NM House speaker calls for special session on domestic terrorism

House Speaker Brian Egolf has urged the governor to call a special session that would focus on legislation aimed at combating potential domestic terrorism in New Mexico, saying elected officials need to show leadership after a mass shooting in neighboring El Paso. Egolf, a Santa Fe Democrat, said Tuesday the special session could take place after leading lawmakers hear from law enforcement officials and state Cabinet secretaries at a domestic terrorism summit later this month. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the summit earlier this week. The special session would likely last one or two days and could focus on legislation creating a counterterrorism unit within the state Department of Public Safety and increasing funding for law enforcement agencies, Egolf said. It’s unclear whether gun-related legislation could also be part of the special session. A spokesman for Lujan Grisham, a first-term Democrat, said Tuesday that special session talk was premature, at least until the domestic terrorism summit takes place...MORE