The PNM bill was passed by the House Judicial Committee, but due to intense lobbying by many skeptical of PNM, the bill was revised significantly and likely will be revised more. Plus, some important relationships are forming due to our presence at the Roundhouse. We need folks there later this morning. Read on.

Report on Yesterday at the Roundhouse.  In truth, until last week, I had encouraged others to lobby at the Roundhouse, but had failed to actually do it myself, largely seeing my role as keeping you informed and activating you. No more. I have been three times in the past five days and the more I go, the more important I feel it is to do so regularly.

I spoke with House Rep. Carl Trujillo (Dist 46) about the PNM Bill HB199 before it was heard by the House Judicial Committee yesterday. He told me that the original bill had been horrible and that pressure from many sources, including Retake, had resulted it being completely revised. House Speaker Brian Egolf said the same thing during the hearing, and he and I spoke in the hallway for 15 minutes about how important the changes were to the bill and how important it was that Retake was becoming such a force at the Roundhouse. There were at least six of us testifying at the Judicial Committee hearing. And as Rev Barber has written, it is not about whether you win every battle, but about building your movement and the presence we are having at the Roundhouse and the relationships we are forging.  So go regularly and wear your Retake button (available at SF Hemp on Water St.).

Report from City Hall.  Well, we lost one in the Roundhouse, but we won big at City Hall last night. The City Council voted unanimously to approve the expanded Sanctuary resolution introduced by Somos Un Pueblo Unido. Over 60 speakers testified in support of the resolution and no one spoke against. I came over after the Judicial Hearing (above), but the line was over 100 people long so I headed home. It was gratifying to see several Retake Our Democracy supporters in line, and no doubt there were dozens inside the chamber. This is an important win. Kudos to Marcela Diaz and Somos Un Pueblo Unido for introducing the resolution and mounting such an effective campaign.

A related event: Allegra Love, Director of Santa Fe Dreamers Project, will speak Friday, Feb 24 from 6:30-8:30pm at the Santa Fe Art Institute, 1600 Saint Michaels Dr, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505.  She will discuss immigration law and the threats imposed by Trump’s expanded deportation plans.  Click here for details and to RSVP.

SB 360. Investor-Owned Procurement Process. TODAY, Thursday, Feb. 23. 8:30am (likely won’t be heard until 10:30 or later). Senate Conservation Committee Hearing, Room 311. Competitive Resource Procurement doesn’t sound sexy, and PNM may have won the vote in the Judiciary yesterday, but they face a far more difficult challenge when the Senate Conservation Committee hears SB 360.  This bill would force PNM to seek bids from other energy providers before presenting their plan to the PRC. Currently, PNM submits its plan and has used trumped up numbers that inflate the cost for wind and solar, thereby justifying their use of coal and nuclear, sources that provide them with a healthier profit. Click here for more on this bill.  This is a far more important battle than the Consumer Protection bill heard by Judiciary yesterday. I know you are getting this late, but it is the last bill being heard and so will likely not be heard until 10:30 or later. Prior to hearing SB 360, the Committee will hear bills related to limiting the frequency of rate hikes (SB 235) and imposing renewable energy requirements on utilities, i.e. PNM. (SB 350). So if you can possibly make it, head over to Room 311 this morning. We will post more information on SB 350 and SB 235 later today. Look for summaries under the issues menu on our website. So much to do!!!

Retake Our Democracy on KSFR with Mayor Gonzales, Saturday 11am.  Mayor Gonzales will be on KSFR with Paul on Saturday, concluding the four-part series on immigrant rights, deportation, and sanctuary.  We will talk about the results of the City Council vote to expand Santa Fe’s Sanctuary protections. We will discuss what powers the City has to resist ICE deportation raids and what the City can’t do. The next series of shows will focus on money in politics, with one devoted to an interview with Steve Fischmann, NM Unfair Lending Coalition, focusing on how our legislature can be so impervious to justice that it can’t pass a bill to limit predatory lending. Other shows will include an interview with State Auditor Tim Keller, an interview with Viki Harrison (Common Cause), Bruce Berlin, founder of Money Out of Politics, NM, and an interview with two legislators from the House and Sen. But this next series will not air if the show is not continued, and the KSFR Committee will consider this next week, so see below on how you can make sure the show continues. KSFR is becoming an important partner, enabling us to broadcast weekly, adding another forum for getting the word out on important issues. So I am asking Retake supporters to consider making a donation this week by clicking here. That is your action for the day. And when you make the donation, include a comment at the bottom of the page saying you are a Retake Our Democracy supporter and you appreciate the show. 

Earth Care Training for Retake Our Democracy:  Creating Solidarity. Sunday, Feb 26, 2pm-4:30pm. Center for Progress & Justice. 1420 Cerrillos Rd. Santa Fe. Limited to 50 participants! YOU MUST RSVP TO GET IN! This is going to be a tremendous training and is especially important to those of you who will be working with Retake to engage other organizations and populations. If plan to participate in neighborhood-based community conversation canvassing, you should also attend. And if you have indicated an interest in playing a leadership role in the organization, you should definitely attend. This training is part of a series of workshops designed to increase our organizational capacity to develop this movement. Solidarity and ally-ship require ACTION. Together we will share our stories, ideas, and learn tangible tools to integrate solidarity more deeply in our lives. Super concrete skill-building workshop! You will walk away with practices and actions you can take and share with others. Space is limited to 50 (and 37 of 50 slots are taken.) Click here and then click on the “Going” button to RSVP. If you do not use Facebook, reply to this post to RSVP. If you do not reply to this post or RSVP on Facebook, you will not be able to attend. We’ll have to turn you away!

ALSO THIS SUNDAY: Legal Observer Training, Feb 26, 5pm-6:30pm pm, at the First Christian Church, 645 Webber St. (Follow signs for the Fellowship Hall). The National Lawyers Guild will be holding a Legal Observer training for anyone interested either in Legal Observing under the NLG program or for their own organizations.  Legal Observing is the act of observing and documenting the actions of law enforcement at a protest, on the street, at a checkpoint, an ICE raid, etc.  The National Lawyers Guild has been training LOs for decades.  Bekah Wolf, a co-convener of the New Mexico Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild will be doing the training.  She has over 15 years of experience training legal observers and is an attorney here in Santa Fe.  Please RSVP to NewMexico@nlg.org to let us know you are coming. Space is limited to 35 and RSVPs are required.  It is highly likely that as we get deeper into the Trump presidency, different forms of non-violent direct action and civil disobedience will be called for and this is a critical training to ensure we have the capacity to conduct these actions effectively.

Categories: Sanctuary

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