Schools and governor’s State of the State address
SANTA FE, N.M. – New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced during her State of the State address on January 26 that students in every school across New Mexico will be allowed to return to classrooms. This removes the burden from school districts across the state from deciding re-opening dates.
The announcement comes just days after at least one school district in Bernalillo County announced that the COVID-19 vaccinations they had in line for teachers are no longer available because of vaccine shortages. Representative Rebecca Dow (R – Truth or Consequences, Republican Caucus Chair) expressed her excitement through the social media network Twitter. When asked if she planned to head up legislation to ensure that teachers would receive their vaccines soon, Rep. Dow said, “You might want to ask the gov [sic.] since she is soley [sic.] making these decisions,” the representative continued, “which is why I’m signing onto bills limiting the govs [sic.] power during health emergencies.” Later, in a press release from the New Mexico House GOP, Rep. Dow said, “It seems the governor is finally following the lead of our neighbor states by reopening schools. It is time that she continues the trend – reopen New Mexico restaurant, really reopen New Mexico state parks, and get New Mexico back to work.”
Rep. Dow explained that she believes Governor Lujan Grisham’s authority during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency is too overbearing and that she is taking steps in this session of the legislature to overturn some of the power that the governor has.
House Bill 159 was introduced by Rep. Dow, NM Rep. Larry R. Scott (R – Lea), NM Rep. Randall T. Pettigrew (R – Lea) and seeks to limit the governor’s power during public health emergencies.
The bill calls for the gover nor to explain any price change to “goods and services for New Mexico consumers” and explain any “increase or decrease [to] the cost of business operations in the impacted industries.” The bill calls for the governor to explain how any restrictions will affect the future of New Mexico’s business climate. Lastly, the bill calls for the governor to take the least restrictive path of mitigation during the health emergency.
Rep. Dow has not proposed any bills that would advance vaccinations of teachers.
Rep. Dow can be reached at 575-571-1056; Rep. Scott can be reached at 575-392-5960; Rep. Pettigrew can be reached at 505-376-6607.