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Looking Back and to This Week: All TODAY– People’s Rally, Poor People’s Campaign NM launch & call to action for Constitutional Amendment for early childhood

By paulgibson51 on February 5, 2018 • ( 1 )

We won an important battle Saturday in stalling SB 47, today we go on offense, this time in the House Chambers. Passage of HJR-1 would put increasing funding for early childhood from the Permanent Fund on the ballot in Nov. 10:30 Roundhouse.

The Monday post is becoming are most popular as it gives supporters a chance to look over past blog posts (following the Actions for Today and This Week) and allows people to reset their activist calendars. It is also an excellent post to share with friends and encourage them to subscribe and get involved. You can subscribe to the blog by clicking the blue follow button at the right side of the home page. I entirely ignored Donald Trump this week. You get plenty of his nonsense in mainstream media. This week we focused on local and state action and a highly critical report on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. I’d like to strongly encourage our supporters to come to the Roundhouse today and to put March 4th, 2-4pm in their calendar to attend our Town Hall to unfold our 2018 Election and 2019 Legislative Strategy. We have been planning this strategy for almost a year and it is now time to take the offensive. Feels good.

Actions for Today and This Week

The week was full of important wins and events, the launch of the Susan Herrera campaign, a victory at the City Council with it abandoning its plan to partner with PNM to solarize City facilities, and the tabling of SB 47, PNM’s bailout bill. Today, is a call to action at the Roundhouse, a People’s Rally and a Poor People’s Campaign Press Conference, so come on down and be part of our advocacy efforts. Details are provided at the link below. While not as dramatic, on Saturday 10 members of an emerging caucus within the State Central Committee advanced our plans to form a powerful caucus for change within DPNM. Over the next weeks, Retake will promote how people not on the SCC can participate in the caucus and use it as a vehicle for advancing Party reform at local, state and national levels. click here for details. on all these events.

As one who completed the survey commented: “I can’t believe all of these bills aren’t law.” But none are. The quote and the fact that few of these bills even got to the Governor’s desk, despite a Democratic majority in both chambers, is why it’s critically important that every one of our supporters complete the 2019 Legislative Priorities Survey and share it with others. The survey will be the lynchpin for our 2018 election strategy and our 2019 legislative strategy. So please complete it today, if you haven’t already. Click the blue button above, left. It will take 10 minutes. And mark March 4, 2-4pm on your calendars when we launch our two-pronged strategy at a Santa Fe Town Hall meeting. Click here for more info and to RSVP. So complete the survey and RSVP and let’s start getting what we want from this Legislature. If you have a moment, write to Wirth, Cervantes, Soules, Stefanics and especially McSorely and give them a hearty thanks.

We need to count on you to pack the gallery if the bill comes up again. And it will. But it is nicely at rest just now. Stay tuned.

Last Week’s Blog Posts

For other Events & Opportunities — Monday is a jammed day at the Roundhouse. HJR 1 (Early Childhood Funding Constitutional Amendment) is up for a full House debate, the New Mexico Progressive Coalition is staging a People’s Rally from 8-3pm (I speak at 1pm) and the Poor People’s Campaign will be doing press conferences at 10am with a series of speakers and more on the unfolding plans for 40 days of civil disobedience beginning May 13. The rest of this coming week is also packed, click here for details. on all these events.

Susan Herrera to Kick Off Primary Challenge of Debbie Rodella Thursday and Senate Hearing of SB 47 Postponed Til Thursday (Later postponed again til Saturday). Tuesday, Jan 30. Susan Herrera’s primary candidacy is the perfect expression of the 2018 Retake Election Strategy: a safely Democratic district (41) with an Incumbent who has a history of impeding progressive bills and a progressive candidate with a strong background and a solid chance to win. Retake will be announcing plans for how to support Susan at our March 4th Town Hall. Click here to read.

An Open Letter to Speaker Egolf and Senator Wirth: Please Kill SB 47. We Have Your Backs Do You Have Ours. Weds. Jan. 31. The open letter asked readers to reach out to our Democratic Party leaders to ask them to use their position of leadership to ensure that SB 47 either undergoes dramatic changes or is killed. The post outlines the reasons for killing PNM’s bill, why it is bad for ratepayers (us) and why it is an unprecedented bailout for PNM. On Saturday, Sen. Wirth’s strategy of assigning SB 47 to the Sen. Conservation Committee proved to be an effective one, as the bill is now tabled. It ain’t over, but it is clear Sen. Wirth’s assignment of committees was prudent. Now we must keep pressure on Gubernatorial Candidate and Conservation Chair Cervantes to make sure that only with the most remarkable PNM turnaround, will this bill be untitled. We are learning the ropes this year in preparation for a HUGE year in 2019. Click here to read.

PNM’s SB 47 Rescheduled to Saturday. Our Best Chance to Kill This Bill. Call to Action. Thursday, Feb. 1. Click here to read. The blog reports on the Santa Fe City Council’s decision to abandon plans for a solarization partnership with PNM, perhaps a good omen for Saturday. The blog also includes excellent concise speaking points on SB 47 and contact information for all Senators on the Conservation Committee. As the hearing played out on Saturday, we had a huge turnout packing the chambers and it was clear the Senators had heard from us with Sen. McSorley dragging himself to the hearing despite being pretty sick. His vote was critical as once again, Sen Martinez abandoned the party and sided with the GOP. But with a 6-3 Democratic Majority, the bill was tabled nonetheless. This is perfect evidence of the importance of Dems having safe majorities on Committees and of identifying ‘recumbent’ Dems like Martinez for future primary challenges. Senator Martinez is up for re-election in 2020. Click here to read.

Retake Our Democracy Town Hall Announced for March 4, Call to Roundhouse Action for Today (Sat.) and a Video Discussion with a Polished Trump Supporter and Me (Paul). Sat. Feb 3, The blog includes a description of our planned Mar. 4 launch of our 2018 Election Strategy and our 2019 Legislative Strategy. The blog also includes an interesting video interview with a Trump supporter and me (Paul). Interesting back story, I was emailed with what looked like an email from The Resistance, a national activist organization. The person reaching out claimed he was interviewing activists from throughout the country to create a series of active resistance to Trump. What he didn’t say until he arrived at my home was that he actually just used a Resistance email list that apparently they provided (odd), and that he was a Trump supporter. I felt ambushed and unprepared to defend every possible assault on progressive policies and values. But that is what happened and by all accounts, it is a damned good defense. Click here to read and to view the video.

Democrats, the House Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Rep. Ben Ray Lujan Still Tilting the Scales for Centrist, Corporate Candidates for the House & Details on a Victory in the Roundhouse on Saturday. Sunday, Feb. 4. This blog excerpts extensively from a The Intercept article on how the DCCC has been systematically undermining progressive House candidates for 15 years and how they continue to do so. Although there is some small evidence of subtle, but promising shifts in DCCC operations that suggest that just maybe they are starting to get it. The blog also reports on how a huge turnout at the Roundhouse and a well orchestrated phone/email campaign resulted in a win in having SB 47 tabled. This is a preview of how Retake will operate with partners in 2019, when we go on the offensive. Click here to read.