How to navigate the data
Our databases are built to be used — by reporters, researchers, advocates, and anyone who wants to check a fact for themselves. Here's how to get the most out of them.
The bills database
The bills search covers every bill introduced in the New Mexico Legislature from 1996 through 2026. A few ways in:
- Search by anything. The search box matches a bill number (HB 2), a keyword in the title (water rights), or a sponsor's name (Rick Miera) — combine terms to narrow.
- Filter. Narrow by year, by chamber (House vs. Senate bills, memorials, joint resolutions), or check "died in committee/session" to see only the bills that didn't make it.
- Expand a bill. Click any bill with a vote count to open its detail: the full list of sponsors, the committee path it traveled (and where it stalled or was reported out), and direct links to the official roll-call vote sheets (PDFs) on nmlegis.gov.
A good first search: pick a lawmaker and read down their sponsorships across the years, or filter to a single session and sort through what died.
The lobbying index
The lobbying search is a two-way index. Search from either side of the relationship:
- Type a lobbyist's name to see every employer that registered them.
- Type an employer or interest (oil & gas, a company, an association) to see everyone lobbying the Legislature on its behalf.
- Filter by the year a registration was active.
We publish the public registration facts only — names, employers, employer location, and years — and deliberately omit personal contact details.
Reading the results — and checking them
Everything here is drawn from public records, and turning scanned filings into clean, searchable data is the work of the Lab's own custom-built tools. Treat our version as a research aid rather than the official record: when something matters, follow it back to the source — the bill on nmlegis.gov, the official vote sheet, the original registration — and confirm. If you find something we got wrong, tell us at research@nmimpactlab.org and we'll correct it. Our full approach is on the methodology page.
Using it in your own work
Reuse is welcome, with attribution. If you build something with this data or want a cut we don't yet offer, get in touch — and if the work is useful to you, you can help keep it going.