The 2026 New Mexico Legislative session will be from January 20 to February 19. It is a thirty-day short session which will be dedicated to financial matters. It is the Governor who sets the agenda and the call for all 30-day short legislative sessions. In preparation for any legislative session, and a month in advance of the sessions, the Albuquerque City Council reviews and adopts the city’s legislative priorities which are compiled with input from the Mayor’s Administration.
On October 6, the Albuquerque City Council adopted the city’s legislative priorities for the upcoming 2026 legislative session. The priorities have a heavy focus on public safety, housing and homelessness, and funding for city facilities the Keller administration wants state lawmakers to address when the session begins in January on January 20. Following is a listing of the 2026 legislative priorities:
PUBLIC SAFETY AND CRIME INITIATIVES
To address crime, the City Council and Mayor Tim Keller’s administration are proposing stricter penalties and expanding crime fighting technology. Specific priorities include:
- A third Metro Crime Initiative that calls for harsher penalties for road rage, street racing, and domestic violence.
- Stricter gun-related penalties, such as new charges for carrying a firearm while intoxicated and for firing a gun in public.
- Targeted enforcement through the creation of a dedicated fentanyl court and a fentanyl-specific response team.
- Technology expansion, particularly for gunshot detection, across the city.
- Increased penalties for assault on transit workers.
ANALYSIS
Mayor Keller is seeking funding for all three branches of the city’s public safety department consisting of the Albuquerque Police Department, the Fire and Rescue Department and the Community Safety Departments. The request includes funding to buy new vehicles for each department and funding to finish fire stations in Wells Park and Mesa del Sol.
Both Mayor Keller and City Councilor Joaquín Baca have asked for funding for high-intensity activated crosswalks to protect pedestrians and cyclists after a series of cyclist deaths made headlines last year. The deaths include 19-year-old Kayla Vanlandingham. Historically, New Mexico has ranked the worst in the nation for pedestrian fatalities, partially due to a high concentration of fatal accidents along Central Avenue.
City Councilors are asking for funds for speed cameras across the city and “road diets,” which would decrease lanes on some busy streets to improve safety.
In addition to the city’s request, and separately from the city, the Bernalillo County Commission is asking for $4 million for a public safety training center and “crime prevention technology” for law enforcement.
HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS
There are several priorities aimed at increasing affordable housing and to address the city’s homelessness crisis. The priorities are:
- State funding for new projects, including capital outlay funds for the 88-unit Casitas del Camino affordable housing development.
- Efforts to address vacant properties, such as a former Walmart in the International District, by securing funds for redevelopment or transformation into green space.
- Expansion of the Gateway Center facilities to provide more shelter and supportive services.
- Tenant protections, including a proposed Tenant Bill of Rights.
- Reforms to state anti-donation laws to ease restrictions on affordable housing development.
ANALYSIS
As the number of people living on the streets of Albuquerque grows, city leaders have asked for money for a wide array of solutions. Mayor Keller is asking for additional funding for his Gateway system of five homeless shelters, as well as funds to convert hotels and motels into transitional housing.
Last year, the city was successful with its lobbying efforts and received $21 million for housing and homelessness initiatives, a sum that was divvied up amongst the Gateway shelters, with the remainder used to purchase an old hotel along Interstate 40 that will become an affordable housing project for low-income seniors.
Mayor Keller is also asking legislators for funds to improve the city’s “data infrastructure” surrounding homelessness so it can better track and quantify available shelter beds, housing vouchers and other services.
In addition to the City’s efforts for funding, and separately, the Bernalillo County Commission is asking for a hefty $98.3 million to sustain its housing efforts, which include a renovated hotel for homeless families, the tiny home village and rental assistance programs.
INFRASTRUCTURE AND COMMUNITY INVESTMENT
The city is requesting state funds for various capital improvement projects. Those projects are:
- Improvements to public facilities, including vehicles, technology, and upgrades for police and fire departments.
- Infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists to improve bike and road safety.
