By Jesse Jones
Fresh off her first 60-day session, Rio Rancho Republican Rep. Catherine Cullen is highlighting legislative wins focused on empowering communities, cracking down on crime and improving New Mexico schools.
Cullen, a former Rio Rancho Public Schools board member and associate real estate broker, sponsored or co-sponsored 25 bills during the session, with four signed into law.
“It was an honor to serve our community in Santa Fe during the 60-day Legislative Session,” Cullen said.
She served on the House Education, Rural Development and Enrolling and Engrossing committees. Between sessions, she also held roles on several interim and advisory panels, including education, ethics, military affairs, rural development and land grants.
Cullen said one of the bills she was most proud to co-sponsor with Sen. Craig Brandt was Senate Bill 70, which updates New Mexico’s racketeering laws to target organized crime better. The bill passed both chambers unanimously and was signed into law April 9.
According to the bill, it expands the list of crimes considered racketeering to include offenses like human trafficking, money laundering, child exploitation, drug trafficking, auto theft and fraud. It also broadens the legal definitions to help prosecutors go after organized criminal activity more effectively.
Another bill Cullen co-sponsored with Brandt, Senate Bill 18, aimed to make swatting a crime. It passed the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee but stalled. Cullen said she will continue pushing to criminalize the act of making false emergency reports to trigger law enforcement responses.
According to the bill, “swatting” is the act of knowingly making a false or misleading emergency report to trigger a law enforcement or emergency response. It proposed making swatting a fourth-degree felony and aimed to clarify penalties for false reports. The bill also defined “public safety agency” to include police, fire departments and 911 dispatch centers.
“Time is valuable for our first responders, and it cannot be wasted,” Cullen said.
Cullen also co-sponsored House Bill 192 with many Sandoval County legislators, including Reps. Joshua Hernandez and Kathleen Cates and Sens. Cindy Nava and Jay Block.
The bill, signed into law on April 7, requires the Department of Information Technology to report annually on subscriber fees and users of the state’s digital trunked radio system, starting Dec. 1, 2026.
With her background on the Rio Rancho Schoolboard, Cullen said she was also “proud to carry several bills to bolster career technical education and career readiness programs while supporting the work of teachers, students and our families.”
House Memorial 32 calls on the Public Education Department to study whether teachers can get master’s credit for microcredentials earned as they move up license levels. It passed the House unanimously and as a memorial, it did not require the governor’s signature. The department must report its findings to the Legislative Education Study Committee by Dec. 1.
“I will continue to fight for the education New Mexico’s students deserve,” she said.
Lujan Grisham signed House Bill 251, giving retired educators a one-time chance to change their beneficiary or adjust benefits after major life changes like divorce or a spouse’s death.
Retirees can name a new beneficiary or switch to an unreduced standard benefit for a $100 fee. Some changes may require spousal consent or a court order. The update gives retirees more flexibility and control.
Another education bill Cullen helped pass through both chambers was Senate Bill 480, which was ultimately pocket vetoed by the governor. It would have required the Public Education Department to create an annual report on students who didn’t graduate from high school within four years and share it with programs offering GEDs or job training.
A bill co-sponsored by Cullen that passed committee but never made it to the Senate floor, House Bill 238, would have let middle and high schools use up to 60 instructional hours a year for teacher training, mentoring or parent meetings, just like elementary schools already can.
In future sessions, Cullen said she will keep pushing for bills that protect homeowners’ property rights, not squatters.
