State Rep. Christine Chandler reviews 2025 session, highlights behavioral health and family leave efforts

Representative Christine Chandler on Tuesday summarized the 2025 New Mexico legislative session for the Los Alamos County Council, citing major actions on criminal competency, a newly funded behavioral health trust, and work on a paid family medical leave proposal that cleared the House but stalled in the Senate.

Chandler, who serves as chair of the House Judiciary Committee, told councilors she and colleagues changed state law to expand outpatient restoration and assisted outpatient treatment options for people found incompetent to stand trial on low‑level offenses, and said the Legislature budgeted “over a hundred million dollars” this year for behavioral health services and to begin regional facilities.

The changes aim to divert low‑level defendants into treatment rather than dismissing cases and leaving people disconnected from services, Chandler said. “We also allowed for what we call restoration…on an outpatient basis that did not exist before,” she said.

Chandler said the paid family medical leave bill she co‑sponsored in the House was narrowed to address business concerns — shortening medical leave from 12 to six weeks, lowering the premium, and creating a state‑funded per‑family stipend of $3,000 per month for 12 weeks for new parents or adoptive families — but the measure stalled in the Senate Finance Committee.

She discussed several other items of interest to local officials: a bipartisan working group to monitor possible federal funding cuts that could force a state special session; proposed constitutional amendments to lengthen legislative sessions and address compensation for legislators; and work on nuclear‑energy policy. Chandler also reported progress and challenges on open records (IPRA) proposals and on privacy and algorithmic bias legislation related to artificial intelligence, which she said faced strong industry opposition.

Councilors asked about the prospect of a special session to respond to federal Medicaid changes and about a potential constitutional amendment to allow 60‑day sessions. Chandler said a special session was possible but premature while the federal budget picture remained unclear, and that extending session length will require addressing legislative compensation as part of any constitutional change.

Why it matters: Chandler’s briefing highlighted state actions and funding decisions — notably the behavioral health funding and changes to competency law — that will affect county services, courts and provider networks, and flagged potential federal funding risks that could require state and local adjustments.

Representative Christine Chandler (chair, House Judiciary Committee) was the primary speaker for this topic. Councilors who asked questions included Councilor Reedy, Councilor Wrighty and Councilor Hammond.

Looking ahead, Chandler said she will continue to press privacy/AI, paid family leave and behavioral health implementation in the coming sessions and monitor federal budget developments that could prompt supplemental legislative action.