19 laws take effect, including bill creating new early childhood education department
Measures were passed during legislative session in February
A bevy of bills signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham following the end of the regular legislative session in February took effect last week, a review of legislation passed earlier this year shows.
While most of the hot-button issues from the regular 2020 session that won the governor’s signature went into effect in May — 90 days after Lujan Grisham’s signature
— 19 new laws went into effect Wednesday, including the creation of the Early Childhood Education and Care Department.
“Today is a milestone — years of work from dedicated advocates brought us to this point, and now our work begins,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement Wednesday on the new agency. “With incredibly experienced and diverse leadership, with the unyielding support of the child care community and with buy-in from parents all across the state, the Early Childhood
Education and Care Department will, I am sure, do no less than transform New Mexico into the greatest state in the nation to be a child and raise a family.”
Other legislation that became law last week includes an increased penalty for felons in possession of a firearm; tax deductions for medical equipment purchases; tax exemptions for the hotel and hospitality industry; legislation meant to clamp down on the sale of endangered species parts such as shark fins and rhinoceros tusks; and a controversial
collective bargaining bill that supporters said is meant to make labor agreements between unions and employers more consistent.
A major overhaul to the state’s public pension system that increases contributions from employers and employees also partially went into effect Wednesday, although some provisions do not become active until July 1, 2022, according to the bill. A new law that allows out-of-state medical marijuana patients to purchase cannabis in New Mexico at the same price as in-state patients also went into effect last week.
The governor signed 90 bills from the 30-day session, including some that took effect in March, 46 that took effect in May and two that will become active Jan. 1. One such bill that became active in May was so-called red flag legislation, the most divisive policy that cleared the Legislature during the regular 2020 session. It allows law enforcement officers to seize firearms from people deemed by a court to be a threat to themselves or others.