NM Gov announces Oct. 1 special session on federal cuts to healthcare, nutrition, public media

Immigrant detention will not be on the agenda​

By PATRICK LOHMANN
Courtesy of Source NM

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (right) addresses reporters during a post-session news conference earlier this year. Her office announced Thursday that a special session will begin Oct. 1 to address recent federal spending cuts and potentially other issues. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM)

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will convene lawmakers on Oct. 1 for a special legislative session, her office announced Thursday, to tackle federal cuts to Medicaid and other services, among other issues.

The governor’s office began floating the possibility of a special session even before July 4, when President Donald Trump signed H.R.1, the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a federal spending bill that contains significant cuts to the state’s Medicaid and nutrition programs. 

“New Mexicans should not be forced to shoulder these heavy burdens without help from their elected officials,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “After discussions with legislative leaders, we’ve resolved to do everything possible to protect essential services and minimize the damage from President Trump’s disastrous bill.” 

The bill contains multi-billion-dollar cuts, the governor’s office said, that threaten “the survival of New Mexico’s health care system, particularly in rural areas.”

​The news release listed several areas that lawmakers plan to address, including:

• funding to the Rural Health Care Delivery Fund to “allow stabilization grants for quality health care providers;”
• making health insurance premiums more affordable in the marketplace and for those losing Medicaid;
• funding for public broadcasting;
• new investments in food assistance; and
• resources for the Health Care Authority as it prepares for Medicaid enrollment changes

​The governor is also discussing with lawmakers whether the session will address “behavioral health challenges that affect our criminal justice system and community safety,” according to the news release. Lujan Grisham expressed dissatisfaction at the end of the regular legislative session earlier this year with lawmakers’ approach to crime and said then that she would consider a special session for that topic alone. 

A news release from state Senate Republicans indicated they were preparing for that possibility with legislation to address New Mexico’s “juvenile crime crisis” and hold “repeat criminals accountable.” The news release also listed legislation that would “protect the state’s ‘most vulnerable children'” and reform medical malpractice law as Senate Republican priorities.

“We appreciate any opportunity to provide real solutions for New Mexicans,” Senate Republican leader Sen. Bill Sharer of Farmington said in a statement. “Just as we did during last year’s failed public safety special session, Republican legislators are prepared to address the pressing issues facing our state.”

Lujan Grisham’s Communication Director Michael Coleman confirmed that legislation to ban Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention would not be on the agenda, a possibility previously mentioned by the governor’s chief counsel that prompted renewed debate on the topic among lawmakers.

​According to the news release, the Oct. 1 session will be the seventh special session during the governor’s tenure, which began in January 2019.

3:25 PM
This story was updated following publication to include confirmation from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's office that legislation to ban ICE facilities in the state will not be on the agenda for the special session.