2024 Legislature Begins at Noon with Emphasis on Guns and Money

Lawyers, guns and money

The New Mexico Legislature convenes at noon today, after which Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will deliver a state-of-the-state address, setting the agenda, if not the tone, for the session. Lawmakers meet for 30 days this year, with bills limited to financial matters, along with any other topics as designated by the governor. On Friday, Lujan Grisham held a news conference with lawmakers and public safety employees and advocates to preview a package of more than 20 public safety bills she intends to push. The focus on public safety follows the governor’s declaration in September of gun violence and substance abuse as public health emergencies. While a decision regarding the legality of those orders remains pending in the state Supreme Court, some of their elements—such as bans on weapons in playgrounds and parks—will reemerge in proposed legislation. Other bills include raising the minimum age to buy automatic weapons from 18 to 21; increasing the waiting period for gun purchases; banning guns in polling places; changes to the state’s pre-trial laws; and a bill to regulate the manufacturing, possession and sale of assault weapons, among others. “We have a gun problem,” Lujan Grisham said during the news conference. “And we have a public safety problem. We have a responsibility to children, to families, to communities to solve it.”

Lawmakers will spend much of the session constructing a budget for the next fiscal year with highest general fund revenue forecast in the state’s history—roughly $3.5 billion in new money—largely driven by oil and gas production, which is expected to decline in the coming years. Earlier this month, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham released her executive budget recommendations for Fiscal Year 2025, followed by the Legislative Finance Council’s slightly reduced proposal.

Wastewater drug testing reveals opioids, stimulants in SFPS

In mid-December, the state environment department launched a wastewater testing dashboard to share the results of sampling at public high schools across the state. The initiative, the state says, follows Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s declaration in September of substance abuse as a public health emergency. The first round of results announced last month sampled 24 schools in Rio Rancho and Albuquerque, of which 88% tested positive for cocaine or its metabolite; 29% tested positive for fentanyl or its metabolite; and 92% tested positive for methamphetamine or its metabolite. Health Secretary Patrick Allen noted at the time the initiative—which the Wall Street Journal says appears to the first of its kind in the US—turned up no heroin, making it “clear that prevention efforts work.”

Now, results from four Santa Fe schools are in: Santa Fe High, Capital High, Mandela and Academy for Technology and Classics. Neither Mandela nor Santa Fe High’s results showed any opioids in the wastewater results. Both the Academy and Capital did (morphine and codeine, respectively). All four schools had stimulants detected in the wastewater: methamphetamine, amphetamine, cocaine and benzoylecgonine at Santa Fe High and Capital; all of those except cocaine at the Academy; and cocaine and amphetamines at Mandela. Statewide, cocaine and its metabolites are the most prevalent drugs, according to the wastewater dashboard. The SFPS testing results—from specific dates in November and December, depending on which school—do not include amounts and do not distinguish between student, faculty and campus visitors. As such, “it’s information that we can continue to use to really try to to educate our students, but I think it’s also a clear direct reflection of the community,” Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Hilario “Larry” Chavez tells SFR. A state environment department spokesman tells SFR via email the wastewater testing results are intended to “inform harm reduction at every level of government and support schools, families, nonprofits, community leaders, and other key stakeholders in implementing effective strategies to curb the destructive impacts of illicit substances throughout New Mexico.”

Santa Fe crime rose slightly in 2023

All told, Santa Fe saw fewer homicides and robberies last year compared with 2022, but experienced upticks in motor vehicle thefts, burglaries, sex offenses and assaults, according to crime statistics from the Santa Fe Police Department scheduled for presentation by Police Chief Paul Joye at today’s 4 pm Public Safety Committee meeting. Specifically, homicides and robberies declined between 2022 and 2023 by approximately 25% and 30%, respectively. Sex offenses rose by close to 18%, the highest increase among crimes, followed by burglary/breaking and entering at just over 15%; motor vehicle theft at nearly 12%; and assaults at just under 4%. Crime all together rose slightly in general by approximately 4%. Calls for service rose slightly in December, compared with the month prior by just over 6%, although self-initiated calls for service dropped by more than 20% during the same time period. Sex offenses and motor vehicle thefts also were higher in December than November. Those motor vehicle thefts happened all across town, many at people’s homes, several from cars that were left running unattended, and/or with keys inside. View other crime maps from last month here.

Housing advocate heads to state

Daniel Werwath, a longtime leading voice in Santa Fe’s affordable housing ecosystem, is joining Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration as housing policy advisor, the governor’s office announced yesterday. Werwath formerly served as executive director of New Mexico Inter-Faith Housing, the lead developer for Santa Fe’s Siler Yard: Arts+Creativity Center. Werwath also served as acting executive director of The Housing Trust and Tierra Contenta Corporation. “I’m excited,” Werwath tells SFR. “There’s a ton of opportunity and I feel like I can take all my experience form planning and policy work; housing development work; and work with local governments…and hopefully distill that into action.” Of course, the state’s gain is Santa Fe’s loss (our words, not his): “I could spend the next few years trying to do another Siler Yard project or could I could try to create the conditions where lots of people could do lots of those projects,” he says. In a statement, Lujan Grisham characterizes affordable housing as a priority for her administration and “top-of-mind for many New Mexicans. I am excited to bring Daniel and his expertise to our housing team to advance priorities that build a more stable housing environment in our state.” Werwath, the governor’s office says, will be working closely with Amy Whitfield, the governor’s advisor on homelessness and housing insecurity.

