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Thank you.

Welcome to Your Legislators.

I'm Noah Raess.

The 30-day legislative session is in full swing in Santa Fe.

And today, we will be talking with Representative Angelica Rubio about legislation working its way through the legislature, issues she hopes to address, and what the state's budget is looking like.

District 35 State Representative Angelica Rubio, thank you for joining us today.

Thanks Noah.

Happy to be here.

And just to start off, a lot of times, these, shorter sessions, a lot of the focus is on the budget.

And I wonder if you could share with us, what the priorities in the budget are looking like.

Mostly right now, with the budget, it's really just paying, it's, it's, it's paying all the bills of the state, and so I think there's a lot of focus right now on ensuring that we do that as equitable as possible.

There was already a framework that had been, agreed upon through the interim in December with Legislative Council Service.

And so we're sort of, going through that at the moment before, it heads to the floor for a full vote.

And the governor's agenda often plays a large role in kind of deciding, kind of where the legislative session heads.

I was wondering, what are your thoughts on the governor's agenda that she put forward?

You know, I, Im, I know this is the governor's last year.

I know that she's wanting to accomplish a lot.

I think that, a lot of her top priorities, particularly around, universal child care, is something that is very much in alignment with my values.

And so I'm looking forward to seeing where that moves forward.

And so I there's a number of other priorities that she has, but that's one of the ones that I'm really, looking into right now.

And how these, requests kind of taken shape over the course of the session so far?

Are there any other bills that, kind of struck your eye?

I, I mean, at this point, it's still pretty early.

I serve as Vice Chair of Consumer and Public Affairs.

It's where we see a lot of, legislation coming through related to, public safety.

And so, those are, those are definitely, that, those are definitely piece of legislation that I'm looking at to ensure that, that we're, not moving in the direction that we've been hearing, a lot of, which is, this tough on crime, priority.

I'm, Im looking at, at things in a different direction, an, an I'm looking forward to seeing how that, moves forward over the course of the next couple of weeks.

And last year, a large discussion, over federal funding in, the states, especially in New Mexico, is kind of taking place.

And I was wondering, how much have the actions by the federal government kind of directed where this session is heading, and what maybe some of the outcomes might look like?

I think a lot of what we, have been experiencing from the federal government, we were able to, work through during the special session in the fall.

A lot of our priorities are continuing to look at the federal level, but, I also feel like we, we came into this whole process, having taken care of as much as we could before it actually got worse, during the special session.

And so I think that's given us a little bit of leeway to really think about the future.

And, and not letting, not, not, not being reactive, but more of thinking through how do we move forward in a much more thoughtful way.

Is there any, part of the states, funding that you think is underfunded?

Is there any programs that you would like to see, more funding head towards?

I mean, there's, I think for, for me, it's really about protecting our our people in our communities.

I think a lot of times we spend a lot of time protecting systems.

And so, I'm, Im really, looking at, the budget, from a place of how do we ensure that we're protecting the communities that we're serving and, making sure that they're not left behind.

Your district comprises much of Las Cruces as well as, some areas a little bit north of, a little bit north of Las Cruces and speak of communities, I was wondering, what are some of the major needs that you see in your district?

For our district, I used to represent district 35, and so I oversee, the, historic districts, two of the historic, Mesquite and the Alameda-Depot, as well as a lot, all of downtown and a lot of the residential area surrounding that.

It's a very, it's, it's an area that's filled with a lot of diversity, and I think one of the things that, I'm really tackling right now in the next, and in the next couple of, of weeks is capital outlay.

Is that ensuring that, the funding that I am allocated through that process gets back to the community.

We have a lot of, issues related to infrastructure, lighting, lighting is a big deal.

And so I've been working with the city over the course of the last six months, and, and some conversations with the county to figure out what are some of those priorities that we can tackle through this capital outlay process.

And so that's something that we will be, finalizing over the course of the next couple weeks.

And zooming out just a little bit, as or if you could share with us your thoughts on words, the state as a whole, needs to address the most during this next session.

