As your Representative for District 29, Joy Garratt works hard to address your priorities. Below find key areas that she is currently working on, her interim committees, and her Spring post-session 2026 Constituent Letter.

Legislative Priorities To be Studied in Prepartation for the 2027 Legislative 60-day session:

Labor Day marks the beginning of the election season which means that in addition to attending numerous interim committee meetings, I will also be taking time to meet constituents at their doors and to participate in town halls both in person and online. (Check my social media acounts for those public events)! I deeply appreciate the insights, concerns and suggestions that constituents share whether it’s at their doors, by email, or phone.

Education continues to be one of my highest priorities. Throughout July, the Legislative Education Study Committee examined instructional time, teacher professional development, school facilities, and strategies to improve student outcomes. We have been holding task force meetings regarding screen time for students (particularly elementary students) over the last several months. We are concerned with both the amount of screentime assigned to young students as well as the use of AI recording of student voices in one of the main reading systems, Amira. I am also working on enabling charter school facilities funding. I will continue to work on career and techology education oportunities, civics education, and making middle school more engaging. If you want to share your perspectives on screen time, or any of the many education-related policies and issues, please let me know.

Public safety is a top priority. That means funding the needs of all our first responders from their uniforms to their equipment to their training to their health support. Firefighters, law enforcement and EMTs face intense and traumatic situations on a daily basis. We must ensure that they get the support they need to thrive in their service to us all.

Transportation—particularly good roads—is a vital key for living and working on the West Side. I will continue to support the widening of our key roads: Paseo del Norte, Unser, Atrisco Vista and McMahon. While the construction periods mean closures, more dust, and detours, our commuters and first responders will all benefit once our roads are widened.

Health care accessiblity and keeping our medical practitioners in our state (and attracting more) are important areas for which I will continue to advocate. Recent reforms regarding medical malpractice and increasing loan forgiveness amounts for doctors are helping. Howeverm eight out of ten proposed interstate medical compacts still need to pass! As health care prices rise, we will be exploring new ways to delivery affordable, accessible care.

PERA and ERB cost-of-living-adjustments (COLA) must increase and many of us are holding stakeholder meetings regarding ways that will support inflation our state and educational retirees must deal withon fixed incomes.

Economic development and data centers can only advance when we have clear guardrails in place—guardrails that ensure water resources, power sources and environmental regulations are in place and followed and that community voices are heard. Community benefits matter. I believe that all stakeholders must come together and that companies and developers must be honest and forthright, that there must be total transparency regarding developments small and large.

Please feel free to contact me or my district legislative aide, Lien-Shin Wang Offermann (lienshin.wangoffermann@nmlegis.gov), with any questions, suggestions or requests to meet in person regarding legislation, policies, or public events. Below my signature you see a list of September to December important dates.

Warm regards,

‍ ‍Joy

Interim Committees ( May-December)

The interim period runs from May to December. During this time, interim committees meet at locations throughout the state. Access the updated interim calendar at https://www.nmlegis.gov/Agendas/StateLegislativeCalendar.pdf. All meetings are webcast with Zoom access for public comments for those who can’t attend in person. Here are Joy's committees:

NEW MEXICO FINANCE AUTHORITY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE Vice-Chair

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE Member

LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE Member

COURTS, CORRECTIONS & JUSTICE COMMITTEE Advisory Member

TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE REVENUE SUBCOMMITTEE Advisory Member

MILITARY & VETERANS' AFFAIRS COMMITTEE Advisory Member

LEGISLATIVE FINANCE COMMITTEE Standing Advisory Member

Spring 2026 Post-Session Constituent Letter

Dear Neighbors,

My warmest greetings to you as we head into spring following the 2026 Legislative Session! It was an honor to represent you and all my House District 29 constituents in the quick-moving 30-day session at the Roundhouse.

I deeply appreciate so many of you reaching out regarding legislation. As a result, my colleagues and I prioritized the issues that matter most to you – addressing medical malpractice with House Bill 99, expanding access to healthcare and housing, building a high-quality universal childcare system, strengthening our schools, and improving public safety.

As part of the House Appropriations & Finance Committee, our work began before session to craft a $11 billion budget that reflects your priorities and delivers solutions to support you, protect our communities, and move our state forward.

As Vice Chair of the House Education Committee, I sponsored legislation to improve student outcomes and engage our students in school and in career pathways. Here are some of my legislative highlights - all had bipartisan support:

●      Senate Bill 37: High-Quality Literacy Instruction - Establishes a reading ecosystem that supports teachers, students, and families, including teacher training in effective instruction based on the Science of Reading; funding literacy coaches to assist teachers; and ensuring evidenced-based best practices for biliteracy/bilingual instruction.

●      Senates Bill 64: Office of Special Education – Makes this office permanent within the Public Education Department; protects the rights of students with disabilities, gifted designations, and/or 504 plans; and ensures the establishment of statewide online Individual Education Plans (IEPs) to facilitate smooth transitions for students.

