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The whirlwind 30-day legislative session in Santa Fe has come to a close.

Lawmakers passed medical malpractice reform, Universal Childcare, The Immigrant Safety Act, mental health commitment standards, and more.

There are outstanding issues concerning public safety the governor has called for action on.

And we've spoken with local legislators throughout the session, to hear their thoughts on all of these issues.

State Senator Carrie Hamblen, joined Noah Raess earlier this month to share her thoughts on the session.

So remember as you're watching this interview, this program was recorded February 2nd.

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 Senator Carrie Hamblen about legislation that is making its way through the legislature, issues that she hopes to address, and what the state's budget is looking like.

District 38 State Senator Carrie Hamblin, thank you for joining us today.

Thank you for having me Noah, it's great to be here.

As mentioned in the intro, these short sessions are only 30-days and typically they kind of revolve mostly around the budget.

I was kind of wondering, if, someone was to look at the budget right now, where would they think that the state's priorities lie?

Well, certainly funding, education, funding, roads.

You know, we've got a multiple of things that are that are going into the budget.

That that's really under the purview of Legislative Finance Committee.

But the conversations that we've had about funding early childhood education, universal child care, thankfully there are people who are much more brilliant than I am in terms of numbers, and, what to be able to do.

So, you know, we'll see how that comes out by the time this airs will have had a little bit of a clearer budget.

But I can tell you the conversations are happening right now about how to fund universal child care, how to continue with early childhood education, how to really make sure that the state stays afloat, while we continue to try and navigate cuts at the federal level.

And the governor's agenda also plays a large role in what gets discussed during these sessions.

how has her agenda kind of shaped things this session?

Well, just to give a little bit of background for folks.

So in our Constitution we either have a 30-day legislative session or a 60-day legislative session.

The even years are what we call a 30-day, or a budget year.

Meaning that everything that pertains to the budget, or taxes, are what are considered germane, meaning that they will be bills that will be heard, or the governor will send what is called a “Letter” that, will bring in specific non budget focused bills.

So you will see some of those bills that are governor's priorities, the Clear Horizons Act I believe is a governor's priority.

There are a number of, tax bills, the early funding, early childhood, care or universal child care, those are some of the, priorities from the governor.

Also, the big, the big issue is taking care of our doctors and looking at medical malpractice reform and making sure that we provide, resources and support for doctors, to practice medical care in the state.

So those have been really kind of the big priorities from the governor.

And, in our first week, we passed, three bills that moved, that developed, that dealt with a road package, also with, medical, the medical compacts, and there was one other bill that I can't, I can't remember right off the bat just because, a 30-day session is also a whirlwind.

There's a lot going on during 30-days.

And, there's kind of a mad rush to get bills moving through.

So we have had some really great successes in the first week, which is what the commitment was.

and we're continuing to do that at the time of our recording.

We have about two weeks left, and so there should be some more picking up in the next two weeks.

And you mentioned this earlier, but the cuts in federal funding have also been a hot topic, over the last year.

I was wondering, how these cuts kind of affected, this legislative session and what hurdles have it, kind of produced?

Well, I'm glad you brought that up Noah, because, you know, we had two special sessions prior to this legislative session.

One was to address SNAP benefits, which is food assistance for people, throughout the state, and New Mexico has, a rather large majority of, of, folks who are dependent on SNAP benefits.

And so, those cuts at the federal level were something that were incredibly important for all of us, to make sure that we have people that can still put food on their table.

So we had a special session, last year that address those benefits.

And then, we also had another special session, because of the cuts to subsidies for health care.

And in New Mexico, we have an a large number of people who are dependent on the exchange, the Be-Well Healthcare Exchange.

And so I was really proud to lead that bill, that, provided subsidy ease for people to be able to afford their, afford their health insurance.

And I can tell, you Noah, I received emails from a number of people, who were grateful, that their health insurance didn't go up to over 1000 $2,000 because it could have gone up anywhere, from 32 to 53%.

And for many people, that would have priced them out of access to healthcare.

And we know that when people don't have, have access to healthcare, it's actually much more costly, for our state.

And so we felt that it was important.

So those two big things, the SNAP Benefits and the healthcare subsidies were something that we felt as a legislature, as a body, that we needed to push.

And that's when the governor said, we're going to do this special session, and we're going to get those moving.

