line-item veto powers to remove an amendment that would’ve essentially blocked the Public Education Department from implementing a 180-school day rule.

The PED has signaled they are moving forward with that controversial change. Right now, school calendars are based on total learning hours, not the total number of days. That’s why some rural districts only have four-day school weeks.

Republican leaders told KOB 4 it should stay that way.

“That should not be something that’s done through rule. Particularly if you understand our rural schools, we have four-day school, school week schools that are over performing the rest of the state. So it’s not a five-day versus four-day school week issue. It’s really making sure our teachers are trained, our site leaders are trained, and they have the support they need,” said House Minority Leader Rep. Ryan Lane. 

“That is in direct conflict with what I think ought to be happening in New Mexico’s public education system,” said Lujan Grisham. “I think 180 days should occur, and I’m proceeding with that rule, and we think we got sufficient budget.” 

The governor did agree with state lawmakers on a plan to lower most of New Mexicans’ personal income tax rates. 

She signed that into law Wednesday morning, but it won’t kick in until next year.

That’s when lawmakers expect the average family could start saving up to $200 a year.

That tax package also includes several new tax credits for renewable energy projects, families that adopt special needs children, and teachers who buy their own school supplies, among others.

So what bills didn’t make the cut? The governor vetoed bills expanding the Law Enforcement Retention Fund, severance tax bond distributions, and a proposal expanding cybersecurity rules for state agencies.

It’s still not entirely clear why the governor decided against those bills. It sounds like it’s still not clear if the governor is done signing bills this year.

She’s been very clear she wanted state lawmakers to approve more public safety bills, and she’s leaning towards calling a special session to make it happen.

Lujan Grisham told KOB 4 Monday she plans to meet with House and Senate leadership soon, and will make her decision after.