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Legislative Report #1
This message is from Ellen Pinnes and The Disability Coalition.
The New Mexico Legislature convened for its regular 2026 session at noon last Tuesday and surprised many observers with an unusually quick start – at least on the Senate side, where they held a very rare first-Friday-of-the-session floor session in which they passed three bills and sent them on to the House for action, much earlier than bills typically start crossing over from one chamber to another. We’ll see if they can keep up that pace as the session moves forward.
The Disability Coalition’s first legislative report of the 2025 session is attached. It includes information on the legislative and executive budget recommendations as well as bills of interest to the disability community. You can find copies of all bills – and plenty of other legislative information – on the legislative website at nmlegis.gov.
Legislative Report #2
This message is from Ellen Pinnes and The Disability Coalition.
The Disability Coalition’s second legislative report of the 2026 session is attached to bring you up to date on what’s going on at the Roundhouse. So far 463 bills – plus memorials and resolutions – have been introduced in the two chambers. The deadline to introduce bills is coming up on Wednesday, so expect a flurry of new ones before the window closes.
Several of the bills we’re tracking in the report are set for hearing in House and Senate committees today, as listed at the top of the report. To keep track of what’s coming up later in the week, check the committee agendas under the “What’s Happening” tab on the Legislature’s website at nmlegis.gov.
Legislative Report #2
This message is from Ellen Pinnes and The Disability Coalition.
The halfway point of the legislative session – which is also the deadline to introduce bills – passed last week, with a total of 686 bills introduced between the House and the Senate. Of those, 82 are “emergency” (formerly known as “dummy”) bills that are currently blank, but some of which will be substituted with actual bill language and moved forward in the legislative process. There are also 20 resolutions pending in the two chambers, with 16 of them being proposed amendments to the state constitution. To round out the Legislature’s workload, 84 memorials have been introduced. Some are ceremonial measures, while others call for studies of particular issues or express the sense of the Legislature on a matter of interest. Memorials can be introduced at any time so we can expect to see more of them before the session ends.
While most bills are still in their originating chamber, a handful have already passed the Legislature and been signed into law, and some are starting to pass through their first chamber and move on to the other side of the Capitol for consideration. One of those is the budget bill, HB 2, which passed the House on Wednesday and is now pending in the Senate Finance Committee. The Disability Coalition’s third legislative report of the 2024 session is attached with information on funding for agencies providing services to persons with disabilities in the House’s version of HB 2, as well as an update on the progress of other bills we’re following in the report.
Don’t forget that this Wednesday, February 11, will be Disability Rights Awareness Day at the State Capitol. Members of the disability community from all over New Mexico will gather at the Capitol to meet with legislators and watch the Legislature in action. We’ll be in the Rotunda from noon to one with speakers – including Lt. Gov. Howie Morales and legislators from around the state – music and a dance performance. We hope you can join us!
Legislative Report #4
This message is from Ellen Pinnes and The Disability Coalition.
With the legislative session now in its final week, legislators are working to get their bills across the finish line before adjournment at noon on Thursday. Committees met over the weekend and both chambers held floor sessions on both Saturday and Sunday. The Disability Coalition’s legislative report #4 is attached to bring you up to date.
Post-Legislative Session Report
The 2026 regular legislative session is now over. Governor Lujan Grisham has already signed a handful of bills into law; dozens of others passed by the Legislature are awaiting her action to sign or veto them. She has until Wednesday, March 11 to act on those remaining bills. The Disability Coalition’s post-session legislative report is attached. Keep an eye out for the final report after the signing period ends.
The Disability Coalition is funded in part by the New Mexico Developmental Disabilities Council through Federal Program funding.Additional funding is provided by The Arc of New Mexico, Disability Rights New Mexico, the Independent Living Resource Center, and New Vistas. If you prefer to receive emails directly from The Disability Coalition, please send a message to EPinnes@msn.com with “subscribe” in the subject line.