2024 legislature

This session, I carried or supported several bills and appropriation requests.

Among them are two ethics bills, to make sure New Mexicans have fair and honest government official working for them:

• County Redistricting At the present, county districts are created by county commissioners, which is an obvious conflict of interest. We are seeking funding so that the Secretary of State can convene an independent task force in each county to create fair and representative county districts.
• The Governmental Conduct Act will institute ethical reform for legislators and state employees, implementing a state version of the Hatch act (a federal law introduced by New Mexico Senator Carl Hatch).

As always, I work to improve our immediate and long-term economic success. Some of the legislation we are working to pass this session will

• Help New Mexico Recruit and Retain Medical Professionals. I’m continuing to support legislation that helps New Mexico recruit and retain medical professionals. This year we are again seeking housing subsidies for licensed medical and behavioral health providers in New Mexico who are working three-quarters time or more.
• Increase Support for Apprenticeship Programs on All State Infrastructure Projects.

Fairness and equal representation for all citizens lies behind these legislative efforts to make sure that

• Libraries Do Not Ban Books for Partisan, Doctrinal, or Other Arbitrary Reasons.
• Nurses Have a Seat at the Table on Governing Boards That Affect Their Work.
• People with Housing Vouchers or Other Public Assistance Are Not Arbitrarily Denied Housing.

There is much more, which I hope to share with you over the coming weeks. For now, here is a partial list.