MLG rages over vaccine bill delay after Dems ram through special session bills

The “emergency” special session called by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham ended this week with all five Democrat-sponsored bills passed, some on party-line votes. However, the real headline was the deep partisan divide and the governor’s furious reaction to Republicans for opposing her vaccine legislation.

The two-day session, which cost taxpayers an estimated $250,000, was ostensibly meant to offset federal funding cuts. But much of the time was consumed by heated exchanges over decorum and the content of the Democrats’ agenda, which Republicans said was drafted in secret and offered little room for participation.

House Minority Leader Gail Armstrong (R-Magdalena) told reporters, “We were shut down in committee. We weren’t brought to the table. We didn’t know the bills that were coming. We got them Sunday night, and then they changed while we were in caucus on Wednesday morning.”

Tensions exploded Thursday when Rep. Rod Montoya (R-Farmington) confronted House Speaker Javier Martínez (D-Albuquerque) over a September 10 Facebook post in which Martínez had referred to President Donald Trump as a “dirty sewer rat” and members of his administration as “fascist clowns.” From the House floor, Montoya said, “I’m bringing this up not to embarrass; that is not the point. The point is, politics, as we know recently and very obviously worldwide in America, has become dangerous.”

Montoya’s comments came after weeks of frustration over Democratic rhetoric, including Rep. Eleanor Chávez (D-Albuquerque) comparing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to the Ku Klux Klan — a statement widely condemned by Republicans as inflammatory and disrespectful toward law enforcement.

Rep. John Block (R-Alamogordo) also addressed the escalating hostility, saying during an 11-minute speech, “A few weeks ago, a member of this body compared an ICE detention facility … to a concentration camp. Just last week, a member … compared ICE agents to the KKK. And certain individuals, including, unfortunately, the chair, are comparing people who support the president to fascists. … It’s detestable. It’s incomprehensible,” Block urged the House to “tone down the rhetoric” and “not dehumanize our fellow representatives and their beliefs.”

Despite the discord, Democrats passed all five bills: House Bill 1, appropriating $162 million in spending; House Bill 2, expanding subsidized insurance coverage; Senate Bill 1, broadening rural-health grants; Senate Bill 2, restoring Metro Court jurisdiction in competency cases; and Senate Bill 3, a controversial rewrite of the state’s vaccine-policy framework.

Senate Bill 3 removes the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) from New Mexico’s vaccination process, allowing the Department of Health (DOH) to instead base requirements on the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups. It also mandates vaccinations for all licensed childcare and early childhood programs. The bill failed to obtain a two-thirds emergency clause, meaning it will not take effect until December 31.

In a statement issued from her office, Gov. Lujan Grisham lashed out at Republicans for the delay, claiming they “voted on a straight party line to restrict access to COVID-19 vaccines for children in New Mexico for 90 days.” She continued:

“There is no good reason for Republicans to make New Mexicans wait 90 days for vaccines they need to protect their health. I’m deeply disappointed in Republicans for voting to restrict vaccines.”

Her office asserted that the legislation “forces DOH to wait 90 days before they can buy COVID-19 vaccines for children through the Vaccine Purchasing Program.”

Republicans rejected the governor’s characterization, noting that the bill’s delay was procedural — the result of Democrats failing to reach a two-thirds supermajority. They also emphasized that existing law already permits exemptions for religious or medical reasons and that no vaccines are being “restricted.”

Outside the rhetoric, the session’s policy outcomes were largely predictable: millions in new spending, an expanded subsidy system that reaches high-income households, and yet another attempt to centralize authority in the executive branch.

As Montoya warned, “Politics has become dangerous.” The governor’s own combative tone after the session underscored his point — proving that New Mexico’s special session may have ended, but its divisions are only growing deeper.