3-1-21 Alert

Health Security Funding Success! We Need Action on Stalled Bills!

Dear New Mexico Activists:

First, we’re very happy to tell you that the Health Security Planning & Design has now been fully funded from Representatives’ commitment of their Junior Bill Funding! (See yesterday’s Alert for details.) Thank you so much for your calls and emails to encourage your Rep. to contribute. It’s encouraging to know our Reps. listen to us. Now let’s use that energy to save some more bills!

We have five Transformational Bills that are dangerously stalled in one committee or another. Many haven’t moved in weeks. So, with less than 3 weeks remaining in the Session, it’s time to put some pressure on those committee leaders, in addition to the Senate Floor Leader and Speaker of the House. Here’s what we have to do:

Beginning today, we ask you to call and email the committee chairs and vice chairs below, your own Senator or Rep if s/he is on the committee, and Senator Wirth or Speaker Egolf, depending on the chamber where the bill is stuck. Whether you contact Wirth or Egolf will depend on where the bill is stuck, in a Senate or House committee, not whether it’s a Senate or House bill.

The stalled bills are listed below with the contact info you need. The message is simple:

“I understand that you have dozens of bills to hear, but (BILL NAME, e.g., SB 83) deserves a hearing. I respectfully request that you put (BILL NAME, e.g. SB 83 Local Choice Energy) on the agenda ASAP and bring it to a vote. I urge you to increase the number and length of committee hearings to accomplish this. I also urge you to give this bill your support. If you don’t plan to schedule this bill, I would like to understand why.”

Feel free to add a point or two about why you support the bill using the talking points at the link in each title. Please be respectful and please put this into your own words so that legislators are not receiving 100 identically worded messages.

HJR 1 Permanent Fund for Early Childhood. This bill has passed through the House and been stuck in Senate Rules for nearly 2 weeks. Please include Senator Wirth in your calls and emails. (He’s on this committee, last on the list.)

Senate Rules Committee (SRC)

HB 236 Public Banking Act. This bill was waylaid by an inaccurate Financial Impact Report (FIR), which triggered a withdrawal of the bill from House Judiciary and a late referral to House Appropriations & Finance. That was just a week ago, but we need to apply some pressure to get this heard ASAP. The Senate companion bill, SB 313, hasn’t moved since the day it was introduced, so HB 236 is likely our only chance to approve a Public Bank!

Please include Speaker Egolf in your calls and emails: (505) 986-4782, brian.egolf@nmlegis.gov.

House Appropriations & Finance (HAFC)

SJR 3 Environmental Rights (Green Amendment). This bill passed Senate Rules almost 3 weeks ago and is stuck in Senate Judiciary. It’s going to need a lot of help from us to get through! SB 86 below is also stuck in SJC, so you might combine your message about both bills into a single email or call.

SB  86 Use of Water for Oil & Gas Operations (Produced Water Act Amendments). This bill passed Senate Conservation 3 weeks ago and has been stuck in Senate Judiciary ever since.

Please include Senator Wirth in your calls and emails: 505-397-8855, peter.wirth@nmlegis.gov.

Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC)

SB 83 Local Choice Energy. This bill passed Senate Conservation 3 weeks ago and has been stuck in Senate Tax, Business & Transportation since then. Energy and environment bills are so essential to our state’s transition away from reliance on extractive industries, but the oil and gas and utility lobby is powerful, so it’s going to take all of us speaking up on bills like this. Please include Senator Wirth in your calls and emails: 505-397-8855, peter.wirth@nmlegis.gov.

Senate Tax, Business & Transportation Committee (STBTC)

Please note that there are other bills that may not be moving, but their companion bill in the other chamber IS moving, so we are not including these on our list. With identical companion bills, only one needs to move forward.

Your efforts to get these bills moving along are very much appreciated!

In Solidarity and Hope,

Roxanne and Paul

%d bloggers like this: