1-29-23 Alert

Greetings New Mexico Activists:

Sorry to bug you on a Sunday, but we have one hearing tomorrow on gun violence prevention, an upcoming hearing on improving law enforcement training, a rent control bill held over, and reminders about our Huddle on Weds., Feb. 1, and Zoom on the Green Amendment, Thurs., Feb. 2.

On Mon., Jan. 30, 1:30 p.m. (or ½ hr. after floor session ends), Room 311, the Senate Health & Public Affairs Committee will hear SB 116 21 Years Old to Purchase or Possess Firearms. This bill would raise the legal age to purchase an automatic or semiautomatic firearm from 18 to 21. We don’t have specific talking points for this bill yet, but research shows that raising the age to purchase a firearm does reduce gun violence. If someone is too young to purchase alcohol or cigarettes, why do we allow them to purchase a weapon used to kill people? The gun violence prevention community believes that an outright ban on automatic on semiautomatic firearms would not pass, and therefore this bill is a good step in the right direction. Please email committee members right away and call them on Monday morning to urge them vote “YES” on SB 116.

To offer public comment, you can attend the hearing in person or send written comments to SJC.zoom@nmlegis.gov. To participate via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9124526531 or call 1-253-215-8782. Meeting ID: 912 452 6531. Or watch the Webcast at this link.

Senate Health & Public Affairs Committee

Bulk mail: “David M. Gallegos” <david@ramirezandsonsinc.com>, “Martin Hickey” <martin.hickey@nmlegis.gov>, “Stuart Ingle” <stuart.ingle@nmlegis.gov>, “Antonio Maestas” <antonio.maestas@nmlegis.gov>, “Brenda G. McKenna” <brenda.mckenna@nmlegis.gov>, “Gerald Ortiz y Pino” <jortizyp@msn.com>, “Gregg Schmedes” <gregg.schmedes@nmlegis.gov>, “Antoinette Sedillo Lopez” <a.sedillolopez@nmlegis.gov>, “Bill Tallman” <bill.tallman@nmlegis.gov>

SB 19 Law Enforcement & Public Safety Telecomm may be heard in Senate Judiciary this Friday, and our allies at Indivisible SOS Santa Fe, who developed the bill with law enforcement agencies statewide, have asked us to email written comments to the Senate Judiciary Committee before then. This is a little different from what we usually do to support a bill, but SJC prefers written comments. So please read about the bill in the link at the bill title above and send your written comments to SJC.zoom@nmlegis.gov this week. They’d also like to get a roomful of supporters at the hearing, so we’ll keep you posted as soon as the hearing is scheduled. Stay tuned and be ready to attend!

If you didn’t have a chance to write to the Senate Health & Public Affairs Committee last week about SB 99 Rent Control Prohibitions, the bill was held over and is supposed to be heard on Weds., Feb. 1. We’ll confirm and send the details when they’re posted, but you can write to committee members in the meantime.SB 99 lifts the statewide prohibition on rent control and leaves it up to local municipalities to decide. You’ll find talking points at the link in the title of SB 99 above. Please call and email committee members Monday or Tuesday to urge them to vote “YES” on SB 99.

Senate Health & Public Affairs Committee

Copy and paste this list to send bulk email: “David M. Gallegos” <david@ramirezandsonsinc.com>, “Martin Hickey” <martin.hickey@nmlegis.gov>, “Stuart Ingle” <stuart.ingle@nmlegis.gov>, “Antonio Maestas” <antonio.maestas@nmlegis.gov>, “Brenda G. McKenna” <brenda.mckenna@nmlegis.gov>, “Gerald Ortiz y Pino” <jortizyp@msn.com>, “Gregg Schmedes” <gregg.schmedes@nmlegis.gov>, “Antoinette Sedillo Lopez” <a.sedillolopez@nmlegis.gov>, “Bill Tallman” <bill.tallman@nmlegis.gov>

REMINDERS:

That’s all for today. Please know that there are SO many great bills this session and we just can’t track them all. Remember that you can always review the committee schedule on your own at this link to look for worthwhile bills and act on them. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday afternoon!

In Gratitude & Solidarity,

Roxanne and Paul

%d bloggers like this: