Bronwen Murray
Executive Director · Policy & Legislative Leader · Artist & Labor Advocate
Bronwen Murray is an Executive Director, public policy strategist, and labor leader with more than fifteen years of experience at the intersection of policy, governance, and the arts. She currently serves as Executive Director for SAG-AFTRA’s Colorado and New Mexico Locals, overseeing organizational operations, labor relations, legislative strategy, and member engagement across four states.
Murray began her career as Communications Director at a startup technology development company, where she supported the launch of four new companies and led strategic communications for emerging products. During this period, she was part of a team whose work received a prestigious R&D 100 Award, recognizing one the company’s innovations as among the most significant technological advances of the year.
Before her current role, Murray served for multiple legislative sessions as a policy director and senior staff member for New Mexico State Senator Martin Hickey, M.D., and State Representative Pamelya Herndon. There she worked on more than 300 pieces of legislation, including landmark healthcare, behavioral health, public safety, and gun safety laws such as Bennie’s Law HB9, SB 317, SB 273, SB 88, and New Mexico’s Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act.
Among the legislative efforts she is most proud of are New Mexico’s landmark behavioral healthcare laws, including Senate Bill 317, which eliminated out-of-pocket cost sharing for behavioral health services; Senate Bill 273, New Mexico’s mental health parity and access law; and healthcare legislation including Senate Bill 88 and related measures to strengthen healthcare access and protect New Mexico’s Medicaid system. These laws reflect Murray’s commitment to making mental health and substance use disorder treatment more affordable, more accessible, and more equitable for New Mexicans.
Murray also worked on major public safety legislation including the Bennie Hargrove Gun Safety Act, which holds adults accountable when children gain negligent access to firearms. Bennie’s Law was later honored in a ceremony at the White House as a model law for national replication. She was also involved in the passage of New Mexico’s Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act, commonly known as the state’s red flag law.
Murray became eligible to join the Screen Actors Guild as a principal performer in the 1995 Disney classic Tom & Huck. She was elected to the SAG-AFTRA New Mexico Board in 2023, where she chaired the Legislative Committee. In this capacity, she worked on labor and policy priorities affecting performers and media professionals, with a particular focus on worker protections, arts advocacy, and equitable access to health benefits.
Her professional background bridges public policy, labor, and the arts, with an emphasis on governance, coalition-building, and community-based leadership. She is a graduate of Emerge and a recipient of the statewide Social Justice Award from Alabama’s largest news organization. Increasingly, her work focuses on technology governance, including the policy and labor implications of artificial intelligence, digital platforms, and emerging media systems.
She holds a Master of Science from Northwestern University, where her graduate work focused on media economics and the impact of digital technology. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Auburn University summa cum laude. A fourth-generation union member, Murray proudly works throughout the Southwest and Mountain West to advance labor rights and strengthen the creative workforce.
Selected Legislative Work and News Coverage
HB 9 — Bennie Hargrove Gun Safety Act
New Mexico HB 9 updates the criminal code to hold adults accountable for negligently allowing minors access to firearms.
Governor’s Office: Governor hails Senate passage of HB 9
Bennie Hargrove Gun Safety Act heads to Governor’s desk
KOAT: Hargrove family speaks on bill advancing through Roundhouse
Source NM: House passes firearm storage bill named after late middle school student
KSFR: Governor signs Bennie Hargrove Bill into law
NM Political Report: Gov. signs safe gun storage bill into law
SourceNM: It’s Your Gun, It’s Your Responsibility
KSFR: Park dedication, state and city officials dedicate park to heroic 13-year-old
SB 317 — No Behavioral Health Cost Sharing
New Mexico SB 317 eliminated the co-pay on behavioral health services. As a result, patients are no longer required to pay out-of-pocket expenses like copayments, coinsurance, or deductibles for mental health and substance abuse treatment. Originally set to sunset, the law was made permanent by vote of the legislature on SB 133 and signature by the Governor in 2025.
Governor’s Office: Health Care Affordability Fund and behavioral health copay elimination
National Institute of Health: Implementation of New Mexico’s ‘No Behavioral Health Cost Sharing’
Med Central: Landmark Mental Health Policies Set to Improve Access to Care
SB 88 — Medicaid Trust Fund & State-Supported Fund
New Mexico's Senate Bill 88 establishes a permanent $2billion Medicaid Trust Fund and a State-Supported Medicaid Fund. Designed to protect the state's healthcare programs against future federal funding cuts, the legislation takes a proactive approach to stabilizing healthcare access for hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans.
New Mexico Rural Health Association: Medicaid Trust Fund Established
Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce: Medicaid Trust Fund Gets Its Wings
Honoring A Community, Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce Presents 2025 Legislative Awards
SB 5 - Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act
Creates a civil court process intended to temporarily separate a person from firearms when evidence indicates that the person presents a serious and imminent danger of injuring themselves or someone else. It was updated in 2025 to allow law enforcement to initiate a petition.
New Mexico Governor signs red-flag gun bill
KOB: New Mexico Sheriff Sued Over Refusal To Enforce Red Flag Law