1-16-2024 9:13pm

New Mexico Governor Issues State of the State Address Local Amy Barela Responds

Chris Edwards Editor

The 30 day legislative session of the New Mexico legislature has begun and as expected partisan fireworks are already in full form. Tonight with the 2024 legislative session underway in Santa Fe the drama and political theater was on full display during the State of the State address. Several protesters interrupted the governor as she was delivering her speech at least twice.

In three waves, protestors chanted about global warming and called for a ceasefire in Gaza. Dozens of them were removed from the gallery by security and the state police. Some Democratic lawmakers were upset with the protests. Some Republican lawmakers suggest this was a stage coup not unlike Jan 6th and should have been handled as a coup attempt relating it to Trumpian politics.

Once the State of the State resumed, it was obvious the legislature on both sides of the isle are not in lockstep with the governor this session.

The governor walked into the chambers knowing she had to convince lawmakers that her proposal are the best to spend a $3.5 billion surplus that has accumulated l, on top of the $9 billion budget the state has right now.

A big part of the governor’s pitch was housing. She has two big ideas – one, a quarter of a billion dollars to put into home buying assistance programs to help with down payments and help get New Mexicans into safe housing

The second proposal is to put another $250 million into low-interest loans to get construction companies to choose New Mexico and get to work.

“We know that New Mexico needs to construct thousands of homes as fast as possible,” Governor Lujan Grisham said.

Gun violence issues are another hot topic to the Governor. She’s pushing to increase the age to buy a rifle to 21 years old. She wants a 14-day waiting period on gun purchases: note that failed during the last session. She also wants increased penalties for felons caught with a gun when they shouldn’t have one which a page from the Republicans’ playbook.

However Republicans and liberals are contradictory on Amendment 2. They suggest no laws should infringe on gun ownership however they are against felons who are repatriated back into society from having guns. The issue of guns being put back into the hands of white collar nonviolent former offenders is ignored. A winning argument would be “everyone” who goes though gun training should have guns to a true amendment 2 advocate.

Her one big sell to Democrats was for a proposed assault weapons ban. It’s modeled off a previous federal ban, and the governor said it could save lives.

“We have seen too many ruined lives, too many broken families, too many stolen futures, and too many small coffins,” Lujan Grisham said.

Republican lawmakers will challenge all of the governor’s gun control proposals, but it appears the governor will also have to convince some of her fellow Democrats to back her gun safety initiatives.

The entire State of the State address is available below via a link to KOB:

Governor-Michelle-Lujan-Grishams-State-of-the-State-address

As is tradition the opposition minority party issued a response to the Governors State of the Union Speech. Otero County Commissioner Amy Barela was on hand to witness and issue the state party response…

RPNM Statement on Gov. Lujan Grisham's State of the State Address. The second session of the 56th legislature began this afternoon with Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham delivering her annual State of the State Address.

Lujan Grisham painted an idealized picture of a dire situation in New Mexico, where education, public safety, and economic opportunity are ranked lowest among the states.

Amy Barela, the Republican Party of New Mexico First Vice Chairwoman and Otero County Commissioner issued the following statement in response:

"New Mexicans do not need the governor to tell them the 'state of the state.' Every day, the education system is failing our students, more families are struggling to afford basic necessities, homelessness is increasing, fear of being a crime victim has become a daily concern, small businesses are closing or leaving the state, there is a healthcare shortage, worker shortage, and dependence on the government continues to grow.

Gov. Lujan Grisham and the Democratic legislature are pushing priorities that are out of touch with the issues that matter most to New Mexicans. Millions of tax dollars for more electric vehicle chargers? New Mexicans are struggling to make ends meet, let alone afford a costly electric vehicle.

The governor reiterated she is content to repeat the insanity of throwing more tax dollars at the same decades-old, failed policies instead of promoting new prosperity-producing approaches like school choice, using the billion-dollar surplus to refund money to taxpayers, keeping criminals behind bars, strengthening our border security, and supporting New Mexico's energy independence.

Most troubling was the governor's goal for 'public safety' this session, which is to continue to try to disarm law-abiding citizens, leaving families defenseless while hoping criminals will obey her orders. There is nothing 'common sense' about that. Republicans aim to fix the broken criminal justice system while preserving the Second Amendment rights of New Mexicans.

All in all, money alone cannot solve the problems in NM. Policies that support small businesses, our teachers, healthcare workers, the oil and gas industry, local decision-makers, and the rights of all our citizens should be the goal.

The governor concluded her address by saying New Mexico is "made to lead," but until we head in a new direction, we will continue to stay behind the rest of the nation.

This legislative session, the Republican party of New Mexico is striving to uplift the state from the bottom of all the lists. We can bring about positive change for everyone if the Democratic majority works with us towards the goal of a prosperous New Mexico for all."

There was no statement locally in Otero County from the local Democratic Chapter as it is still dormant after being suspended from operations in the summer of 2023 due to pending investigations that will now go before the state DPNM Judiciary Committee for review.