Governor: Special session 80% likely on public safety measures

Mar. 26—Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham hasn't given up on her plan to call lawmakers back to the Capitol to reconsider public safety bills that failed during this year's regular legislative session.

In an interview Tuesday with New Mexican Opinion Page Editor Inez Russell Gomez, the governor said she is leaning "80/20" in favor of a special session.

"I want a special session that makes a difference for New Mexicans," Lujan Grisham said during the recording of a Conversations Different podcast episode.

"I want to get something done, and I think that's where I'm heading," she added.

The governor cited four measures she might include.

One bill would send criminal defendants who are found incompetent to stand trial to a mental health or behavioral health treatment program.

Another bill is "sort of a civil counterpart to that," Lujan Grisham said.

It would offer mental or behavioral health programs to people with "a significant mental health issue and a chemical dependency" when family members are unable to have them involuntarily held in an inpatient facility.

That bill would allow for treatment for at least 90 days, she said.

"Judges want this tool," the governor said. "They can meaningfully use it."

The third measure would restrict panhandling, in particular when people are camping out on medians or standing near busy intersections.

The governor said she has seen people lying down in roadways and chasing vehicles, including hers.

"This has to end because someone on the streets is going to get killed," she said. "A child is going to get killed. A motorist is going to get killed or kill someone."

She told Russell Gomez the three bills together would "allow us then to focus on the remaining supports and remedies — housing, income, the ability to provide meaningful behavioral health for people who couldn't get access."

Lujan Grisham also said she would consider including a bill increasing penalties for some crimes, such as being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Whether both chambers of the Legislature would pass these measures in a special session is unclear. A bill to limit panhandling on public roadways stalled in a committee during the 30-day session, as did a bill that would have changed the procedures for determining whether a criminal defendant is competent to stand trial.

Lujan Grisham said she is reaching out to legislative leaders in both parties and "doing my vote counts" to see if she has enough support for the initiatives.

Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said Tuesday the governor has been talking with Democratic leaders about a possible special session, which "has to be focused with a handful of specific bills that have been vetted on the front end."

In most cases, Wirth said, a special session can be accomplished in one to three days.

He was uncertain when a session might be held.

"The date will depend on these bills and whether they can be put together, and that's going to take some time," Wirth said.

Sen. Greg Baca, R-Belen, said the governor also spoke with him about a possible special session.

"We're just awaiting word if we're going to have it or not," he said, adding Senate Republicans are "always behind real crime prevention and addressing our crime issues in the state."