HJR 2 New Mexico House · 2025 Regular Session

ELIMINATE POCKET VETOES, CA

HJR 2 proposes a constitutional amendment to eliminate New Mexico's "pocket veto" power, meaning bills passed by the legislature automatically become law if the governor fails to act within three days (excluding Sundays). It also requires the governor to provide written explanations for any veto, whether partial or complete. This directly affects the governor and legislature by increasing legislative accountability and transparency in the veto process. The amendment would take effect only after voter approval at the next general election.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
House Passage
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Mar 2025
Signed into Law
Apr 2025
Introduced Jan 2, 2025 Signed Apr 14, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

introduced version Final Version · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill was reformatted and reorganized from an introduced version to a final version, with the main substantive change being a shift in the title's focus from requiring veto messages to also requiring the governor to act on bills not acted upon. The core constitutional amendment text remains largely the same, though some bracketed editorial notes were removed and the layout was cleaned up.
Scope change
The scope of the bill remains focused on amending Article 4, Section 22 of the New Mexico Constitution regarding gubernatorial veto procedures and bill passage timelines.
REQUIREMENT

The title was changed to emphasize the requirement for veto messages on all bills vetoed in whole or in part, while also clarifying that bills not acted on by the governor will become law.

TECHNICAL

Removed bracketed editorial notes and line numbers that were used during the drafting process but are not part of the final legislative text.

Reorganized the document structure and removed sponsor names from the header, which is standard formatting for final versions of joint resolutions.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 13, 2025 · House Feb 27, 2025

How they voted

380
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 40
Mar 13, 2025
D Democratic24
22 Yea 2
91% Yea
R Republican16
16 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
10
Key actions
7
Committee
4
Apr 14, 2025
Signed into law
Signed
executive
Mar 13, 2025
Upper · Passed
passed Senate
upper
Mar 13, 2025
Upper · Passed
DO PASS committee report adopted
upper
Mar 3, 2025
Upper · Passed
DO PASS committee report adopted
upper
Mar 1, 2025
Introduced
Sent to Senate Rules Committee & Senate Judiciary Committee
upper
Feb 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
passed House
lower
Feb 15, 2025
Lower · Passed
DO PASS, as amended, committee report adopted
lower
Jan 30, 2025
Lower · Passed
DO PASS committee report adopted
lower
Jan 22, 2025
Introduced
Sent to House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee & House Judiciary Committee
lower
Jan 2, 2025
Introduced
Sent to House Pre-file
lower
5 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors