NM Gov. Lujan Grisham signs 48 bills from recent legislative session

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham this week signed a flurry of bills that lawmakers sent to her desk during the recent legislative session, including measures related to health care, law enforcement’s use of automatic license plate reader data, water and more.

Including the health-related bills the governor signed Friday, Lujan Grisham has now signed 48 of the 74 bills the Legislature approved during the 30-day legislative session that ended Feb. 19. 

One bill she signed Wednesday, Senate Bill 40, restricts New Mexico law enforcement’s sharing of information collected by high-tech cameras that vacuum up location, license plate and other data from vehicles driving on public roads. 

The Driver Privacy and Security Act prohibits automatic license plate reader data from being used in investigations into “protected health care activities,” like seeking gender-affirming or abortion care. The bill also prohibits data from being used to investigate participation in political rallies, and it can’t be used for investigations into a driver’s immigration status, which immigrant advocacy groups said is necessary amid a federal mass deportation push. 

“New Mexico should be able to drive safely and with peace of mind, without fear that their personal data will be collected or sold to monitor, criminalize, or target them,” said Fabiola Landeros, an organizer with El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos, an immigrant advocacy group, in a statement Friday to Source NM. “This is a tangible victory for our working communities, who rely on their cars to get to work, take their children to school, and care for their families.”

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On Thursday, the governor also signed Senate Bill 152, the Low-Income Telecommunications Assistance Program, which appropriates $10 million to help low-income families afford broadband service. The bill could eventually allow up to $45 million to provide additional subsidies to more than 100,000 families, according to the New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion .

“The governor’s signature ensures that tens of thousands of New Mexicans will now be able to afford high-speed internet,” Jeff Lopez, the office’s director, said in a statement Friday. 

Five of the bills the governor signed this week relate to water and the environment, according to a news release Friday from her office. Two relate to infrastructure; four to economic development; four to education; and nine to public safety. 

Four of the bills the governor signed this week will go into effect immediately because the bills contain “emergency clauses,” including two water bills, one education bill and a bill that tweaks property tax discounts for disabled veterans. 

The governor has until March 11 to sign remaining bills, including the $11.1 billion budget bill. The ones she doesn’t sign by then are effectively vetoed.