I mean, it's, it's I wish I, we have more time, to, to be able to do that during a 30-day session.

As, as you mentioned earlier, the 30-day session is strictly the budget.

And so, I, I don't have the privilege of getting to serve in Legislative Finance Committee that gets to meet over the course of the year to talk about, the budget and the framework leading into a session.

But if I have, have, if I would have the opportunity to do that, I think, it's really looking at how do we prioritize the communities that we serve, particularly folks who, are, are, are working class people who are, who are parents, who are caregivers.

I think we're doing that in a lot of different areas.

But it's important that, that, what, the framework that we've that's already been presented to us.

I feel comfortable with pieces of it.

But as I mentioned, over the course of the next couple of weeks, there's going to be a lot of debate around, the budget.

For me, the budget is a moral, moral document.

And so it really, it it really is about where are we putting, a lot of our investments and, and, and that's something that I'm going to be looking at, particularly around, taking care of communities not only just in district 35, but around the state.

And looking at some of the bills that you have, cosponsored.

One of them was the Immigrant Safety Act.

I was wondering if you could kind of share with us what that act, hopes or what that bill intends to do?

And what kind of motivated you to put that bill forward?

House Bill 9 is the Immigrant Safety Act, and this is my 10th year serving in the legislature, It's also the 10th time that I've helped to introduce a version of this legislation.

And so this is a decade, an, of working on this, legislation.

And I'm really hoping for the best, but, House Bill nine is about New Mexico just essentially refusing to participate in harm.

And, we're seeing what's happening all over the country around, federal enforcement, in, in communities, all around the country.

Immigration enforcement is civil, not criminal.

And so, and yet our state has been used to cage people for profit since the 1990s.

And so this bill specifically stops public bodies, from voluntarily, entering into agreements that detain, people for federal enforcement, for federal immigration enforcement.

And, and I think that matters right now, particularly with, with, how federal enforcement is escalating.

and I want to ensure that our state isn't silence an, an that we be complicit in this.

Like, I am really, believe that this bill is about safety.

It's about, about dignity and drawing a clear line around who we are as a state.

And you mentioned that this bill, has been ten years in the making.

I just wondering if you could share with us, you know, why does it take kind of so long for some of these bills to go through?

And, you know, how does that process really kind of look like?

Why does it kind of take so long for some?

A lot of it has to do with changing hearts and minds.

I'm an organizer, and I, I, I believe that, a lot of the things that I believe in when we're talking about value, values and, and translating that into public policy, sometimes it's difficult for other legislators, especially if they don't have similar lived experiences to fully understand, how this policy can completely transform a community, how it can transform a state.

And so, it takes work.

And so it takes building relationships with other legislators.

It, it takes work building trust within communities.

And I think particularly with House Bill nine, we have struggled to get it through in the Senate.

an, an, I think part of that has been because it's taken time to, to, to change those hearts and minds and, what we are seeing across the country where we're seeing people being, where we've seen an increase of, of, ICE, presence in places like Minnesota, and Minneapolis, that, we are, are, we, we, there are senators now, there are House members who feel like this is not a place, this is not a role that we want to play in as a state.

And we want to take a stand.

And so House Bill nine is that bill, that, we've been able to, to, to mobilize and organize around that.

And, and I feel like this is the year for that.

And speaking of bills that have often taken a long time to kind of work its way through the legislature, legislative compensation has also been a topic, brought up quite frequently throughout the years.

I was wondering if you could share your thoughts on legislative compensation.

And, you know, what can this do for the legislature?

Absolutely.

So, the legislative compensation is also a bill that I, have been carrying for the last decade.

And we, and I'm doing that with another, with a coalition of folks this year again.

It's House Joint Resolution Five.

And for me, it's really about democracy working for working people.

Right now, only people who, who are wealthy, who are retired, or independently resourced, can afford to serve in the New Mexico Legislature.

There's a lot of sacrifice that legislators, especially who come from working families, working, working family, working, working families, with, with the background, that are working class, much like myself.