●      House Bill 7: Apprenticeship Assistance Act Transfers – Maintains investments in grant-making apprenticeship and training programs and adds $10 million to the Act’s trust fund.

Capital Outlay Allocations: I allocated much-needed funding for critical infrastructure and quality of life initiatives and education institutions, including each of the public schools in our district; recreational and cultural institutions benefiting all our families; behavioral healthcare; and law enforcement technology, including AFR equipment and the new BCSO training facility. I continued to invest major funding for the widening of Paseo del Norte and Unser, as well as McMahon.

We have made strong progress, but our work continues during the interim. In committee meetings May-December, lawmakers, advocates, and community members like you dig into complex issues, refine policy proposals, and make sure we’re ready to hit the ground running in the 2027 Session. If you have thoughts, concerns, or ideas, please reach out at joy.garratt@nmlegis.gov or 505-977-5039. You can also track committees and agendas by visiting www.nmlegis.gov.

Again, thank you for the honor of serving as your House District 29 State Representative. I am committed to working alongside you to make life better and more affordable for your family, our community, and for all New Mexicans.

Sincerely,

Joy

Joy Garratt

505-977-5039 | joy.garratt@nmlegis.gov

Spring 2025 Post-Session Constituent Letter

Spring greetings to you following the end of the New Mexico 60-day legislative session and the beginning of preparations for the interim May to December committee meetings!  A huge thank you to everyone who took time to send emails, visit my Roundhouse office, or call my assistant regarding legislation and policies you supported or opposed.

I take your concerns to heart –from addressing crime and public safety to improving access to quality healthcare and supporting education policies that will help our students progress. These will continue to be key priorities: implementing policies and real solutions that benefit our communities.

This session, I was able to allocate capital outlay funding for district schools and for numerous projects earmarked by our neighborhood associations and first responders as their priorities. Some of these projects include:

●      Neighborhood Parks: Mariposa Basin Park, Rinconada Park, Creighton Park, Ouray Dog Park, George J. Maloof Airfield Park and Shooting Range Park;

●      Major road improvements: Paseo del Norte and Unser expansion, Atrisco Vista Boulevard, and McMahon Boulevard; and

●      Public Safety: Albuquerque Police Department Crime fighting technology, Albuquerque Fire & Rescue Station 22 EMS Rescue Apparatus, and Bernalillo County Sheriff Office technology and crime prevention equipment.

In addition to bringing resources home, I was proud to sponsor legislation that reflects our shared priorities, including:

●      House Bill 8, Criminal Competency and Treatment: An omnibus public safety measure that changes how we treat criminals deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial; establishes a new firearm modification criminal offense; enhances penalties for motor vehicle theft; increases sentencing enhancements for fentanyl-related drug trafficking; and revises laws governing chemical blood testing in impaired driving cases. It incorporates my bipartisan House Bill 31, which institutes additional criminal penalties for anyone who makes a shooting threat on a K-12 school or other public place in New Mexico.  

●      House Bill 156, Increase Educational Salaries: In addition to raising certified educators’ salaries in the three-tier system to $55,000, $65,000, and $75,000, the bill requires teacher preparation programs to use the “science of reading” as the primary system of preparing new teacher candidates.

●      House Bill 12, Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Changes: As requested by law enforcement officers across the state, this bill clarifies changes in the ERFPO process that ensure it can be effectively and safely implemented by officers.

Please continue to reach out to me with your thoughts, concerns, or ideas (email joy.garratt@nmlegis.gov or call 505-977-5039)! Again, thank you for the honor of serving as your representative.

Ongoing work:
REDUCING CRIME and KEEPING OUR NEIGHBORHOODS SAFE

Crime and keeping our community safe is a priority and Joy has been working hard to address the concerns people have about violent crime and property crime. She understands that lack of accountability and monitoring of both alleged criminals and those with known past records has contributed to the “revolving door.” She wants to enforce 24/7 ankle monitoring bracelets with immediate consequences for any individual who violates their mandates. she also understands the concerns regarding the juvenile crimes being committed by younger and younger youth—she will be tackling this issue in greater depth during the 2025 interim committee meetings.

What she has done: Joy has sponsored and passed legislation to: keep child predators out of schools; outlaw chop shops and crack down on metal theft; and keep guns out of the hands of people who are a threat to themselves and our community (“red flag laws”).

She’s voted to fund more trained officers on the street, establish tougher gun penalties, and end the statute of limitation on murder charges. She’s allocated thousands of dollars to support the training and tools our officers need and to address the backlog of outstanding arrest warrants. To get input from community members, she sponsored a Westside Public Safety Town Hall after surveying her constituents to find out their biggest concerns.

