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With her final 60-day session as governor underway, Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday criticized some legislators for blocking progress on crime and education issues, saying she has struggled to get lawmakers to do 鈥渞esponsible work.鈥�

The governor also expressed support for mandatory sentencing for some crimes, while accusing judges of failing to keep New Mexicans safe under discretionary sentencing decisions.

During an hour-long conversation with the Journal, KOAT-TV and KKOB radio, the governor insisted crime is not solely an sa国际传媒官网网页入口 issue, citing rising violent crime rates in Las Cruces, Alamogordo, Raton, Santa Fe and other New Mexico cities.

鈥淚t is a statewide problem,鈥� Lujan Grisham said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been far too easy, I think, for policymakers to say, 鈥楯ust get sa国际传媒官网网页入口 to get their act together.鈥欌��

鈥淲e have to do this together,鈥� she later added. 鈥淎nd the Legislature has to stop being risk averse.鈥�

On the issue of public schools, Lujan Grisham expressed frustration about what she described as a lack of transparency in how more than $4 billion in state funding is spent, saying it鈥檚 up to local school boards to decide how dollars that flow through the state鈥檚 funding formula are put to use.

鈥淚 have no power over schools, in the same way I can鈥檛 tell judges what they should sentence nor can I tell a police officer who to arrest,鈥� Lujan Grisham said.

She also claimed the House and Senate education committees, which are both led by current or retired teachers, have effectively bottled up many education initiatives in recent years.

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got a lot of former educators and superintendents who aren鈥檛 interested in changing anything,鈥� she said.

Specifically, the governor called it 鈥渦nethical and a huge conflict of interest鈥� for current and former educators to be voting on education funding and other initiatives as legislators.

Rep. G. Andr茅s Romero, D-sa国际传媒官网网页入口, the chairman of the House Education Committee, took issue Wednesday with the governor鈥檚 remarks.

鈥淲e鈥檙e a citizen Legislature and we need to have jobs outside of the Roundhouse,鈥� said Romero, who teaches government, philosophy and economics classes at Atrisco Heritage High School in sa国际传媒官网网页入口.

He also told the Journal his classroom experiences help inform his decisions at the Legislature, saying, 鈥淚鈥檓 certainly disappointed she would see it as a conflict of interest.鈥�

Governor鈥檚 turbulent crime push

Lujan Grisham called a special session last summer on crime-related issues, but the Democratic-controlled Legislature adjourned without taking up most of her proposals.

During this year鈥檚 60-day session, the governor said public safety is on many lawmakers鈥� minds and said she鈥檚 optimistic that proposals to increase penalties for felons in possession of firearms and fentanyl trafficking will be approved by lawmakers.

However, not all legislators are convinced that more laws would reduce New Mexico鈥檚 violent crime rate, which was almost twice the national average as of 2023.

Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, posted on social media recently, 鈥淚t鈥檚 enforcement and accountability we鈥檙e lacking 鈥� not more laws.鈥�

Pretrial detention has, in particular, been a controversial topic since a 2016 constitutional amendment passed by voters did away with a money-based system for getting out of jail while awaiting trial.

For the past several years, blaming judges has become the default explanation for some elected officials and law enforcement leaders about why bail reform doesn鈥檛 work, attributing it to a 鈥渂roken鈥� justice system.

However, studies conducted by researchers at the University of New Mexico found that pretrial detention works largely as intended, as 82% of people released pending trial do not commit new crimes. No studies have been released publicly that have found otherwise.

Lujan Grisham acknowledged Wednesday that tougher criminal penalties may not be a deterrent, but said, 鈥淚鈥檒l tell you this 鈥� if you鈥檙e in jail longer, you aren鈥檛 giving more guns to teenagers. That鈥檚 enough deterrent for me.鈥�

Data paints complex picture

The governor also said during Wednesday鈥檚 conversation that it made little sense that New Mexico鈥檚 prison population had decreased since 2018, even as crime levels increased.

鈥淲e have fewer people in jail than we did a decade ago, and crime is up,鈥� Lujan Grisham said.

While New Mexico violent crime rates rose slightly statewide from 2020 to 2022, the most current FBI data showed a 6% and 4% drop in reported violent and property crime between 2022 and 2023, respectively.

The largest decrease in violent crime was recorded in rape and robbery, with 8% and 35% drops, respectively, and, in property crimes, burglary and auto theft dropped 14% and 5%, respectively.

Despite the overall drop in crime statewide, FBI data showed New Mexico鈥檚 most populous cities not named sa国际传媒官网网页入口, like Las Cruces and Santa Fe, saw reported violent and property offenses increase between 2022 and 2023. Data for 2024 is unavailable.

In sa国际传媒官网网页入口, the most populous area and where most crime happens, reported property crime has leveled off since measuring large decreases between 2018 and 2020, violent crime has ebbed and flowed in that same period, rising marginally.

While the data might paint a complex picture, New Mexicans鈥� attitudes toward crime appears to be largely clear.

A Journal Poll conducted in September found 84% of likely voters believed crime is a very or somewhat serious problem in New Mexico, with drugs, poverty and homelessness cited as the primary reasons.

More recently, 74% of people who voluntarily responded to an informal online survey conducted by the Journal said they believed crime was still the biggest issue facing the state.

In addition, a plurality of the more than 1,000 people who responded to the online survey 鈥� or about 38.5% 鈥� said lawmakers should focus the state鈥檚 revenue windfall on crime-fighting initiatives.

The governor faulted lawmakers on both political extremes for being entrenched in their positions on public safety, instead of focusing on finding effective compromises.

鈥淢aybe we need more pragmatic, moderate people (in elected office), because you can鈥檛 govern on the fringes or the extremes, which is how New Mexico got into a lot of these problems,鈥� said Lujan Grisham.