It can include parents, caregivers, people from rural and frontline communities.

Were, were trying, to ensure that they have a place in this, in this legislature.

And so, I'm really hoping that, once we pass legislation, we send this legislation to the voters that they understand that, they're being, they're a part of something bigger where government actually reflects the people it serves.

And so, fair pay, in my opinion, strengthens accountability.

And and that's what we're looking for, to do with House Joint Resolution Five.

And jumping to some other, hot topics around the state, medical malpractice laws have been, discussed quite a bit in the last year.

I was wondering if you could share with me, your thoughts on, the current medical malpractice, laws.

And do you think that those are partially responsible or fully responsible for, kind of driving doctors out of the state?

No, I don't actually believe that.

you know, this debate isn't, necessarily happening in vacuum.

And it's actually been an issue that, I've, I've been really frustrated with, honestly, especially with some of my supporters, because I think in moments of moral crises, there's always pressure to protect institutions instead of people.

And what we've seen, especially with this issue, is that there's this pattern in our, in our history here in this country where, where progress is stalled not just by extremists, but by moderates and who choose to who choose comfort over, over justice, and, I, I'm just really concerned that there's this whole debate around weakening patient protections, because that doesn't actually protect health care.

It protects corporate interests.

And so the people that are harmed by that choice are overwhelmingly black, brown, poor, rural.

They come from rural areas, and they they represent disabled patients.

And so, I don't think accountability is, is, anti-doctor.

It's, it's, really pro-patient.

And if the response, to systemic harm is to silence the people being harmed, then I feel like we're repeating some of the same mistakes that we've made in history, which keeps warning us, which history keeps warning us about.

And so, I, I, I, feel like every era of injustice is sustained, by people who believe they're good as long as nothing demands courage from them.

And this session is about choosing courage.

And I think that's where we're going to see a lot of this.

A conversation around medical malpractice is that, I think people are operating from a place of fear.

And unfortunately, it's weakening.

The weakening of patient protections is really, it's really unfortunate.

And one of the arguments that people use commonly for supporting malpractice, kind of reform, is, you know, it's too expensive for doctors to work here.

It's driving them out of the state.

I guess how would you react to those statements, and what would your plan be to address some of those concerns?

I mean, I think we have proposed a number of pieces of legislation regarding, why, doctors are leaving, the state.

And it isn't because it is, It isn't because of medical malpractice.

It's because, folks are burnt out.

There's a lot of, like, doctors aren't getting not even just doctors, but nurses and folks who work in these hospitals.

There's a lot of pressure for them, in these spaces.

And I don't think that, there are other policies that we've been working on to support them.

I know that Representative Szczepanski here for example, our majority leader in our legislature, is working on some, really good pieces of policy to help strengthen that.

Representative Eleanor Chávez is also working on legislation.

She's been doing that for years, particularly to support nursing.

And, there has been a holistic, process to be able to support that.

But because it's become medical malpractice was, was, brought upon as this like, big hot topic, I feel like everybody's just kind of like, grabbed on to it without recognizing that it requires a much more holistic plan, except that it's not sexy during an election year.

And, and long term planning is, is, is, an, an investments takes a long time.

And, and that's why I think this issue has just become so frustrating to me is because, it, it, has really, it has really put doctors against patients when really we should be focusing on how corporate interests, have really monopolized this entire conversation without allowing for real, thoughtful policymaking And jumping from one controversial issue to another controversial issue.

Crime has also been a hot topic across the state.

And you mentioned earlier that, kind of mentioned some of the tough on crime, kind of, politics ideas that are coming out as well.

If you could kind of share your thoughts, on that.

And also, what would you kind of do to address some of these, concerns that people have with crime in the state?

Yeah.

You know, I, I think it's really important that, like, people are really scared right now and, and, and I, I feel that, I think crime feels close to home.

And, and, so I take that seriously.

I, I feel like, when folks say that they want safety, they're not wrong.

They're, they're responding to what they're living with every single day.

