RELEASE: Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham delivers 2026 State of the State address
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Michael Coleman
Office of the Governor
Michael.Coleman@exec.nm.gov
January 20, 2026
Governor delivers 2026 State of the State address
SANTA FE – Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham today delivered her eighth and final State of the State address, presenting legislative priorities for 2026 that include universal child care, health care access reform, public safety, improvements to the state K-12 education system, economic development and more.
“Over the past seven years, we've moved mountains together, delivering free childcare, free college, historic family income growth, expanded health care access and a clean energy economy worth billions,” said Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham . “But there's still more work to do. We need to ensure universal child care for every New Mexico family for years to come. We need to get crime under control. We need more housing, better schools, and a health care system that works. Let's finish strong and cement a legacy that lifts up every New Mexican."
Specific proposals for the New Mexico Legislature’s 30-day session include:
Universal child care:
· $160 million recurring increase for universal child care to guarantee universal access to child care in New Mexico for years to come.
Education:
· Boosting literacy and math requirements to ensure that New Mexico’s students graduate with the skills needed to excel in work and life.
· A cell phone ban to keep kids focused at school.
Economic development:
· $150 million in tax credits to solidify New Mexico’s position as a national leader in investment for future-forward technologies like quantum and fusion energy.
Infrastructure:
· $1.5 billion transportation bonding package to fund major state-managed road projects and free up funds for local improvements.
· $110 million for new housing units and homelessness initiatives.
· Zoning reform to expedite and increase housing production.
Climate:
· Codify the Climate Action Plan to cut pollution 45% by 2030 and meet net-zero emissions goals by 2050.
Public safety:
· Juvenile justice reform to address severe teen crimes.
· Assault weapons ban and gun dealer accountability to fight gun violence.
· Strengthening penalties on felons in possession of firearms.
Health care:
· Medical malpractice reform to lower the cost of care and keep health care professionals in New Mexico while ensuring patient safety.
· Health care licensing compacts to ease staffing shortages, build a workforce pipeline and improve access for patients.
· Eliminating the gross receipts tax on medical services to keep care affordable.
· Building the University of New Mexico’s medical school to double enrollment and educate the next generation of health care workers.
###
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s 2026 State of the State Address
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Tuesday, January 20, 2026
I know what you're thinking: Did she really just start her State of the State at Tia Sophia’s? Yes — yes, I did.
Why? Because that restaurant is New Mexico.
It’s a place where state employees sit next to artists who sit next to ranchers. It’s where you’d find the late Senator John Arthur Smith at 7 am during legislative sessions hashing out budget bills over breakfast burritos. And it’s where five governors from different parties can share a table—and nobody storms out.
No indignation. No name calling. No food fights.
All of us, Republican and Democrat, love New Mexico, and we’ve done our very best to move this state we love forward — together with all of you.
While the rest of our country is caught up in confusion, finger pointing and anger, we’re doing it differently in New Mexico — and serving as a blueprint for democracy that still works.
That's not radical. That's just New Mexico.
And it's why, for seven years, I've known I have the best job in America.
So, Mr. Lieutenant Governor, Mr. Speaker, Madame Senate Pro Tem, members of the Legislature, members of the judiciary, tribal leaders – my fellow New Mexicans, my family, my husband, the First Manny. It is an honor for all of us, once again, to be here with you today.
Before I move on, I also want to make special mention of Stella Gabaldon, a treasured institution in the New Mexico Governor’s Office. Stella has now served six different governors over the past forty— that’s FOUR-ZERO — years. Stella is the first to arrive in our office every morning and the last to leave. She does an incredible job, and all New Mexicans owe her a big debt of gratitude. From here on out, she will be known as the official colonel Aide-de-Camp. How about a big round of applause for this amazing public servant?
Now, let’s talk about what we’ve accomplished together and what we have left to do.
Over the last seven years, New Mexico has shown what's possible when we focus less on conflict and more on consequence. We've taken real action and delivered real results. And we've done it by moving together, all at once, on the biggest issues and opportunities facing our state.
That wasn't by accident. It’s by design.
When I first ran for this office, I called for a new approach to governing. One that embraced every opportunity, took on every challenge, and delivered for every New Mexican. At a time when leadership is too often seen as a series of trade-offs – when people think you can only accomplish one priority by abandoning the rest or strengthen one community by selling out another – I believed — and I still do — we could do it all.
I believed we could be the childcare state. The jobs state. The energy state. The innovation state. And so, in my first inaugural address, just a mile down the road from where we are today, I made a promise. I said that in my administration, we would go big. Really big. Together.
We went big. We were bold. And together, we’ve made history.
The results we've delivered are turning heads across the country and, indeed, around the world. But what we've built over the last seven years isn't just a…