New state laws now in effect

A number of bills passed by the 2023 New Mexico Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham went into effect June 16, the governor’s office said in a news release. 

 New laws include:

Healthcare

• Rural Health Care Delivery (Senate Bill 7): Provides $80 million to support rural healthcare delivery in areas of New Mexico often underserved by available health care options.
• Create Health Care Authority Department (SB 16): Establishes a single unified department responsible for healthcare purchasing, regulation and policy that provides a foundation for management and oversight of healthcare.
• Cost Sharing Contributions for Prescriptions (SB 51): A consumer protection bill that is the result of the Prescription Drug Taskforce who studied the increasing cost of prescription drugs.
• Medical Malpractice Changes (SB 521): Amends the Medical Malpractice Act to cap claims for independent healthcare facilities such as urgent care, ambulatory surgical centers and free-standing emergency rooms that are not hospital controlled.

Public safety

• Purchase of Firearms for Another (House Bill 306): Makes it a felony to purchase a firearm for someone who is legally prohibited from possessing one or who intends to use the firearm to commit a crime. Bill sponsors included Rep. Raymundo Lara, D-Doña Ana.
• Robbery and Organized Retail Crime (HB 234): Creates the crime of organized retail crime, allowing for the aggregation of multiple retail theft crimes over a period of time to target repeat offenders.
• Catalytic Converter Sales Records (SB 133): Requires secondhand metal dealers who purchase or receive catalytic converters to keep records that include the seller’s information and legal documentation that demonstrates their ownership of the catalytic converter.

 Reproductive rights

• Reproductive Health Provider Protections (SB 13): Codifies the protections outlined in Lujan Grisham’s August 2022 executive order, including prohibiting entities within the state from sharing patient information related to reproductive healthcare for New Mexico patients and providers. It also prohibits public bodies from restricting access to abortion and gender-affirming health care.
• The Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care Act (HB 7): Prohibits public bodies, including local municipalities, from denying, restricting or discriminating against an individual’s right to use or refuse reproductive healthcare or healthcare related to gender.

Voting rights

• Voting Rights Protections (HB 4): Enacts the first-in-the-nation Native American Voting Rights Act allowing Indian nations, tribes and pueblos to amend their request for voting locations and to apply for secured ballot drop boxes and allows electors to use government buildings as their mailing address. The legislation also automatically registers voters at a motor vehicle department or other local public office designated by the secretary of state, restores the right to vote of previously incarcerated individuals upon their release from custody, creates a voluntary permanent absentee voter list, prohibits the transfer or publication of voter data online, mandates same-day voter registration at all polling places and mandates at least two monitored secure ballot drop boxes per county. Lara was also a sponsor of this bill.