And so, but I want to be completely honest with, with folks, and I feel like I've done that, over the course of the time that I've served in the legislature, that, we have been proposed, things, legislation has been proposed in this legislature, that just plainly doesn't work.

For decades we've responded to fear, with headlines instead of, actual solutions.

So we're passing these tough sounding bills.

We're increasing penalties that are much too harsh, with more punishment.

And then we act surprised when, communities are still unsafe.

And so that approach has never delivered safety.

It's only delivered, cycles of harm.

And when it comes to kids, particularly when we're talking about juvenile justice, because that's been the biggest, issue that, we've been talking about over the course of the last six months, is that when it comes to, to young people, to kids, we keep repeating the same mistake as, other types of crime, crime bills where we're treating trauma like criminal intent.

Most of the young people coming in contact with the system are already carrying violence.

They're carrying poverty and instability on their, on their backs.

And so if incarceration created safety, we'd be the safest country in the entire world.

But right now, what we've learned is that, the hard way is that pushing kids deeper into a system makes communities much less safe, much less safe, not more secure.

And so, I serve as vice chair of consumer and public affairs.

I see these bills every year.

Many of them don't address root causes.

They don't prevent harm.

They just move it around.

And I think we owe people more honesty than, than, than that.

I know that the governor, has yesterday, I believe, expanded the call, to include a range of public safety bills.

And, and I respect that she's responding to public concern.

but responding to concern is not the same as solving the problem.

And real safety doesn't come from these symbolic bills.

It comes from long term investments that I think we've avoided because they don't make for, like, these flashy headlines.

And so, I think it's important that we focus on prevention, even though it it isn't sexy.

It doesn't poll well.

It doesn't show results overnight.

I think some folks right now are thinking about elections instead of the next generation.

And, communities don't get safer, on election timelines.

And so, I think it's really important that when we're talking about things like House Bill 9 or HJR5, or even patient protections, all of this is connected with juvenile justice and, and public, public safety.

They all reject the idea that, some people are expendable for the sake of, for the sake of, like, stability, for profit or political comfort.

And I think it's important that we, we, we begin to interrupt that machinery of, of harm.

And, and I'm hoping that we can do that, begin to do that here during this legislative session.

And you mentioned root causes, specifically with juvenile crime.

I wonder if you could kind of walk me through what do you think those root causes are, and how much can the legislature do to address those issues?

I mean, part of it is, the thing that I'm, I'm really looking forward to hear the debate on around, universal child care.

I mean, there's data out there that universal child care is, it works.

It's, it does a lot for, to address root causes.

When we're talking about poverty, generational poverty, especially here in New Mexico.

It also has to do with, ensuring that people have access to, to health care and, and ensuring that, that, that, everybody has, stability.

And I think one thing that's missing from, young people right now is that lack of stability.

We, I mean, I think we forget we were just, we've had a lot, a lot of young people have had to go through a lot, whether it was the pandemic, being schooled at home and, and not having the kind of, I think cell phones have also been like an issue with, with, with a lot of issues, and then parents instability with, with work.

Having to balance work life, and and, and, and things at home.

Addiction, like there is a, plethora of issues that impact families that eventually get and hit a child.

And their ability to, to grow and, and, and I think those are the issues that we need to be addressing and focusing on.

And again, it goes back to our legislature that our timelines are not the same as the timelines of real people.

And so I, I mean, I think it's important that as a legislature, we need to be thinking five, ten years ahead and not just, working towards an election, an election year.

In jumping away from crime, and come to affordable housing.

Affordable housing has been a big topic of discussion, across the state.

I was wondering if you could share, where you hope the state can improve at in the, the affordable housing efforts?

Yeah.

You know, I, I feel like we, have a lot of work to do in this area.

Back in 2020, when the pandemic first started and we headed into a special session, there has been, a cohort of legislators, particularly in the House, who have been working with advocates over the course of the last six years to try to strengthen this area.

