2025 Legislative Advocacy Wrap-Up

The 2025 State of New Mexico Legislative Session was one of the tougher sessions in recent years. There were many controversial bills that were introduced, with some gaining more and more ground as they have been presented over the years.  The Gallup McKinley County Chamber of Commerce was in Santa Fe numerous times to testify for or against legislation that would affect our chamber members, as well as all small rural businesses across the state.  We won some and we lost some, but no matter the outcome this year, be assured that your Gallup Chamber will be there to fight for our businesses!

Here are some of the bills that the Gallup Chamber supported or opposed:

SB29: WATER PROJECT FUND APPROPRIATION - SUPPORTED
Sponsor: Muñoz

HB130: PUBLIC BANKING ACT - OPPOSED
Sponsor: Roybal Caballero, Steinborn

HB19: TRADE PORTS DEVELOPMENT ACT – SUPPORTED – SIGNED INTO LAW
Sponsor: Lundstrom, Hochman-Vigil, Lara, Lujan, Garratt

The Gallup McKinley County Chamber testified in strong support of the HB19, joined by representatives of fellow chambers in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho.  HB19 also received support from the Bernalillo County Economic Development director, NMIdea, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, the N.M. Builders and Construction Trades Council, and others. We believe the creation of ports will provide economic diversification, leverage our existing assets, attract new businesses and create high-quality jobs, and will help us build a foundation for a thriving modern trade infrastructure.

This bill passed through both the House and Senate and was ultimately signed into law by Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham.

HB52: RURAL HEALTH CARE TAX CREDIT ELIGIBILITY – SUPPORTED – NOT PASSED
Sponsor: García, Jones, Gonzales, Hernandez

The Chamber aligned with numerous other organizations, physicians, speech pathologists, EMTs and other medical professionals as well as many New Mexicans pleading the case for more providers and care in our communities combined to give overwhelming support.

There is a shrinking population of providers in New Mexico. While New Mexico is 63 percent rural, just 23 percent of the practitioners mentioned in the bill work in rural New Mexico.

In the last session this committee wisely passed legislation which encouraged health care professionals to practice in our rural areas with a modest tax break. This session, the sponsors of HB52 were working to expand the health care practitioners who are eligible for the $3,000 credit. They were right to do so. We have a critical shortage of medical professionals at all levels across our state, and we should be doing all that is possible to persuade these additional categories of medical professionals to live and practice in New Mexico.

This bill died in the House Taxation & Revenue Committee.

HB66: WORKER'S COMPENSATION CHANGES – OPPOSED – SIGNED INTO LAW
Sponsor: Herndon

House Bill 66, Worker's Compensation Attorney Fees & Discovery Cost Increases, sponsored by Rep. Pamelya Herndon (D-Bernalillo) will add costs and additionally burden our business community.

The bill increases the cap on attorney fees from $22,500 to $30,000, and then increases it annually based on the Consumer Price Index. It also increases the amount of discovery fees that can be advanced to an attorney, from $3,000 to $6,000.

In addition to the Chamber, several groups are opposing HB 66, including:

• New Mexico Mutual Casualty Company, which served on a 2023 worker’s comp task force and said the indexing and increase in advanced discovery fees were not in the agreed-upon recommendations
• New Mexico County Insurance Authority, whose members created the Workers’ Compensation Fund in 1987 when commercial rates for this coverage increased dramatically and numerous carriers opted not to offer coverage to public entities. It also spoke against the indexing.
• Builders Trust, which also served on the task force and which solely insures contractors, pointed out there is no data supporting increasing the advanced discovery fees.

The Chamber believes Worker’s Compensation payments should first and foremost help injured workers. But according to the bill’s FIR, the 2023 task force warned that raising attorney fee caps has the potential for a larger portion of worker’s compensation awards being allocated to legal fees rather than aiding in recovery and compensation for lost wages among workers’ compensation claimants. That same task force found that the vast majority of cases, 93 percent, did not reach the fee cap.

This bill was passed through both the House and Senate and signed into law by Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham.

HB11: PAID FAMILY & MEDICAL LEAVE ACT - OPPOSED
Sponsor: Chandler, Stewart, Serrato, Roybal Caballero

This bill was the most controversial bill that was presented during this session.  While it may be up for debate as to whether or not it would have been the largest tax increase in the state’s history, it was still one very large and monstrous tax increase, period!  According to the Fiscal Impact Report (FIR), for a variety of cultural and economic factors unique to New Mexico, the tax could have doubled in order to support high employee use of paid leave. Among those factors was the provision for "safe" and "exigency" (military related) leave. Most states do not include these factors in their programs.

Along with many businesses and business organizations, including the New Mexico Restaurant Association, the New Mexico Chamber, the Albuquerque & Rio Racho Chambers, your Gallup Chamber testified against the legislation.  The following points were conveyed:

• The scope of the bill that allows such a large amount of leave for such a wide range of reasons, for such a wide range of people, will create incredible instability and administrative challenges in the workplace.
• The bill imposes a new burdensome tax on both employers and employees at a time when the state is flush with cash.

After passing the first House committee on party lines, the bill was dramatically changed by the sponsors, and the bill that was presented to the second House committee didn’t resemble the original bill.  Even the name of the bill was changed to the

SB4: CLEAR HORIZONS & GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS – OPPOSED – NOT PASSED
Sponsor: Stewart, Ortez

This bill reached into every sector of the economy: electric generation, transportation, all forms of waste, manufacturing and extraction of raw materials, agricultural and forest products and, of course, oil and gas. The scale and scope of the bill was ill defined, lacking a realistic plan for implementation. In short, the legislation was too aggressive and ripe with unintended consequences.

This bill died in the Senate Finance Committee.

SB141: $100,000 STANDARD GRT DEDUCTION - OPPOSED
Sponsor: Wirth

HB48: LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING AT SOME SCHOOLS - SUPPORTED
Sponsor: Lundstrom

This bill was not passed, but the Gallup Chamber worked with UNM-Gallup, Representative Lundstrom and Senator Munoz to secure funding to bring the academy back to the UNM Gallup Campus.

SB45: COUNTY HEALTH CARE ASSISTANCE FUND USE - OPPOSED
Sponsor: Steinborn, Stefanics

SB48: COMMUNITY BENEFIT FUND - OPPOSED
Sponsor: Stewart

HB246: INCREASE MINIMUM WAGE – OPPOSED – NOT PASSED
Sponsor: Roybal Caballero

It is proven that minimum wage increases force businesses to cut back employee hours, or cut jobs (think about the kiosks in fast food or self-checkout stations).  The added cost in overhead in business is passed onto the consumer…so while you may see your paycheck increase, the dollars simply won’t go as far.

SB1: BEHAVIORAL HEALTH TRUST FUND - SUPPORTED
Sponsor: Muñoz, Stefanics, Woods, Block

HJR3: ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS, CA – OPPOSED – NOT PASSED
Sponsor: Ferrary, Roybal Caballero, Hernandez, Sedillo Lopez

HB130: PUBLIC BANKING ACT – OPPOSED – NOT PASSED
Sponsor: Roybal Caballero, Steinborn

SB91: PRIVATE COLLECTION OF SPEEDING CAMERA FINES - OPPOSED
Sponsor: Duhigg, Anyanonu

SB141: $100,000 STANDARD GRT DEDUCTION - OPPOSED
Sponsor: Wirth, Gonzales, Parajón