Listen up

In acknowledgement of the opening of New Mexico’s 2024 legislative session at noon today (which one can watch online here), today’s installment in the 2024 Morning Word Playlist Project (submit yours!) comes from state Rep. Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe, who “represents Santa Fe’s Southside in the Roundhouse and serves as the vice chair of the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee,” she writes.

1. “Late July,” by Zach Bryan: “This song will be on repeat for the late night sessions, when I’m missing bed times and suppers. My girls count down the days until the session is over and this hits at how hard it is to be so close and so far away.”

2. “Look at Her Now,” by Selena Gomez: “If you see my headphones on right before I present my bills, there’s a good chance this is playing. A cocky bop about recognizing your own growth. Really important energy before you’re defending your community amidst your 69 colleagues.”

3. “Long Story Short,” by Taylor Swift: “Session knocks you down and you get right back up—sometimes in the same dang day. But you come out stronger in the end.”

4. “Born to Be Alive” by Patrick Hernandez: “Each session there’s always this point where the euphoria kicks in. Whether it’s passing free college or access to reproductive and gender affirming care, we have highlights when you realize this is why we serve.”

5. “Si una vez,” by Selena: “I’m not this disillusioned (yet)! But every time I hear this jam I’m reminded of Selena’s amazing dance moves with the twists and turns. I’m reminded to keep fighting and keep the energy that my community deserves. There are mistakes from yesterday, but we learn and we won’t make them again.”

Hot and bothered

Confession: As recently noted, we watched the first episode of The Curse, Showtime’s eco-housing black satire set in Española (starring Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie), after we heard a rumor SFR had a shout-out (true story). We had trouble continuing to watch because, as critics have noted, it’s “the most uncomfortable show of the year,” and “pushes cringe beyond the limits.” The 10th and final episode of the show’s first season recently aired, with some critics describing the finale as “confounding,” potentially the “most inexplicable ending in TV history,” as well as “horrifying and humanistic.” The storyline: A newlywed couple wants to bring eco-housing to the struggling community of Española, “but, their efforts are complicated when an eccentrically flawed reality TV producer, Dougie, sees opportunity in their story.” Edie Dillman, CEO and co-founder of B.Public Prefab, a Santa Fe-based eco-housing company she runs with her husband, architect Jonah Stanford, talks with climate/energy magazine Heat Map about the show and the green-building industry it represents. “I was aware the second it launched,” Dillman tells Heat Map. “There’s some very obvious correlations of a husband and wife team doing passive homes in Northern New Mexico, for sure. So people started texting saying, ‘are you watching this? This is horribly painful.’ They were right.” Dillman discusses the show’s satirical depiction of the passive-house movement, as well as some of its blatant inaccuracies. Bottom line, she says: “Seeing the humor in it and the morality is important…it’s really terrifyingly good satire.”

No place like home

Last month, award-winning author Kate Christensen talked to The New York Times for its By the Book writers’ series about her thoughts on writing, her bedside books and shared her “ideal reading experience” as being in a hot bath, on a cold day, with a gripping novel: “I live in Taos, N.M., a high-desert mountain town where winters are very cold,” she tells the Times. “My bathtub is enclosed in blue tiles, and sun pours through the skylight overhead, and steam wafts off the bath water and evaporates into bone-dry air.” SFR also spoke to Christensen recently about how her move to Taos two and a half years ago helped her finish her most recent novel and eighth book, Welcome Home, Stranger. The novel is set in Maine, where Christensen and her husband lived previously for a decade and involves a complex home-coming for its protagonist Rachel Calloway, a Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer grappling with the crushing reality of climate change. “It generally takes me about seven years in a place to be able to write about it and to feel like I know it well enough to put it into a novel, to fictionalize it,” she tells SFR. “And the book wasn’t working. I came here with a fourth draft that I was beating my head against feeling like, ‘I don’t know why this book isn’t working.’…I feel like coming to New Mexico absolutely allowed this book to breathe.” While Christensen describes her life thus far as “peripatetic,” she and her husband are now building a house outside Taos: “I really want to settle here, put down roots and never leave and die here,” she says. Christensen, whose novel The Great Man won the 2008 PEN/Faulkner award, will read from and sign her novel at 6 pm tonight—SFR’s top pick of the week—at Collected Works Bookstore, 202 Galisteo St., and on Zoom.

Warm up

Despite a cold start to the morning, the National Weather Service forecasts a relatively balmy day in Santa Fe: sunny, with a high temperature near 38 degrees and north wind 10 to 15 mph. As for that cold start, Santa Fe had it easy compared to the eastern part of the state, where wind chills brought lows down to -25 in some counties. No snow in the forecast this week, but the state transportation department announced the winners of its first snow plow naming contest: Bisco-snow-chito and Snowzobra in this district, should you wish to greet them by name upon observation. Speaking of snow plows and observation, the Santa Fe New Mexican on Saturday published a front-page story dealing, in part, with residents’ observation that city streets had remained icier than ideal during the recent flurry of storms. According to City Manager John Blair, crews have been working around the clock, but lack of sunshine and cold temperatures have hampered the city’s efforts.

Thanks for reading! The Word is procrastinating getting into the nitty gritty of the Iowa caucus by reading about last night’s Emmy Awards.