Jan. 1—SANTA FE — Fresh off a first term that included massive wildfires, personal hardships and a global pandemic, Michelle Lujan Grisham launched her second term as governor Sunday by touting New Mexico's upward trajectory amid historic challenges.

The 63-year-old Democrat, who won reelection in November after a bruising campaign, also laid out new initiatives for the upcoming 60-day legislative session, such as subsidizing the health care premiums of teachers and the creation of a new state health care authority.

"It's time, once again, to get back to work," Lujan Grisham said during a public inauguration ceremony at a downtown Santa Fe theater that was attended by roughly 800 people.

The governor officially began her second term by taking the oath of office at a private ceremony at the Palace of the Governors at midnight. She then attended a Sunday morning Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, along with her husband, Manny Cordova.

During the subsequent public inauguration ceremony, Lujan Grisham cited a recent drop in the state's unemployment rate — it was at 4.1% in November — and an increase in the state's minimum wage that she signed after taking office in 2019.

She also touted her administration's efforts to expand child care eligibility in New Mexico and provide tuition-free college for residents who meet certain qualifications.

"An act of imagination is no longer required to visualize a thriving New Mexico — we are living it," Lujan Grisham said during her roughly 20-minute inaugural speech.

But she also acknowledged looming challenges, including New Mexico's high violent crime rate and housing insecurity issues facing many state residents.

In response, she vowed to push for more funding for affordable housing programs, expand substance abuse programs and fight the "scourge of homelessness" afflicting many New Mexicans, though she did not provide details about her plans.

After the public inauguration ceremony, Lujan Grisham mingled and took photos with supporters during a reception at the state Capitol, before heading to an inaugural ball that was closed to the media.

Sharlene Platero of Gallup made the trip to Santa Fe with friends from the Navajo Nation to attend the inaugural ceremony and said the governor's Opportunity Scholarship Program is allowing two of her children to attend the University of New Mexico without having to pay tuition fees.

Another supporter, Doreen Hurtig of Santa Fe, who worked on Lujan Grisham's gubernatorial campaign, said it was gratifying to see the governor begin her second four-year term.

"Every person is special to her," Hurtig said.

Budget season ahead

The governor enters her second term as New Mexico is awash in revenue, with an oil production boom in the state's Permian Basin and an uptick in consumer spending boosting projected revenue levels to an all-time high of $12 billion for the budget year that starts in July.

While Lujan Grisham will unveil her budget recommendation in the coming weeks, some of the proposals she outlined Sunday could require hefty funding streams to be appropriated by the Legislature.

That includes her plan to create a New Mexico health authority to streamline existing services, as well as a push to use state funds to keep in place an income eligibility expansion for New Mexico families to qualify for free child care assistance.

"The work is not done, but we have made a good start, and I will not rest until this is a state where the conditions that create generational poverty are a dusty relic of the distant past," Lujan Grisham said.

The governor drew a standing ovation when she vowed to push for abortion protections to be codified in state law after the U.S. Supreme Court last summer struck down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

While New Mexico already allows abortion procedures with few restrictions, Lujan Grisham said enshrining those protections in law would ensure women in the state would never have "anything less than full bodily autonomy and freedom of choice."

She also borrowed from former President Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address when she said New Mexico would move forward with "malice toward none, with charity for all — and the conviction that hard work on behalf of New Mexicans will win the day."

The inaugural ceremony took place in the Lensic Performing Arts Center, which marked a homecoming of sorts for Lujan Grisham, who recalled attending movies at the Lensic while growing up in Santa Fe.

Her younger brother, Greg Lujan, was among the speakers during the ceremony, saying his sister "may be tiny, but she is mighty."

Other Democratic state officials elected in November — Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, state Auditor Joseph Maestas and state Treasurer Laura Montoya — took their oaths of office at a separate inauguration ceremony Sunday in Santa Fe.