- Renovations and improvements at Balloon Fiesta Park.
ANALYSIS
The majority of capital outlay requests by city councilors involved quality of life improvements such as renovating residential parks, adding bike lanes or upgrading roads and requests for funding to buy vacant commercial properties and convert them into affordable housing.
Mayor Keller has asked for more funding for the Rail Trail, a planned 7-mile loop for pedestrians and cyclists around Downtown and Barelas. In September, the Rail Trail lost $11.5 million in federal funding after the U.S. Department of Transportation clawed back a grant because the project “no longer aligns” with the DOT’s priorities under President Donald Trump.
Still, the project is pressing ahead, although most of the loop has yet to begin construction.
County commissioners are also asking for funds for recreation. The county requested $5 million to expand the Mesa del Sol Regional Outdoor Sports Complex to ready it for regional and national youth sports tournaments.
TWO CITY COUNCILORS SEEK SEPARATE PROJECT FUNDING FOR THEIR DISTRICTS
Councilor Nichole Rogers, whose district encompasses East Central, has petitioned the Legislature for funds to buy an abandoned Walmart and turn it into a “mixed-use” space for the community to gather. The old Walmart on San Mateo south of Central has sat empty for two years after the retailer pulled out due to the store’s “underperformance.” Rogers envisions the lot one day becoming a community garden, park, housing, or perhaps all three.
On January 1, it was reported that mid heights District 7 Albuquerque City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn plans to seek introduction of her own capital outlay requests during the 30-day legislative session. She is taking action proclaiming Albuquerque’s northeast heights needs more stable housing and affordable apartments.
Fiebelkorn said she is asking lawmakers to approve funding for two major projects, including funding for the second phase of the “Gateway Youth” center.
The “Gateway Youth” center is taking over the old San Mateo Inn near San Mateo and I-40 which is within Councilor Fiebelkorn District 7 district. It will house about 40 people, ages 18 to 25, facing housing instability. It’s set to open in February. Fiebelkorn is now asking for $1 million in state funds to help acquire the rest of the building to house an additional fifty young adults. Although it would cost $10.6 million to complete the second phase, it would include new amenities like renovating the nearby park.
Fiebelkorn said this about her efforts:
“There is another building there, and I would love to get that second building also renovated so we can house more young people. … I want them to be in town in a facility specifically for them where they can get job skills, and training, and all of the support they need to get back into society and get their apartment and get their job.”
Fiebelkorn is also asking for $1 million to help build the “Uptown Connect” apartment complex near Louisiana and I-40, which is also within Feibelkorn’s District. Once built, Uptown Connect would create 239 mixed-rate apartments right here that would also give people access to the transit system. Fiebelkorn says the $120 million project still needs $20 million more before it can break ground, adding that once they acquire the money, it could help transform the area.
Fiebelkorn said this about her “Uptown Connect” development efforts:
“There’s so many opportunities for employment, so the ideal for a lot of folks is you get to live in these new nice apartments, you get to walk to work, and you also get to do the fun things your Friday nights or Saturday nights.”
Links to relied upon or quoted news sources are here:
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
Mayor Tim Keller, the City Attorney and the seven other members of the Albuquerque City Council should raise concerns about the efforts of both City Councilors Tammy Feibelkorn’s and Nichole Rogers’s plans to have introduced their own capital outlay requests during the 30-day legislative session. Their separate lobbying efforts and actions undercut Mayor Keller’s and the City Council’s effort to have a unified lobbying effort on behalf of the city. Their actions are nothing more than promoting their own personal political agendas.
The City’s legislative priorities for the 2026 New Mexico Legislature amount to a wish list that require a unified effort by the city’s elected officials to get it enacted. Given the shortness of the session, it is questionable how many of the city priorities will be secured and funded by the 2026 New Mexico Legislature. The last thing the city needs are two Albuquerque City Councilors taking it upon themselves to go to Santa Fe and to lobby for their own politcal agendas and for funding.
The link to a related blog article is here: