Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham outlined her legislative priorities including public safety and the economy during her State of the State Address on Tuesday.

Lujan Grisham said that the economy in New Mexico has improved since she was first sworn in as governor.

“When I became governor in 2019, I promised to lay a strong foundation for economic prosperity. In the years since then, it has become second nature to associate New Mexico with the jobs of today and tomorrow,” Lujan Grisham said. “I am proud to say that New Mexico has the highest number of jobs in its history. We are one of the best states for job growth in the country, and the best state for wage growth in the nation.”

Lujan Grisham added that New Mexico added 110,000 jobs in the last three years.

The Lujan Grisham administration brought international companies to New Mexico creating an estimated 2,400 jobs, and a decade-long $7 billion economic impact.

Gun violence legislation

Lujan Grisham discussed the public safety package she announced last Friday.

The package includes making some of the elements of the executive order declaring gun violence a public emergency, banning panhandling and mandating behavioral health treatment for those who are deemed a danger to themselves or others.

Related: Governor outlines public safety legislative agenda

“No responsible gun owner should be punished or prevented from exercising their rights–and no child should ever be put in danger by a weapon of war, especially one wielded by a person who can’t pass a background check, or can’t wait two weeks to get a firearm,” Lujan Grisham said. “Any gun in the wrong hands is an untenable risk that we can’t afford.”

Protesters and the environment

Some protesters interrupted Lujan Grisham’s speech and chanted pro-Palestinian sentiments and referred to global warming as a “war” for a moment before House Speaker Javier Martinez instructed the House sergeant-at-arms to remove the protesters.

This, one of a few interruptions from protesters, including those from pro-Palestinian activists, came while Lujan Grisham was delivering remarks about the environmental efforts done under her administration.

She then called on legislators to address housing issues, including developing an Office of Housing.

Lujan Grisham will seek $250 million in low-interest loans to help the private sector build faster and another $250 million to expand homebuying programs such as down payment assistance “so we can get more New Mexicans… into safe, affordable housing,” Lujan Grisham said. “At the same time, I intend to create an Office of Housing as a one-stop shop for developers and contractors looking to build and for families seeking a home of their own.”

She also wants the legislature to require local governments to institute zoning and permitting requirements as a condition of receiving state funding for housing development, Lujan Grisham said.

“Nobody should be prevented from building vital housing, and nobody should be shut out of a place to live because of outdated and overlapping regulations,” she said.

Education and literacy

Improving education and raising literacy rates in New Mexico are another of Lujan Grisham’s priorities.

She asked the legislature for $30 million to set up a statewide literacy institute and another $30 million to support free literacy summer programs for students who do not  reach their grade’s reading level.

“Every student – and frankly, every New Mexican – should be given the opportunity to learn to read to the best of their ability,” Lujan Grisham said. “No student should be told that their progress isn’t a priority. Parents and kids deserve the very best from all of us in this room, and from our school system.”

She also wants another $30 million to “embed experts in our lowest-performing schools” in order to note challenges and determine solutions, she said.

“So we’re demanding better and we’re delivering better in areas including education to healthcare to the economy. And more. We need to demand the very same now in public safety. Right now. The leading cause of death for our children is guns,” Lujan Grisham said.

GOP response

Senate Republicans offered their rebuttal to the State of the State address and its optimistic view of life in New Mexico.

“For rosy pictures painted for us in there listening to the governor in the State of the State address, we know that things on the street are a little bit different,” Senate Minority Leader Greg Baca, R-Belen, said. “She’s been here six years, we have failed to put a crime package together that has made any meaningful change.”

Baca said that Lujan Grisham’s “personal mission” appeared to be to “punish the average citizen by taking away their Second Amendment rights.”

Baca also criticized the governor and her handling of the Children, Youth and Families Department, which Lujan Grisham did not mention in her address.

“Children are getting killed under the care of CYFD,” Baca said. “Why have you not looked into that? Why year after year, have we failed to dismantle that organization and build something that works for troubled youth?”

Further issues Baca had were fixing the education system and pretrial detention.

Senate Minority Whip Craig Brandt said he has worked with Lujan Grisham, Lt. Gov. Howie Morales and the Department of Public Safety to develop some solutions to help alleviate the crime epidemic.

“We’ve worked on some solutions that we believe are good solutions and… they don’t have to take away someone’s rights, someone’s constitutional rights,” Brandt said.

Lujan Grisham issued an executive order declaring gun violence as a public health emergency. In the first iteration of the order, firearms were banned in Bernalillo County for 30 days in what Lujan Grisham called a “cooling off period.”

Following a week of public outcry, refusals from Democratic public officials to uphold that part of the order and a federal restraining order against that clause in the order, the clause was removed.

Brandt said he worked with New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez on expanding the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, to include human trafficking and other modern day gang activities.

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