New Mexico legislature to consider bills combating homeless encampments

(The Center Square) – The New Mexico state Legislature will take up a slew of proposals related to homelessness in Albuquerque starting this week at a special session called by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The governor visited downtown Albuquerque on Monday, three days ahead of the special session, to highlight the issues this is causing the area.

"You can't walk on the sidewalk," Lujan Grisham told KRQE at a press event promoting her proposals before the legislature. "You can't enter these businesses. These business owners can barely keep their doors open. They spend more time on their own public safety and the environment around their business."

The city cleans about 200 homeless encampments monthly and has 3,000 service calls to said encampments, the report said.

During the session, the legislature will take up five bills.

One would make it a crime to loiter on a median three feet or narrower in areas where the speed limit exceeds 30 miles per hour.

"We are not criminalizing homelessness," the state website said. "This is strictly designed to protect pedestrians and motorists and to address New Mexico's status as the number one state for pedestrian fatalities. This also is NOT about banning panhandling. People are still free to ask for money on sidewalks and other public areas."

Another would create tougher penalties for felons in possession of a firearm during a crime. It would set a mandatory minimum term of nine years in prison, up from a maximum of three years under the current law.

Plus, the legislature will consider a bill to require all law enforcement agencies in the state to submit monthly reports to the state on crime incidents and ballistics information.

Additionally, a bill up for consideration would broaden the definitions of danger to self and others in the state's involuntary commitment statute.

And, the legislature will consider a competency bill.

"This bill requires judges to order district attorneys to consider filing for involuntary commitment of criminal defendants if their competency is in question and gives the judge the ability to detain the defendant for up to seven days to initiate the petition," the state website said.

It would require the judge to hold the defendant for up to a week and require the District Attorney to file a petition for involuntary civil commitment under one of these three circumstances, the state legislature's website said:

Serious violent offenseA felony involving the use of a firearmDefendant has been found incompetent two or more times in the previous 12 months