And so what that's doing now is it's making us a little bit more cautious about how we spend our money.

You know, we don't know what other cuts are going to be coming down the line.

And we want to be practical about that, but we also want to make sure that we don't, pull money away from resources and programs that really need the help right now.

So that's, that's, what, I'm really positive about with this session, is that those conversations are happening, with, what do we see are things that are going to be affected next?

And how can we cushion?

Many of you may hear about us creating these funds.

And these funds are very important because what happens is, is that we can pull the interest off of those, and then that doesn't impact the state's reserves, which we have right now at about 30%, and that's a good place for us to be in case there's a financial crisis.

And then we won't have to cut as many programs that we had to do, in the late 2000, in the like 2020 and 2018, to 2020, we had to cut, several programs.

And so we're really trying to do everything we can to avoid that, because we know that once we have to cut those programs, then New Mexicans suffer.

So that's what we're trying to do is like, create those funds, make sure that we're prepared, and make sure that those programs that are providing the services to New Mexicans continue to get funded.

And your district comprises much of Las Cruces, and Doña Ana County, I was wondering if you could share with me what your thoughts are on what the biggest needs for your district and that area is?

So my district, district 38 covers, from McClure Street on North Alameda, kind of down south.

It also includes, much, it includes Mesilla, includes New Mexico State University, and then many of the rural communities.

I also split part of the district with Senator Cervantes.

So in my district I have Mesquite, I have San, San Miguel, I have La Mesa, Chamberino, Vado, and part of Santa Teresa.

And so there's a lot of rural farming that is happening right now, and also community centers, which are a big deal for those communities, that find a place to gather.

So, in my district, the main priority is roads.

Because I have the largest number of colonias in my district.

And as we know, the history of colonias, this was infrastructure that wasn't kept up, that wasn't even provided for people, when they thought that they would get this.

So the roads are the big deal.

That is a safety issue.

It is, being able to get emergency vehicles to homes that are rurally located.

So the roads is a big issue.

Also, I'm hearing about, water generators.

So we're looking at that.

And also in my district, and I'll go ahead and just bring it out there right now is that Project Jupiter.

And that's something that my district is very concerned about.

We know the community is very concerned about.

And so those are some of the big things.

There's some other infrastructure, with the city, also providing affordable housing, and the soup kitchens.

So there are a number of those projects, that are important that we'll be able to address, either through legislation or through capital outlay, which the majority of what I just talked about is through capital outlay.

But those are the big concerns.

Yeah.

And you brought Project Jupiter.

Which is definitely one topic I was looking forward to discussing with you.

I was wondering, you know, this has been such a controversial issue in southern New Mexico.

I was wondering, what are the states, what is the state's kind of feelings towards these types of projects?

And, kind of bring these data centers into our state?

Well, you, you know, it's, it's more on the county, you know, the, the, state is always going to look at economic development, and looking at ways to increase, job opportunities and increase pay for New Mexicans, because we're looking at, you know, making sure that New Mexicans have the opportunities, to earn, earn a living.

And if they can earn a good living, that's a great thing.

The thing is, is that, you know, I understand where the county came from in terms of issuing the IRB for Project Jupiter, because, as I mentioned, this is a good segue Noah is that, you know, talking about capital outlay, this is money that I allocate to projects for the county and the city and the school districts, to make improvements on infrastructure.

And so when, the county, this is my opinion, this is certainly not speaking for the county, but when they see this $160 billion opportunity, they're looking at being able to fix a lot of roads that they have to piecemeal, right now based on capital outlay.

However, the process of introducing and, and, and having conversations about Project Jupiter has not gone, not included community members.

There, the fact that they're already breaking ground is problematic, because it certainly demonstrates, that there wasn't really a legitimate attempt to engage the community in the first place.

I'm not convinced that the jobs that they promised are going to happen.

I'm not convinced that electric rates for the residents in my county and in my district aren't going to go up.

And when we have a community that has been desperate for clean water, the last thing we need to do is give up that opportunity for clean water, to a business that doesn't even belong here, and doesn't even, like they're not even based in New Mexico.

So, you, you know, I, I get why the county did it, but it's not going to be off the backs of the people who live there, and work there.

And so, that is, that is, my, my stance on that.

The, the state in general is looking for opportunities of economic development.

But, what we are seeing nationwide is that A.I.

centers are going into communities that have struggles, that might be low income, that might need resources, and so they're looking at this is as prime, prime property.

