Legislature closes; everyone says they won

This year’s legislative session was gaveled out at noon on Feb.19, and Democrats and Republicans are both declaring victory. Who’s right?

Medical malpractice The biggest deal by far was the passage, with an overwhelming margin in both chambers, of House Bill 99, Medical Malpractice Reform. There were a series of amendments, one a set of compromises establishing a tiered level of caps based on hospital size that is in the final bill, while others introduced in the Senate would have dumbed down the bill to make it toothless. The bad amendments were scrubbed on the Senate floor before its final passage.

This might not have been necessary had the Medical Malpractice Act of 2021 not been enacted, the first change to the state’s malpractice caps and processes in 45 years. The legislation, sponsored by former state representative and trial attorney Daymon Ely, a Democrat representing Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, resulted in skyrocketing malpractice insurance premiums for New Mexico physicians. It also resulted in applications for 233 medical malpractice suits, 80 percent of which were filed by out-of-state firms partnering with local counsel, making New Mexico the No. 2 state for medical litigation.

Every Republican in the House voted against it in 2021. Eight Republicans in the Senate supported it. But this was overwhelmingly a Democratic bill, signed by a Democratic governor. Sure looks like problem created by Democrats to me.

To everyone’s credit, five years later, the overwhelming majority of Democrats voted to pass HB 99 (even after medical malpractice lawyers in the Senate - Democratic Sens. Cervantes, Duhigg and Wirth - opted not to recuse themselves from the issue), and the same governor pledged to convene a special session if it did not pass.

I’m pleased to be able to stop writing about medical malpractice. The medical professional licensure compacts need some work, however; only two of the compact bills, for physicians and social workers, passed. There was no reason not to pass the remaining eight compacts; a special session should be convened to quickly pass them. A new entitlement The passage of the legislation codifying the governor’s universal child care program will be very hard to undo and very costly. It allows up to $1 billion to be pulled from permanent funds to fund daycare for every New Mexico family, regardless of income. While there are safeguards that are triggered in the event of economic downturns, entitlements are nearly impossible to scale back once instituted. This is going to cost us. I sure would have liked to see a blend of private sector incentives, like tax breaks for employers who contribute to child care costs, and means testing for income.

Zero momentum for zero-emissions The Clear Horizons Act, which would have codified into statute the executive orders issued by the governor in 2019 directing the state to reduce carbon emissions with a target of net zero by 2050, failed to pass the Senate, with seven Democrats joining all the Republican senators in rejecting the measure as anti-business. This is the second time the effort has failed in the Legislature.

Carbon emission legislation is a challenge in the country’s No. 2 oil-producing state. A focus on supporting all energy production and incentivizing new energy producers to come to the state to support growing energy demand could be a smarter approach. Outside of hyper-partisanship, I sense a mood seeking more carrot, less stick.

ICE breaks its brand The U.S. Department of Homeland Security went all in with a PR blitz in 2025 intended to intimidate, shock and overwhelm. Boy, did they succeed. Images of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in one of the scariest prisons on the planet, the CECOT facility in El Salvador, still resound, along with pictures of massive tent facilities for immigrants looming in El Paso, Florida and Arizona. ICE even got its own South Park episode.

And national approval ratings plummeted over the administra- tion’s immigration actions as ICE’s presence in American cities went far beyond voter expectations of securing the southern border. House Bill 9, the Immigrant Safety Act, was fast tracked during the session and signed into law. It prohibits local governments from contracting with ICE. This will impact facilities in Cibola, Otero and Torrance counties.

Thing is, the contractor-operated facilities in Milan, Chaparral and Estancia are not the same ICE facilities as the ones seen on TV. In fact, they are also used by the U.S. Marshals Service for federal detainees awaiting trial. This is largely because local jails do not meet federal quality standards - most notoriously, Bernalillo County’s Metropolitan Detention Center.

So while folks may feel New Mexico real estate, HB 9 is going to create a serious traffic jam for the federal criminal justice system. Oh, and kill jobs. And lead to even worse overcrowding in municipal jails. It’s possible the Milan and Estancia facilities can continue to operate, as the facilities are contractor-owned. In Chaparral, the facility is owned by Otero County, so the new law will close the facility.

A professional Legislature All in all, 74 of 686 measures were passed. House Joint Resolution 5 was one of the 74, and will send to the voters in November the decision of whether or not to pay legislators. New Mexico has the only unpaid legislature in the country. The salary to be voted on is set at $64,120, based on New Mexico’s mean income.

To me, this is overly simplistic, and possibly too high on its face. But without some action, New Mexicans will continue to get from its Legislature what it pays for - not enough. I think this should be coupled with longer sessions and limitations on committees’ power to kill bills: At a minimum, 45- and 60-day sessions, and all bills must be heard in committee. Too many bills die because committee chairs do not schedule them for a hearing. With correct organization and management of debate time, bills can be heard.

Takeaway: Republicans flexed A GOP legislator’s district coordinator told me earlier this month, “They’re listening this session,” referring to the Democratic caucus. I saw organized, serious debate from the minority caucus in both chambers. I also see the GOP legislators forming the true power structure of the state Republican organization. I’m not sure what RPNM is doing, but it doesn’t seem like anyone is paying attention. This is just fine.

A bicameral legislative body needs balanced partisan representation for vigorous debate and checks on excessive power from a narrow perspective. It’s good to see the Roundhouse widening the conversation.

Merritt Hamilton Allen is a PR executive and former Navy officer. She appeared regularly as a panelist on NM PBS and is a frequent guest on News Radio KKOB. A Republican for 36 years, she became an independent upon reading the 2024 Republican platform. She lives amicably with her Democratic husband north of I-40 where they run one head of dog, and one of cat. She can be reached at news. ind.merritt@gmail.com.