Going forward, she will fight for the policies that keep repeat offenders off our streets, make sure our law enforcement is always fully funded, and ensure that crime victims and their families get the financial and counseling support that they need. We must speed up the entire judicial process; swift enforcement is critical to deterring crime—prompt arrest, adjudication and sentencing. We consider provisions such as bonuses for retention and full life-long health coverage.

REDUCING HOMELESSNESS

An important first step to reducing homelessness is increasing the availability of affordable housing.

Joy has voted for the New Mexico Housing Trust Fund to provide a dedicated funding stream for affordable homes that will go to low-and moderate income New Mexicans.

Joy will work to fund the drug addiction treatments and behavioral health initiatives that help people get off the streets and can prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place.

IMPROVING EDUCATION AND WESTSIDE SCHOOLS

As a former teacher, Joy will never stop working to strengthen our education system and is pleased that high school graduation rates are going up, particularly in Westside schools.

Joy knows that effective teachers have a huge impact on student success. Thus, she sponsored the Grow your own Teacher Act and the Teacher Residency legislation that will build the teacher pipeline in our state. She sponsored the Charter Schools Facilities Improvements Act that gives charters greater access to improving safe and healthy facilities. She is working with a coalition of stakeholders from around the state to improve preparation of education leaders—next to teachers, effective principals are vital to ensuring out New Mexican students get a good education.

She voted for legislation that increased base level salaries for our teachers by an average of 20%, putting New Mexico on par with the national average and ahead of surrounding states.

She is promoting a deep dive examination over the interim into what robust and effective middle school education looks like. What kinds of hands on classwork and activities will engage our adolescents in education? How can we expose them to exciting and positive options in life at a time when too many youth at that age disconnect from school and follow destructive pathways?

She believes that local control of school calendars is vital and sponsored legislation for schools and districts to ensure a minimum of 1140 hours per school year with local control of how many days per week should comply with that.

PROTECTING OUR ENVIRONMENT AND OUR PRECIOUS NATURAL RESOURCES

Joy is committed to protecting our environment—air, water, land and soil—through policy advocacy, budgeting and legislation at local, county, state and national levels. As a long time educator, she is deeply aware of the connection between pollution and the impact on th physical and cognitive health of our youngest New Mexicans. Thus, environmental justice is important to Joy and always a consideration in the legislation she supports and votes for, including working on requiring setbacks for oil and gas installations away from schools, community centers and health facilities. She acknowledges the revenue contributions the oil and gas industries have made to our state budget but notes that we must prioritize mechanisms to develop alternative and renewable energy sources and the new industries that will allow us to achieve our carbon reduction goals as a state and prevent health issues and negative environmental results. Joy continues to study water issues and the impact of forest fires and climate change on our diminishing water resources, including irrigation systems, acequias and wells.

INVESTING IN WESTSIDE INFRASTRUCTURE AND ROADS

Good roads are crucial to the economic health of our community. Joy is leading a comprehensive legislative effort which has allocated millions of dollars to widen and improve Paseo and Unser and other major arterials, includin Atrisco Vista where great economic development opportunities are unfolding. Not only will these efforts relieve traffic conditions for commuters, but they will improve safety and response times for our first responders.

She is keenly aware that funding and legislation, such as the Public Private Partnership bills she has been sponsoring, will benefit Bernalillo County and its role in the I-40 Tradeport Corridor consortium extending from the Port of Los Angeles to Bernalillo and its neighboring counties.

JOBS AND HIGHER EDUCATION

The New Mexico Chamber of Commerce awarded Joy with its 2024 “Education and Workforce Development Champion” in recognition of her advocacy for the expansion of apprenticeships and internships that pay while individuals learn. She recognizes the importance of career and technical education starting in high school so that New Mexicans can discover and get training in well-paying high needs jobs.

She will work to promote startups and entrepreneurial ventures and reduce unnecessary regulations that sometimes harness their work. Additionally, she will continue to support the expansion of the Space Valley Statewide Coalition work, quantum information science development, biomedical research fields, manufacturing (including re-shoring of businesses that went abroad), and collaboration with Mexico, our number one trading partner.

She sponsored the Opportunity Scholarship Act that pays for tuition and fees so that adults not eligible for the Lottery Scholarships can enter credit bearing job training programs in New Mexico’s high needs career areas.

EXPANDING BROADBAND AFFORDABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY

Joy, a sponsor of the 2021 Connect New Mexico Act, will continue to champion the legislation and funding that supports broadband throughout every corner of our state. Not only does this support our students, but it’s vital for economic development, government access, tele-health and entrepreneurs.

SUPPORTING QUALITY AND AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE

Health security, access to affordable health care at every stage of life, is one of Joy’s priorities. We need to expand and support our nursing, doctor and medical worker pipelines. Those on low incomes, particularly our seniors, need to be able to afford their medicines. We need to ensure that affordable and accessible reproductive healthcare, including abortion, is available to all those who need it.