Gov. Lujan Grisham signs 60 bills into law

Apr 08, 2025 | 8:10 am ET

By Danielle Prokop Austin Fisher

Gov. Lujan Grisham signs 60 bills into law

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signs Senate Bill 3, which seeks to rebuild the state's behavioral health system, during a signing ceremony at the New Mexico Legislature on Feb. 27, 2025. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM)

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday signed five dozen bills on topics running the gamut from emergency services and elections to public safety and psychedelic mushroom therapy.

She signed Senate Bill 41, mandating New Mexico establish an alert system for missing Indigenous people, a move praised by the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women.

“Today, we celebrate a victory for Native communities across New Mexico and beyond,” CSVANW Executive Director Tiffany Jiron said in a statement. “The signing of SB41 is not just a policy achievement, it’s a victory for every Native mother, daughter, sister, and aunt who has ever been impacted by the violence that continues to ravage our communities…The Turquoise Alert System is a powerful tool that will help law enforcement act quickly when a Native person goes missing, providing the necessary resources to respond with urgency and care.”

Senate Bill 16, which allows independent voters to participate in primary elections without changing voter registration (Lujan Grisham signaled at the end of the session she liked this proposal).

Other important legislation the governor signed includes: House Bill 458, which establishes the Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department’s authority to regulate carbon sequestration — pumping carbon dioxide into the ground. The bill collects fees for injection and establishes a fund to cover the costs of liability for ensuring carbon stays stored underground. HB458 passed on a 26-11 vote after contentious debate in the Senate’s final late-night session.

The governor also signed off on Senate Bill 57, which creates an exemption in the state’s public records laws for any records that contain “personal identifying information or sensitive information,” of public sector abortion providers.

Senate Bill 219, which establishes a program for medicinal use of psilocybin mushrooms.

Senate Bill 364, which allows immigrants authorized to work by the federal government to become police officers in New Mexico.

While the governor vetoed a more comprehensive set of reforms to the state’s parole system, she did sign Senate Bill 375, which allows early discharge for people who comply with probation and removes payment of court and parole costs as a condition of parole eligibility.

The governor has until April 11 to act on legislation, such as signing into law or vetoing legislation. If a bill goes unsigned after the deadline, it is not enacted — called a pocket veto.

Effective immediately

Four bills contain “emergency clauses,” meaning they went into effect as soon as the governor signed them.

House Bill 206 authorizes the New Mexico Finance Authority to loan money to 62 public entities for water infrastructure projects, and Senate Bill 115 authorizes loans for up to $1 million to an additional 200 public entities, such as schools, cities and local governments.

Senate Bill 33 creates a Wildfire Prepared Program in the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department’s Forestry Division to provide technical assistance and training to help structures and properties in high-risk areas survive wildfire.

Senate Bill 66 exempts the Early Childhood Education and Care Department; the Children, Youth, and Families Department; the Public Education Department; and other agencies considering people applying for caregiver roles from the Criminal Offender Employment Act, which prohibits employers from automatically barring people from job opportunities because of their criminal history.

Here is the complete list of bills that Lujan Grisham signed into law on Monday: