3-8-21 Alert

Monday Update: Civil Rights and Paid Legislature Bills Added, Redistricting Removed

Good Morning New Mexico Activists:

We have couple of updates on hearings today, which were just published this morning. Please note that afternoon hearings can be delayed for hours. You’ll need to track today’s Senate Floor Session via Webcast to know when these hearings will begin (1/2 hr. after the Floor Session ends):

NEW: Mon., March 8, ½ hour after floor session ends, Senate Judiciary: HB 4 NM Civil Rights Act (1), SB 278 State Indian Child Welfare Act (14), and SJR 4 Review of Salaries Every Two Years (18). Don’t let their place on the agenda scare you off. SJC often skips around and doesn’t hear bills in the order they’re listed. SJR 4 would put a state constitutional amendment to pay our state legislators on the ballot, and you can get talking points at the link above. HB 4 would establish a right of action against any public body or person representing a public body for violation of an individual’s rights, privileges, or immunities under the NM constitution. It would prohibit the defense of qualified immunity in such actions and waive the defense of sovereign immunity in such actions. SB 278 (and its companion bill HB 209) would protect Native American children so they can remain within their tribal communities and extended families.

The updated Senate Judiciary agenda was posted at 9:23 this morning and the deadline to participate in the hearing was at 10 a.m., so it’s too late to participate and offer public comment. But you can watch the Webcast at nmlegis.gov. And please call and email committee members right away to urge them to support these bills. And it is worth an email to Sen. Cervantes indicating that all other committees in both chambers are posting agendas with enough advance notice that the public can reasonably be able to notify SJC that they would like to offer public comment.

Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC)

UPDATE: HB 211 Redistricting Act has been removed from today’s House Judiciary hearing agenda. We’re told by the folks at Fair Districts NM that they don’t have the votes to pass HB 211, so they have decided to back SB 15 Redistricting Committee, a substitute bill introduced by Ivey-Soto, with assurances that SB 15 will be amended to include some of the important elements of HB 211. SB 15 was referred to Senate Judiciary last week, so we won’t hold our breath – that committee is severely backlogged – but we’ll stay hopeful.

REMINDER: Mon., March 8, ½ hr. after floor session, Senate Health & Public Affairs: HB 20 Healthy Workplaces Act (1). We need paid sick leave for all workers! Get talking points at the link in the bill title. Please email and call committee members right away to urge them to support this bill. And watch the Webcast at nmlegis.gov. (The deadline to participate and offer public comment has passed.)

Senate Health & Public Affairs Committee (SPAC

REMINDER: Tues., March 9, 8 a.m., House Energy, Environment & Natural Resources: SB 84 Community Solar Act (1) and SB 112 Sustainable Economy Task Force (2). Get talking points for SB 112 at the link in the bill title. SB 84 was watered down in the Senate last week and we can’t support it in its current form, so we need this House committee to amend the current version before they pass it. Please email and call committee members today to urge them to amend SB 84 and support these bills.

Watch the Webcast at nmlegis.gov or join the Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88692377623. Or iPhone: US: +16699009128,,88692377623# or +12532158782,,88692377623# Or Telephone: For higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 669 900 9128 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 646 558 8656 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 Webinar ID: 886 9237 7623.

House Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Committee (HENRC)

We won’t get everything we wanted this Session, but we are definitely making progress! Tomorrow we’ll send an Alert with the status of bills that are stalled in committee. And on a more positive note, we’ll list the bills that have passed or are very likely to pass. If you want to see where we stand with all 20 of our Transformational Bills, today’s post reviews every one of them, noting where they sit and the likelihood of passage.

In solidarity and hope,

Roxanne and Paul

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