Gov. Lujan Grisham outlines goals for second term

SANTA FE, N.M. – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is starting a new four-year term after taking her oath of office Sunday. The governor offered a number of goals she wants to accomplish in the coming years. 

Around 800 of her supporters gathered in the Lensic Theater in Santa Fe for the inauguration. In a speech that followed, the governor laid out her goals for the next four years. She put education and healthcare front and center. 

“I am also announcing today that I will ask the Legislature to increase our public school budget this year to cover all health care premium costs for all educators and school workers,” said Lujan Grisham.  

In addition to healthcare for teachers, the governor said her office would fight opioid abuse as well. 

“We will approach opioid addiction as the epidemic it is,” Lujan Grisham said. 

And work with the Legislature to create a new governmental office that will somehow cut through red tape that makes getting affordable health care difficult.

“This authority will streamline the government’s efforts to support families and their health care needs while more effectively holding insurers accountable,” said Lujan Grisham.

The governor also promised to work with the Legislature to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade into New Mexico law. 

“And we will continue to fight the scourge of violent crime,” Lujan Grisham said.  

When it came to tackling crime, the governor briefly mentioned a need for more officers, and a need to hold violent offenders in jail. 

The governor also promised to tackle homelessness in New Mexico.

Her speech was brief, clocking in around 20 minutes. Many promises were made, but there weren’t many details on how those promises will be executed. 

The 60-day legislative session begins in about two weeks, on Jan. 17.