As your Representative for District 29, Joy Garratt works hard to address these priorities. A report on her work during the 2024 session is on the “Legislation” page.

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.

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?

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, particularly 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 consortium exending 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.