During the 2022 election and as the 2023 legislative session began, crime has been a major concern for most New Mexicans. Candidates for office and previously elected legislators vowed to pass laws to reduce crime. What we're seeing, however, is that some of those officials have voted to kill bills that would hold criminals accountable and help improve public safety. 

Read more about why where we're off track and how we hope to see a better ending to the 60 day session, HERE. 

Here are examples of public safety bills that have been stopped in committee: 

• SB174: Pretrial Release Hearing Standards, sponsored by Sen Gregg Schmedes would have directed judges to enforce stricter rules for holding people before trial. This bill was killed on Wednesday in the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee by Senators: Gerald Ortiz y Pino, Brenda McKenna, Bill Tallman, and Antoinette Sedillo-Lopez. NMBC thanks Senators Gregg Schmedes, David Gallegos, and Antonio Maestaswho voted in favor of SB 174. Read more HERE. 

• HB61, HB60, HB59, HB58, HB57: These bills would have provided increased penalties for felons using guns, those dealing in Fentanyl and other pro-safety measures. Unfortunately, Reps Joanne Ferrary, Angelica Rubio, Andrea Romero, and Liz Thompson killed all of these bills. NMBC thanks Reps John Block and Stefani Lord for voting in favor of these Bills. Rep Bill Rehm, a sponsor of the bills, spoke with the New Mexico Sun, expressing his frustrations with the committee votes.Read more HERE.

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Did you know that New Mexico is still under public health 'emergency orders' after more than three years? 

While numerous published benchmarks (goalposts some call them) have been met long ago, the edict of an emergency still remains. This points out that the governor has unlimited power on this important issue. That's not good for the state. 

Two bills, detailed below, were introduced that would have added much needed balance between the executive and legislative branch when it comes to emergency orders.

HJR3: Termination of States, CA, sponsored by Greg Nibert, Randall Pettigrew, and Stefani Lord. The bill would have allowed voters to decide on amending the NM constitution so that an emergency order would be limited to 90 days without legislature approval.

SB65: Emergency Powers Code Changes, sponsored by Gregory Baca and David Gallegos. This bill would have required legislative approval for extending an emergency order that closed down public places or limited gatherings.

Both HJR 3 and SB 65 were killed last Wednesday afternoon by Reps Christine Chandler, Andrea Romero, Eliseo Alcon, Gail Chasey, Javier Martinez, Matthew McQueen, and Reena Szczepanski. 

NMBC wants to thank Reps Bill Rehm, Ryan Lane, Andrea Reeb, and Greg Nibert for supporting these bills. Kudos also to 1,000's of grassroots advocates who participated in our Calls to Action sending emails and making calls to legislators. 

What else are we doing to make a difference in communicating with legislators? NMBC provides written letters to legislators in support of and opposition to many bills. Read more HERE.