Santa Fe, NM — Today, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced plans to call a second Special Legislative Session this year. Set for November 10, 2025, lawmakers are being called back to Santa Fe due to the refusal of Democrats in the United States Senate to vote to reopen the federal government. Specifically, state lawmakers will be asked to appropriate additional state funding to continue operating the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
SNAP benefits provide critical food assistance for approximately 460,000 New Mexicans or 21% of our state. New Mexico's participation rate is the highest in the nation, a fact Senators Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich disregard with each "no" vote to reopen the federal government.
In response to today's announcement, Senate Republican Leader Bill Sharer (R-Farmington) has issued the following statement:
"Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich have made it crystal clear: They don't care about you." Senator Sharer continued, "They have repeatedly prioritized party politics over serving their constituents back home. While we've seen their antics before, Senators Luján and Heinrich have set a new low by holding the hard-working people of New Mexico hostage as political pawns for their partisan theatrics, forcing state lawmakers to have to shoulder the cost so that vulnerable New Mexicans can put food on their tables for the holidays. And we should all be grateful for our state's oil & gas industries; without the revenues they generate for us, New Mexico would not even have the funds available to cover this lapse in federal funding caused by Luján and Heinrich's failure to keep the government open. To all New Mexicans: remember this when you visit the ballot box."
