Summary
Have NM Republicans moved beyond being MAGA influencers who are all about that drama? We took a look at 15 of the wackiest bills introduced during the 2025 legislative session, and came to the conclusion, probably not.
We’re not the only ones wondering if Republicans in New Mexico still have what it takes to be a major party anymore…
As long-time political columnist Milan Simonich noted recently, they haven’t won a statewide election in 9 years.
Sadly, the recent 60 day legislative session did little to change the image of NM’s prominent Republicans as MAGA influencers yelling over each other while ignoring real problems.
Case in point, Rep. Stefani Lord and Rep. John Block pushing and shoving their way through the Roundhouse during a peaceful demonstration to support residents of Gaza.
But it’s not just these two representatives who are loud and divisive. Other high profile Republicans like Jay Block, Rebecca Dow, and Jenifer Jones joined in to burn valuable legislative time by introducing bills to:
- Eliminate healthcare for LGBTQ+ communities
- Restrict voting access
- Take away $100M from public schools and instead send it to private religious schools and unlicensed providers
If you’re a New Mexican who cares about improving our economy, investing in education and healthcare, and addressing the root causes of crime/public safety with proven solutions like violence prevention programs for teens and mental health support…
…well, don’t hold your breath for NM Republicans to offer help. They seem more interested in generating fiery news releases and social media drama.
Here are 15 proposals from NM Republicans this session:
1. Take away $100M from public schools and give it to religious schools/unlicensed providers – aligned with national MAGA efforts to defund public education for poor and working families, SB 286 would have introduced “school vouchers” to mimic an approach in Arizona that’s already created budget shortfalls and raised serious safety and quality concerns.
Sponsor(s): Craig Brandt (SD40), James Townsend (SD34), William Sharer (SD1), Larry Scott (SD42), Steve Lanier (SD2)
2. Make it harder for anyone who isn’t rich or retired to vote – SB 485 included proposals to cut the time period for voting in half (from 28 days to 15 days), close polling locations at 7 pm instead of 9 pm, and allow county clerks to change the location or hours of operation for early voting locations within 90 days of an election (previously prohibited without notifying county residents and the NM Secretary of State).
Sponsor(s): Jay Block (SD12), Pat Boone (SD27)
3. Spend up to $2.2 Billion on cryptocurrency for a “state bitcoin reserve” – SB 275 would have granted the state treasurer and state investment council power to invest in bitcoin (a digital currency) using up to 5% of any state fund, including the land grant, severance tax, and tobacco settlement permanent funds. It would also have enabled the state to loan out bitcoin to try to make more money.
Sponsor(s): Ant Thornton (SD19)
4. Put politicians in charge of New Mexicans’ personal healthcare decisions – SB 500 would have enabled state legislators with no medical background to define and control healthcare standards for transgender New Mexicans and their families. The proposed bill also included known misinformation regarding care.
Sponsor(s): David Gallegos (SD41), Jay Block (SD12)
5. Criminalize healthcare providers and stigmatize medically necessary abortion – HB 234 uses misinformation spread by anti-abortion activists to create a new definition of murder. This is essentially political theater, since murder is illegal in all 50 states and doctors are already obligated to provide medical care to newborns.
Sponsor(s): Jenifer Jones (HD32), Rebecca Dow (HD38), Cathrynn N. Brown (HD55), John Block (HD51), Luis M. Terrazas (HD39)
6. Bring DOGE grandstanding to New Mexico – SB 484 sought to create a state level DOGE agency but it quickly went nowhere, likely because the offices of the State Auditor and Attorney General already regularly address waste, inefficiency, and fraud concerns.
Sponsor(s): Jay Block (SD12)
7. Ban transgender athletes from participating in sports – mimicking another national MAGA priority, HB 185 would have banned transgender athletes at all levels, depriving them of the important life lessons in sports including leadership, confidence, self-respect, and what it means to be part of a team.
Sponsor(s): Andrea Reeb (HD64), Jenifer Jones (HD32), Rebecca Dow (HD38), Rod Montoya (HD1), Cathrynn N. Brown (HD55)
8. Require doctors to spread false information about abortion medication – HB 236 would have mandated that medical practitioners inform patients about “abortion pill reversal,” an extreme anti-abortion claim that if a pregnant person takes high doses of the hormone progesterone within 72 hours of taking mifepristone, it will cancel the effects of mifepristone. There is no scientific basis to support this claim, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Sponsor(s): Jenifer Jones (HD32)
9. Enable school employees to conceal carry handguns on campus – SB 256 included a proposal to allow school district superintendents or heads of charter schools to appoint any employee to carry a handgun. Because more people with guns on school campuses seems like a great idea.
Sponsor(s): Ant Thornton (SD19), Nicholas Paul (SD33)
10. Enable anyone to carry a gun without a permit – building on #9, another option is to just go with HB 83, which would have made it legal for anyone 18 and older to have a firearm for any reason, concealed or open, without a permit.
Sponsor(s): John Block (HD51), Stefani Lord (HD22), Randall T. Pettigrew (HD61)
11. Restrict all adult content on the internet – HB 44 would have required every website to collect age verification information and enabled lawsuits against companies for the vaguely written “damage resulting from a minor accessing material harmful to minors.”
Sponsor(s): John Block (HD51)
12. Create a tax carve out for selling gold and silver – if you want to buy and sell gold/silver to protect yourself from the collapse of the government, but also want to report those transactions to the government, SB 382 is the bill for you.
Sponsor(s): Candy Spence Ezzell (HD32)
13. Redefine natural gas as renewable energy – when does a limited supply of fossil fuels pumped from the ground become a renewable source of energy? Apparently, when a group of state legislators get together and say so, as evidenced by HB 327.
Sponsor(s): Randall T. Pettigrew (HD61, Jimmy G. Mason (HD66), Jonathan A. Henry (HD54), Mark B. Murphy (HD59)
14. Exempt “health-care sharing ministries” from the state’s insurance code – HB 271 would have given approval to a controversial business model where faith based nonprofits collect participant money for sharing health care costs but are not actually required to cover any medical costs.
A federal court recently ruled that the state’s insurance regulator was within bounds in ordering The Gospel Light Mennonite Church Medical Aid Plan, doing business as Liberty HealthShare, to cease operating in New Mexico.
Sponsor(s): Rod Montoya (HD1), Jenifer Jones (HD32)
15. Ban local cities/towns from limiting plastic bag use – if you’ve ever thought to yourself “There’s a bunch of plastic in my brain and I’m totally cool with that” then HB 483 is your kind of bill, as it proposed to take away local control of policies, rules, or laws limiting plastic bags in grocery stories.
Sponsor(s): John Block (HD51)