Santa Fe, NM (KRQE)- In 2024, state lawmakers passed a handful of new laws that will affect the state. Some key laws are taking effect this spring.
Lawmakers recently approved a wide range of bills, from gun-related regulations to requiring students to meet consistent requirements to graduate high school. Many of these new laws will take effect on May 15.
House Bill 129, which creates a seven-calendar-day waiting period for firearm purchases, takes effect May 15. The concept received intense debate and was reduced from 14 days to seven before final approval. Some say it could affect the way gun shows are run.
Also coming into force in May is a bill aimed at ensuring that voters are not cheated at the polls. House Bill 182 requires disclaimers in advertisements that are “materially deceptive” and makes it an election violation to distribute materially deceptive media.
Lawmakers also passed a bill to secure polling places. The Senate bill takes effect on May 5 and would make it a crime to carry a firearm near a polling place, though there are some exceptions.
Several school-related laws take effect in May. These include House Bill 171, which would require the New Mexico Department of Public Education to implement harmonized high school graduation requirements for students entering ninth grade in the 2025-2026 school year. New reporting policies and procedures for affirmative action at colleges and universities (House Bill 151) will go into effect in May.
A hotly debated bill taking effect is one that would require the state to create a clean fuel standard similar to the rules used in California. The idea is to help New Mexico push toward more environmentally friendly cars, trucks and transportation, but opponents say the requirements could make low-income New Mexicans spend more at the pump. Supporters say the rules could spur job growth.
Several other new laws are taking effect this spring. These include changes to government funding, salary increases for New Mexico Supreme Court justices and funding for public school construction projects.
