ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Governor Lujan Grisham held a press conference today, where she issued her official proclamation for a special legislative session that begins tomorrow. The proclamation includes a slate of legislative proposals that have been widely criticized by community advocacy organizations, mental health professionals, and lawmakers.
Bold Futures, Equality New Mexico, the ACLU of New Mexico, and the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness condemned the governor's remarks scapegoating and perpetuating harmful narratives about New Mexicans who are experiencing homelessness, mental illness, and addiction. The organizations also denounced the governor’s dismissal of community and expert concerns and her decision to move forward without consensus from legislators, who have repeatedly warned the bills are not ready.
The following can be attributed to Monet Silva, executive director at the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness:
“In recent days, the governor has appeared in the media with individuals experiencing homelessness in the background. Instead of villainizing them or using them as props, she could have offered them a meal, or to connect them with services – just as she could be calling for legislation that would address New Mexico’s lack of affordable housing and services. Her decision to focus on punishment and criminalization is cruel, ineffective, and will harm the most vulnerable people in our communities."
The following can be attributed to Nayomi Valdez, public policy director at the ACLU of New Mexico:
The bottom line is this: a police force with one of the highest rates for killings by police in the nation, an underfunded judicial system, a behavioral health system that lacks the ability to help those who desperately seek it, and a woefully failing corrections system are not equipped to provide the wide range of services that would need to be in place for any of the governor’s proposals, even in their best form, to succeed. We call on the governor to leverage the experience, wisdom, ingenuity, and expertise of those outside of the carceral and law enforcement systems, which do not lead to true and lasting community safety. If she does not, the next generation of New Mexicans will once again be left holding the bag for failed policies of the past.”
The following can be attributed to Kat Sanchez, public policy director at Bold Futures:
“As an organization that advocates for New Mexicans’ ability to make their own health care decisions and to access the care that is appropriate to their needs, we engage regularly with providers. The resounding message we’ve heard through the interim process is that the governor’s bills related to involuntary commitment have a troubling potential for abuse. What stands out about today’s proclamation is who was not at the table: mental healthcare providers, direct service providers to those experiencing homelessness, or even anyone who themselves have dealt with or is currently dealing with those issues. They were missing today and they’ve been missing in every draft of legislation coming from the fourth floor.”
The following can be attributed to Marshall Martinez, executive director at EQNM:
“We have always agreed with the governor and with the leaders alongside her today, that the issues our communities are facing are dire, and that we must urgently address them. But policies that are created from the top down and devoid of input from the people who are most impacted by them will never lead to positive outcomes. We desperately need real solutions and the only proposals the governor has offered so far are punishment, incarceration, and coercion.”