Because this community needs the money.

And that to me is incredibly disingenuous in terms of what the the narrative that is coming out of the developers behind this.

And, it's disingenuous to the will and the wants of the people who actually live there.

So we'll see.

We'll see.

We're doing some things up here, that are going to try and regulate that a little bit.

But, I still have severe concerns about that project.

And for so long, I feel like the discussion around, you know, the states economy, and how that economy affects the environment has always been around, you know, the oil and gas industry.

I feel, you know, maybe now it's kind of transitioning more into the data center, kind of field, with the water usage.

I was wondering, how can the states kind of walk the line between, you know, having these economic, programs and economic boosts, but also meet their climate action plans?

You know, it's, it's, I always look at these issues as kind of something of like the wheel of a bicycle.

And so we have the, the center in the middle, and then we have all the spokes off of it.

And, you know, we want to be able to provide, an environment where New Mexicans thrive and are able to get back to their community, and raise their families, and go to school if they so choose.

And so, looking at one issue is what's going to solve that is not really practical, as is like a spoke, so there are multiple things.

So we have to look at, you know, we're trying to do this in a number of ways.

Looking at the Opportunity Scholarship, so people have an opportunity to go to college, or either get a certificate or a trade or go to a four year institution.

So we're looking at helping people provide the education that will help lift them out of poverty.

Universal childcare.

We still have things to work on with that, because we need to be able to have, providers who can and who can take care of our kids when we're busy working or doing what we need to do.

We're also looking at, education and how we can help uplift our education and make our education much more accessible and much more productive and positive for our kids, and our young people.

So my point is, is that there are a number of things that, that, we're talking about.

I think want to talk, when we, when we, start talking about economic development, we also have to look at education opportunities.

We have to look at education, so that, so that people can get that training.

But we also, also, have to look at quality of life issues.

You know, do people want to move to Albuquerque or do they want to move to Santa Fe or Las Cruces?

What are those issues that each individual city, or region provides for somebody to be able to thrive?

So, I guess my long answer is Noah, is that, there are so many different things.

I understand the importance of economic development and how we need to create more jobs so that more people in our state can come out of poverty.

But I also think we have to look at a number of other things.

We have to look at food scarcity.

We have to look at homelessness.

We have to look at mental illness.

We have to look at domestic violence.

We have to look at addiction issues.

And we can't just say, one thing is, going, going to help that.

We have to look at a number of things, of what people are experiencing and meet them where they are and provide them the resources they need at that time.

And jumping back to something you said earlier in the interview, one of the major, topics that the state is hoping to address in this session is medical malpractice laws.

You know, a lot of doctors have cited for reasons why it's hard to practice in the state.

Do you think that is the case?

And how is the best way to kind of go about, easing those concerns or solving the issues?

Well, you know, the medical malpractice issue is a 50 year issue.

It goes back to the patient compensation fund, which was started in 1970, and that was because, and ultimately, I'd like us to remember that insurance companies are the common denominator of all of this, is that patients were, who are victims of medical negligence, did not have the resources to pay, for the medical care that they would have, later on down the line as a result of medical negligence.

Therefore, also, doctors were now required because of the insurance companies, to pay higher premiums.

And so, I continue to say we need to, also look at the insurance companies.

But there are other attempts, to also help alleviate the stresses that our medical providers have.

Now, mind you, I grew up in the medical environment.

My mom was the head nurse at Texas Tec.

Family Practice Center in El Paso.

I know about residents.

I know about the challenges that they have, the cost that they have.

Certainly it's much different from when I was a kid, but, still there.

And so, you know, we just passed, I have S-B four, which is a bill to help fully fund the UNM Medical School, actually, fully fund residencies and fellowships in New Mexico.

Because we know that once residencies, once people come and do the residencies in New Mexico, they have a tendency of staying.

Is that the one solution?

No it's not.

We also are looking at, GRT for medical providers, for copays.

We're looking at GRT for equipment for doctors.

And the reason why I bring up the duration of the medical malpractice issue is that it's 50 years.

It's something that's going to be very challenging to solve in a 30-day session.

But what I do feel confident about as well, we're, we're talking, since the session began, is that there have been conversations between medical providers and, attorneys to try and come to a compromise.

So I'm really grateful for that, for them willing to have those conversations.

