What to know: Special session on public safety begins
The special session for the New Mexico Legislature is underway. See the Senate proceedings here and the House proceedings here.
SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico lawmakers will come back to the Roundhouse to convene Thursday at noon for a special session on public safety.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the proclamation of the session Wednesday. She has a list of goals for this session, including:
- Criminal competency reform bill
This would allow judges to involuntarily commit certain suspects for mental health treatment
- Panhandling law
The governor dubs this as the “pedestrian safety bill.” It would bar people from standing on certain medians. This would have an impact on the state’s homeless population
- Increasing the mandatory prison sentence for felons caught in possession of a firearm
- Requiring every law enforcement agency statewide to submit monthly reports on crime
Standing by her are officials from across the state. Mayors, police chiefs, tribal leaders, business leaders and others spoke Wednesday as the governor signed that proclamation.
Not everyone is on her side, though. That’s because many lawmakers say this session won’t provide enough time to tackle these issues.
“The committees that have seen these bills have seen variation after variation after variation of bills that, frankly, the legislators, the Democrat legislators, are unwilling to bite on any one of them,” said Republican State Rep. and House Minority Leader Rod Montoya. “These are very complicated areas of law. As one of my colleagues said, this is actually kind of rocket science. The unintended consequences of passing something that is not ready for primetime could be devastating for people innocently who get caught up in these webs.”
“We are committed to following through this work. We just don’t think a special legislative session is the place to do it, given how complex these bills are,” Democratic State Rep. and House Majority Leader Javier Martinez said.
The governor disagrees. She says the Legislature has had years to address these issues and the entire state is suffering because of it. She adds that she could also call back-to-back sessions to get everything done.
“When someone tells you it’s a big problem, it is. And then say to you, it’s going to take a lot of work, it has. We are doing the work. But, don’t let them tell you they don’t have enough time,” the governor said.
Without a prior agreement, leaders also suggest they may be in and out of the Roundhouse in a matter of minutes.
Should the session play out, juvenile crime could be a key focus. Before standing by the governor’s proclamation Wednesday, Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman addressed his calls for an overhaul of the juvenile justice system when he spoke to the New Mexico Legislature’s Courts, Corrections & Justice Committee.
“The pendulum, if you will, has swung so far to where we can never have any harsh consequences on children when they commit crimes. That what we’re left with at the end of the day. They don’t see any consequences until God forbid they’ve killed somebody,” the district attorney said.
DA Bregman is backing a proposal to expand the types of offenses that a juvenile over 15 years old can face charges for in district court. That includes second-degree murder, manslaughter, child abuse resulting in death and armed robbery with a firearm.
Stay with KOB.com and KOB 4 Eyewitness News for more on the special session.
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