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Our 2023 Legislative Priorities

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Bills we support this year are listed below with links to available info about the bill. Our highest priority bills are listed first, then second-tier-priority, followed by bills we oppose. We’re still working on talking points for several bills.

Bills We SupportHigh Priority

Our high-priority bills will be tracked daily, we will inform our followers when they come up for a hearing, we will provide talking points, our observers will take notes at hearings, and we will post bill progress here throughout the session.

Energy & Environment

Check our Second-Tier Bill List below for more on Energy & Environment.

Health

Economic Justice

Criminal Justice & Public Safety

Check our Second-Tier Bill List below for more on Criminal Justice and Public Safety.

Education

Housing Reform

SB 99 Rent Control Prohibitions. SB 99 was tabled in Senate Health & Public Affairs on Feb. 1, so this bill is dead for this session. Introduced by Reps. Linda Lopez and Patricia Roybal Caballero, SB 99 would repeal the existing statewide prohibition on rent control, leaving it up to local municipalities to decide if they want rent control in their communities. With rising rents putting an undeserved burden on the working people of our state, our most populous communities need rent control. Read the talking points at this link. Read SB 99 bill text here. Legislators who voted to table said it would create a “patchwork” of rent control across the state, and that all the new construction would move to areas without rent control.

SB 140 NM Housing Trust Fund, introduced by Senator Nancy Rodriguez, appropriates $48 million from the General Fund to the New Mexico Housing Trust Fund. With a housing crisis in our state, we need increased funding toward affordable housing projects. Read SB 140 bill text here.

Voting Rights & Election Reform

HB 4 Voting Rights Protections is an omnibus voting rights bill introduced by Reps. Javier Martinez, Gail Chasey, Katie Duhigg, D. Wonda Johnson, and Raymundo Lara. HB 4 would establish automatic voter registration with an option to opt out, create a volunteer permanent absentee voter list, reinstate voting rights for felons as soon as they are released, make vote-by-mail more accessible, protect voting access for Native American communities, make Election Day a state holiday, and more. Read HB 4 here.

See second-tier list below for more voting rights and election reform bills.

Other

Bills We Support – Second Tier

Please note: We don’t have the capacity to track all the bills we support, provide talking points, and attend hearings, so we’ve created a second-tier list that we encourage you to support on your own! We provide links to the bill pages at nmlegis.gov and brief descriptions of the bills.

Energy & Environment

Criminal Justice & Public Safety

Economic Justice

Health

Voting Rights & Election Reform

Bills We Oppose

  1. Hydrogen Production. If the hydrogen production is truly green, if it does not emit methane and carbon dioxide, and if it does not use millions of gallons of fresh water, we are happy to support it. But so far, hydrogen production plans in New Mexico are not green. Learn why hydrogen production is bad for our state and how we can choose clean energy.

    Bills related to Hydrogen Production so far:

    HB 174 Underground Injection Fund, introduced by Reps. Meredith Dixon and Nathan Small, inserts a new section into the Water Quality Act to create the Underground Injection Control Fund. HB 174 appropriates $2.4 million to support CO2 sequestration projects (used to inject CO2, a byproduct of hydrogen production, deep underground) and the staff needed to operate an underground injection control program. This bill is intended to institutionalize state funding for hydrogen development and facilitate NM in securing federal funds to expand the work.  We strongly oppose this bill, but after somehow getting through House Environment Energy and Natural Resources, it gets a free pass in House Appropriations & Finance where the bill sponsor, Rep. Nathan Small, is Chair of one of the most conservative committees in the Roundhouse. We will begin communicating with House members as soon as the bill gets to HAFC. Get talking points at this link. Read HB 174 at this link.

    HB 12 Advanced Energy Technology Act. This may be one of those wolf in sheep’s clothing bills that take so much time to sort out and verify if there are nefarious forces at play. The bill is being advanced by Power4NM, a coalition that includes some very progressive, people-focused organizations like the Native American Voters Alliance, Olé, and Somos Un Pueblo Unido, so there is credibility there. And the bill is sponsored by Reps. Kristina Ortez an Angelica Rubio, two solid legislators. Unfortunately, and of great concern, it is also sponsored by the two most prominent hydrogen advocates, Reps. Patty Lundstrom and Nathan Small (red flags here). While purporting to set up a fund to be used in support of “advanced energy technology,” a closer review reveals “carbon capture, sequestration, transport utilization and storage systems” buried in the definition of advanced energy technology. CCS is at the heart of all grey hydrogen production, as the economic and environmental viability of hydrogen production rests with successful sequestration of CO2, something that has never worked anywhere in the world. It pays to read the fine print. Click here for our analysis of the bill and speaking points.
  2. HB 431. Local Government Utility Service Restrictions. The NM Political Report broke a story on a disingenuous bill we need to oppose. “Bill preventing cities, counties from banning fuel sources passes committee,” describes how HB 431 is purportedly about preserving local autonomy, while deftly doing just the reverse. This bill that had flown under our radar, but appears to be a bill designed to undermine local jurisdictions from implementing Local Choice Energy, should it pass into law. Click here to learn why we need to oppose this bill.
  3. SB 493 Brackish Water Reuse. This bill would find ways to treat and reuse “brackish” water, but “brackish” is not defined and it does not exclude the toxic byproduct of fracking and drilling, aka “produced water.” We do not want toxic, radioactive water reused for agriculture or injected back into our aquifers! Read Paul’s March 1 blog at this link for details about why we need to oppose this bill. It’s already passed Senate Conservation and Senate Finance, with several Democratic Senators voting for it: Senators Stefanics, Cervantes, Munoz, Campos, Gonzales, Hemphill, and Padilla. If one of these is your Senator, please contact them immediately to urge them to reconsider when HB 493 goes to the Senate Floor. Read the bill itself at this link.
  4. UPDATE: Patrick O’Connell was unanimously approved by the Senate Rules Committee. Oh, well. PRC Appointment: We oppose the appointment of Patrick O’Connell to the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission. Not exactly a “bill,” but an important position that should not be filled with an executive from the very industry the PRC is charged with regulating. Please contact members of the Senate Rules Committee and your own Senator to urge them to vote against approval of Patrick O’Connell’s appointment. Read the bill language and Financial Impact Report here. Find talking points at this link. Find Senate Rules Committee contact info here.
  5. SJR 5 Constitutional Convention, introduced by Republican Reps. Crystal Diamond and Cliff Pirtle. We oppose a bill to call for a U.S. constitutional convention, which requires the consent of two-thirds of the state, to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution to impose fiscal restraints on federal government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and limit the terms of office for federal officials and members of Congress. Introduced by Republican Senators Crystal Diamond and Cliff Pirtle. Read SJR 5 at this link.

2022 Legislative Session

2022 Bills We Support/Oppose. For a quick overview of wins and losses, please read our Feb. 22, 2022 Alert at this link.

House & Senate Committee Rosters. Current contact info for the 2022 Session.

Links to 2022 Legislative Alerts, in case you can’t find one.

Recordings of 2022 Retake Legislative Huddles

Get Legislative Action Alerts. Sign up to get Action Alerts during the 2022 Legislative Session.

Sign up for other advocacy roles, including Constituent Zoom Conversations with your legislators.

Our overall Legislative Strategy & criteria we use to identify bills to support.

How to Advocate from Your Couch. All the rules and how to navigate them.


2021 Legislative Session

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