But we're also looking at a number of other things to help doctors, in our communities, continue to practice without having to worry about shutting their doors.

So I do feel confident that at this session, when it's over, there will be some significant changes in how, our doctors are impacted.

Absolutely.

In some of the arguments kind of around, the medical malpractice debate, have said, you know, it's not fair to, it's not fair to victims to kind of put caps on, kind of put caps on the, damages.

What's kind of your, response then?

How can a line be walked?

To kinda make sure.

(Carrie) Well.

Yeah, and that's the, you know, again, that's because insurance companies are failing to pay for that care for the rest of their lives, although people pay premiums.

And that's the point of insurance.

So, you know, it's, I get it.

I met a ten year old boy who's going to need medical care for the rest of his life.

His mom is not going to be able to afford that care.

And so she is going to be reliant on the Patient Compensation Fund, for that, I, you know, I get that, the caps drive up the medical insurance cost.

However, the thing that I don't want to have happen to somebody is that, if their settlement is capped at a certain amount, and yet they wind up having complications beyond what that price tag is, and then they're left with no care whatsoever.

And so, do I have an answer for that?

No I don't, I, I do feel that, that's I'm not, I'm not an attorney and I'm not a doctor.

And so, I trust the people that are in the conversations right now, to be able to hash that out.

But I don't want, I don't want to sacrifice this, you know, sacrifice patient care or good doctors, for this.

And that's why I think the conversations still need to continue around the medical malpractice, per se.

But when we start talking about the different things that we can do to help doctors, I feel that that is something that we can address in a 30-day session, but I'm really grateful for the conversations that are happening right now, because I do feel we're going to get somewhere.

And transitioning into a different subject.

One of the biggest issues, at least in Las Cruces, recently, one of the discussions has been around crime and juvenile crime.

I was wondering, how can also that be addressed at the state level?

what do you think?

Can the root causes of juvenile crime can be?

Well, the thing that concerns me the most when we have this discussion about juvenile crime is just to lock them up.

When, we're not looking at food insecurity, addiction, domestic violence, homelessness, mental illness, job opportunities.

And so, again, you know, I think what we need to do, I would really like to, be able to fund the resources that help address those issues, because I do believe that that will actually reduce crime.

You know, but also we have to look at what are things for young people to do in our community.

Are we really maximizing that?

Are we creating opportunities and meeting them where they are, to help them find things that are much more productive than to go out and commit crimes and petty thefts?

Or, you know, hopefully something that wouldn't be much more serious.

But I, I, I'm really concerned when there's just this conversation of we need to lock them up, we need to put them in a facility because that's not addressing it.

They're going to, come back into our system without any resources, without anything in their toolbox, to be able to be productive citizens.

And so if we don't, if we don't focus on those resources that they need, then we're not really solving the issue.

All we're doing is locking people up.

And I, don't, I don't feel that that's the right way to go.

Yeah.

One other topic that's kind of been, highly discussed in Las Cruces has been the competency laws in the state.

Some of that was addressed in the last session, but some people say it hasn't gone far enough, I guess, where do you kind of vision the perfect competency laws, looking like?

Well, actually, thank you for bringing that up because that was the other bill that I couldn't remember that we did in the first week of the legislative session.

And so, you, you know, that's, that's something that I feel, you know, the idea is as harm to self as whether or not somebody can be, you know, put into a facility against their will, and I understand that those are concerns.

There's certainly first Amendment rights on that.

But, also when we have an environment, that is, toxic to people who are already most vulnerable, we need to be able to provide the services.

And sometimes that means, giving them a little bit of, of a boost, to be able to help them get on that path.

And, the thing that always worries me is that when somebody doesn't take their medication, that they can easily spiral.

And that's a very scary and dark place to be.

So I think with this, I think, with the details of the competency bill, that was, something that didn't pass last year, but it did pass in the first week of this year.

So, I don't know where it is in the house, but I do believe that was one of the three top bills that the governor wanted to move through.

And so I feel positive that that's gone through.

And kind of moving back to the issue about resources in the state.

Where do you think the, I guess, what kind of resources do you hope to fund, the most?

Is it kind of mental health services or, something else?

Well, certainly that homelessness is a big deal.

You know, Las Cruces, you know, full transparency, I used to be the chair of the board of directors for the Mesilla Valley Community of Hope, and certainly recognized that we are all one catastrophic event away from losing our home.