I think our coordination with City Council, particularly in Las Cruces with, Councilor Bencomo, Councilor Corran, like we have had there's just been a lot of conversation around, how to, improve the housing in, in Las Cruces.

And I think part of it also, goes, it goes back to investments, but it also goes back to, creating those safety nets outside of just housing, and, there's I'm, Im looking forward to seeing what we are able to continue to do over the course of the interim, but I'm also looking forward to hearing more from, the candidates who are running for governor, because I think that as, this governor ends her, her term, and, and where we had our differences on how we handled housing, I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes with the next governor, because, it's definitely at the top of my list of priorities, heading into next session.

And, and while I, I feel like we've made some progress, I feel like we have so much more to do, on the issue of housing and making it accessible to, to everyone.

I mean, I, I believe that housing is a human right.

Everyone should be, entitled to housing and, and that's the direction that I will continue to go to, as, as long as I'm serving in the legislature.

But as, as also as just somebody who advocates and organizes around this issue.

And much of New Mexico's budget comes from the oil and gas industry.

And I was wondering if you could kind of share your thoughts on, you know, that industry and how much how can you, how can the state, accomplish their environmental goals, all while taking this money from oil and gas?

Yeah.

I mean, I think this is a conversation that has been happening, for decades.

This how do we transition away from our dependance on oil and gas?

I grew up in a rural town in southeastern New Mexico, in Lake Arthur, where the majority of my family still resides, but also, many still work, either directly with the oil and gas industry, or indirectly.

And, I think what we've experienced, what their experience in terms of a transition away from that industry, it's, it's very much like the, the conversations that we're having around, the Immigrant Safety Act and, and closing down of immigration detention.

We, here in New Mexico have a long history of, not in that reimagining a different type of economy, one that's more sustainable, one that is more, that's, that's a lot better for communities, but also for the land and for, for water.

And, and while, I think this conversation around oil and gas will continue.

We, it's, its, its what helps pay for so much of, of our buget.

It's imperative that as a legislature and for the next governor to really be thinking about, how do we transition away from this, this industry, but not only expanding to other, economies, but not faltering into another cycle of, of, an, an economic development plan that isn't, supporting the values of our, of our state.

I, I, I fear that we, we've already begun to do that.

Where we are, saying that we want to transition ourselves away from oil and gas.

But as you know, Project Jupiter down in, in Doña Ana County, the county, allowed for, this huge data center to come in.

And now we're risking this issue with not only water, but our, with now this, this issue with, with our air, and the pollution of our air.

And so it's like we're, we're, we're straddling from one industry that is not only, extractive and exploitative, but, to another one.

And, I think it's a lack of imagination from leadership in our legislature.

And so I really feel like, we, I want to have more conversations with voices like mine who are who are thinking about things in a much more holistic way, and thinking about things in a much more sustainable way, that we can, as New Mexicans, create a different type of, economy.

It's just not, this, one that we've been in for decades, and the one that we're still continuing to, to, perpetuate, It's just, it's not working for us.

And we need to, we need something else.

District 35 State Representative Angelica Rubio, thank you for being with us today.

Thanks Noah.

And thank you for joining us, For Your Legislators.

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And remember that you can track bills as they move through the House and Senate in Santa Fe at nmlegis dot gov.

The state's, criminal competency laws have also been kind of, in the crosshairs for many people when it comes to, the rise in crime.

I was wondering if you could kind of, share your thoughts on the, committee laws.

And do you think there's, change needed there?

Competency is something that we addressed during, the special session last year.

And so I think one of the conversations is now around, juvenile justice, and, and we, an needing to address competency competency, in, in that realm.

Again, I, I, I don't think that the that, I, I, I've had conversations with law enforcement, particularly our Chief of Police in, in Las Cruces.

I've had a number of conversations with advocates around that as well.

And I, I, again,I, I don't think it's, it's a, it's about, finding these, to me, it, it doesn't make sense to focus on the punitive, we really need to figure out solutions that are, that are, that are long term, but that have worked, because the data says it's worked in other places, like we need to give those a chance.