Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham speaks to students, educators and professionals during STEM day in the rotunda at the state Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. Nathan Burton/The New Mexican
The Santa Fe New Mexican Staff Report:
Health care loan repayment: House Bill 66, an expansion of the state’s student loan repayment program for doctors, passed the Senate unanimously with little discussion Wednesday afternoon.
It now heads to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s desk.
The measure would allow a doctor to receive up to $75,000 per year over four years of service in New Mexico, for a total of up to $300,000 in repayment help.
Advocates lauded the bill as a way to help recruit and retain doctors and ease the state’s health care provider shortage.
More help on the bench: The state district court that serves Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties will get an additional judge under a bill the state Senate unanimously passed Wednesday.
House Bill 95 bill adds a judge to the First Judicial District court as well as one to the 2nd Judicial District, which includes Albuquerque.
It now goes to the governor’s desk.
“These two judgeships were requested because of the additional caseload,” said Sen. Linda Trujillo, D-Santa Fe.
“In the First Judicial District, it’s an additional caseload of civil cases,” she said, while in Albuquerque’s district she cited an increase in “domestic relations” cases.
Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, who sponsored a Senate version of the bill with Trujillo, is a Santa Fe attorney who has filed wrongful death cases in the First Judicial District, Searchlight New Mexico found in a report on “venue shopping,” or filing lawsuits in districts where juries could be more likely to find in the plaintiff’s favor or award larger payouts.
Trujillo during floor debate called the report a “very limited article,” saying the number of civil cases “in many different areas have really increased.” She said Santa Fe, as the “hub of the state,” would be expected to have many of those cases.
Technology tax credit: A Senate bill to increase tax credits for national laboratories providing “technology readiness assistance” to businesses passed the Senate 37-1 Wednesday.
The tax credit subsidizes national labs if they provide assistance to a New Mexico business. Labs can get up to $150,000 per business for certain expenses. The tax credit cap, under the bill, would increase from $1 million currently up to $5 million in fiscal year 2031.
“This will continue our very strong and historied relationship with our national labs that are here in New Mexico, and all the businesses that have spun off of those labs,” said Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque.
Senate Bill 172 still needs to be approved by the House before heading to the governor.
Goodbye, Rep. Zamora: The state House on Wednesday said its goodbyes to Rep. Martin Zamora, R-Clovis, and his wife Debbie.
“I have always appreciated how steady you are,” said Rep. Jenifer Jones, R-Deming. “I could always depend on you to be solid, steady, know where you stand on the issues but not rant and rave about anything. Just a really steady presence always.”
Zamora, a farmer who was elected to represent House District 63 in 2018, is not running for reelection to the chamber so he can run for Congress against Democratic U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández.
“I do have to admit I won’t be contributing to your next campaign but I wish you the best,” joked Rep. Joy Garratt, D-Albuquerque.
Land swap and pet food: The House voted 64-0 Wednesday to approve a land swap meant to facilitate the midtown redevelopment in Santa Fe.
Senate Joint Resolution 7, which already passed the Senate and awaits the governor’s signature, says the city will get a few parcels that are contained within the midtown campus, the former home of the College of Santa Fe that the city is in the process of redeveloping with numerous new businesses and housing.
In return, the state will get the city-owned property on Cerrillos Road that houses the state Department of Public Safety headquarters.
The House also voted 53-11 to pass Senate Bill 38, which if the governor signs it will get rid of the July sunset date on a law that imposes a yearly fee on pet food manufacturers for low-cost spay and neuter programs.
Restraint and seclusion: The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill Wednesday evening to more tightly regulate the use of restraint and seclusion in schools.
Having already passed the House, House Bill 120 still needs to pass the full Senate to reach the governor’s desk.
The bill would add restrictions to the use of restraint and seclusion in schools — emergency interventions used when a student’s behavior presents what staff determine to be imminent physical danger to the student or others. Such restraints are most frequently used on special education students.
It was approved by the House last week on a 40-23 vote.
Quotes of the day: “Hopefully, if you didn’t already know this, having saved your life, I just saved you 30 minutes of debate.” — Sen. Martin Hickey, D-Albuquerque, after explaining the importance of coronary artery calcium scans. Hickey proposed and then withdrew a bill dealing with drug pricing, citing the limited time remaining in the session.