The people, there was, getting back to the health insurance premiums.

There was a couple that said that they would have lost their home, if their health insurance premiums wouldn't have been supported by the state because they were so exorbitant.

And so, you know, I do feel that, that, I would hope that nobody would ever experience this.

But we do have people who are experiencing homelessness, and it could be because of a number of reasons.

But you and I both are one catastrophic event away from losing our house.

And so I do feel that once you get people into homes first, then you are able to provide care for them and address the issues that are there.

So homelessness is always a big issue for me.

Right now, it's certainly being able to make sure that our doctors are able to practice, and that people have access to healthcare.

Always, as somebody who has been very comfortable to live, my truth is protecting our most vulnerable, which means our undocumented population, our LGBTQ youth, certainly those who are in communities, that are currently being targeted by this administration, at the federal level.

And so putting those things in place, and protecting our neighbors, who may be, may have certain circumstances, but they are giving back to our community and I think that's incredibly important because that's what builds up the fabric of New Mexico, and makes it the state that we love to call the Land of Enchantment.

It's not just the scene, and not just the vision, you know, the view right behind you right now Noah, but it's so many other things.

And I think it's that we need to do our best to take care of, take care of our neighbors.

And that could be a number of ways.

And I was looking through some of the, bills that you have sponsored.

And one of them that caught my eye was the Farm to Food Bank program.

I was wondering, if you could kind of tell me what that's about, and why do you kind of see it as necessary for New Mexico?

So, we have what is called, I mean, there's a term that's used that I don't like using, and it's certainly not, you know, we call it, talk it, food deserts, And, and a friend of mine years ago taught me about food apartheid, because we love the desert.

And the desert is beautiful, but there are people who are experiencing food scarcity and, you know, and, and, so, we, the reason why I did that is because we have local farmers all over the state, even in Las Cruces, you know, we've got the Anthony food, the youth farm, we've got, La Semilla food center.

We have so many small farmers, who can provide us the food that we need.

We export way more food than we, we import way more food than we, export.

Probably didn't say that right, but what it is, is that we have the capabilities of feeding our own.

So nobody should be experiencing food scarcity.

So the Farm to Food Bank is really providing the resources for our local farmers, which could be either, food storage, cold storage, it could be more trucks, it could be machinery that they need, and but, we also have the system in place in this incredible group of people, who know how to distribute the food.

And what I feel is that we need to be able to support our local farmers, more with those resources so that they can provide food for people who are experiencing food scarcity.

And, you know, 90 at over, 90% of New Mexicans are in what, what is called a food desert, which means that they are more than a mile away from the store, that sells healthy food.

And so, we need to increase that.

So that's something that's always been a priority for me from the beginning.

Yeah.

And just, real quickly, we spoke with, Rubio last week about, one bill that she's introducing, the Immigrant Safety Act.

So if you can kind of tell me your, thoughts on that and where, you kind of hope to see that go?

I am so grateful that she did that.

That's four years in the making, of making sure that our detention centers, who are housing undocumented people, are treating them well.

But also, given the nature of the current climate at the federal level, we are having people dying in these centers left and right.

Matter of fact, just down the road in Fort Bliss, that is happening on a regular basis, which is awful and atrocious.

And so we want to make sure that New Mexico is not a state that this administration thinks that they can just go ahead and ship people that they don't want in this country who are actually giving back to this country a great deal, but that they don't want, we're not we're not going to tolerate that.

We're not going to be part of that conversation.

So that's a that's a very clear stance.

I'm grateful for Representative Rubio, Representative Anaya, and the others who have really put this forward, you know, as we speak and as we're recording, it will be debated on the Senate floor tomorrow.

And so, there should be a vibrant discussion.

Probably a lot of really cringe worthy statements that are going to be made, which I'm guaranteeing, but we're going to move that bill.

That bill is going to pass.

District 38, State Senator Carrie Hamblen, thank you so much for being with us today.

Thank you so much Noah, I appreciate the opportunity to talk.

And thank you for joining us For Your Legislators.

You can watch episodes of this programing and all our local programing at KRWG dot org, where you can sign up for our weekly newsletter, the Friday News Wrap, become a member and support programing like this, and catch up on news from around the region, and around the world anytime.

And a reminder, you can track bills as they move through the House and Senate in Santa Fe at NM legis dot gov.