Democracy for New Mexico

ACLU Seeks Retirement Health Insurance for Same-Sex Partners of NM State Employees

From the ACLU:
ALBUQUERQUE – The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit today against the state of New Mexico on behalf of three lesbian couples seeking retirement health insurance for the domestic partners of lesbian and gay state employees. 

“After serving the state for 25 years, I hoped to retire with the same peace of mind as my straight colleagues,” said Ellen Novak. “But retirement has meant that my partner has had to switch to costly private health insurance with inferior coverage at the point in our lives when we are most likely to face health problems. I worked just as hard as my colleagues, so it doesn’t seem fair that my family has been saddled with this burden.”

Novak, who has been with her partner Linda McCreary for 15 years, was forced to retire in 2004 after being diagnosed with a chronic lung condition. When she was still working for the state, she was able to provide McCreary health insurance as her domestic partner, but because of the state’s unfair policy of denying retirees domestic partner coverage, McCreary’s domestic partner coverage was terminated when Novak was forced to retire. Married couples in the same situation are permitted to continue to provide health insurance to their spouses after retirement.

The lawsuit filed today charges that the state’s policy of denying lesbian and gay state retirees equal health insurance for their partners violates the state constitution’s equality guarantees.  Unlike their straight colleagues, lesbian and gay employees are barred from marrying in the state and therefore, in the absence of domestic partner benefits, are denied equal compensation. 

Proposed legislation, SB 502, which was introduced by Senator John Grubesic and will be the subject of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this Wednesday Friday would close the loophole and provide benefits to the domestic partners of retired employees. 

(Editor's note: EQNM has a tool that makes it very easy to send a message to all the members of the NM Senate Judiciary Committee in support of this bill: click here.)

“Lesbian and gay employees make commitments and form families just like straight employees, and their families have the same needs,” said Peter Simonson, Executive Director of the ACLU of New Mexico.  “Health insurance is an important portion of how employees are compensated.  It’s not right for the state to take care of straight families, but to force gay and lesbian families to bear the significant expense and suffer the inferior coverage of private health insurance at the point in their lives when they need health care most.”

In 2003, Governor Bill Richardson issued an executive order providing state employees, both gay and straight, with the option of providing their partners health insurance through domestic partner coverage.  Under the order, domestic partner coverage is not available to employees after they retire, while spousal coverage is provided. 

“The state legislature has the opportunity to spare taxpayers the needless expense of defending this lawsuit by passing this bill,” said Simonson. “The cost of providing the domestic partners of state employees with access to retirement health insurance would only result in less than a one percent increase in claims dollars paid out by the authority. And this nominal cost would likely be offset by the savings to the state on account of having more people insured.”   

The other two couples involved in the lawsuit are:

Havens Levitt and Rebecca Dakota -- This Albuquerque couple has been together for 11 years, but have know each other for 25.  Levitt, 54, has been a teacher for more than 23 years with the Albuquerque public school system. Dakota, 52, works for an anti-smoking campaign and as the part-time director of the Albuquerque Independent Business Alliance. Because her jobs are both part-time, she relies on Levitt to provide her health insurance. When Levitt retires, Dakota will no longer have access to health insurance and will be forced to pay for private insurance, which is especially expensive for someone of her age. 

Mary Meyer and Hope Miner  -- This Sandoval County couple has been together for 13 years and is raising two children together. Meyer, who manages the WIC Nutrition Program for Bernalillo and Sandoval Counties, has worked for the New Mexico Department of Health for 22 years. Miner retired from the Albuquerque school system in 2003 after serving as an elementary teacher for 25 years. When domestic partner benefits became available, the couple decided to have Meyer cover Miner as a domestic partner in order to avoid the double fees the couple had to pay towards their separate health plans. After Miner retired, the couple learned that the domestic partner coverage would no longer be available once Meyer retired. When Meyer retires, the couple’s monthly expenses will increase because they will both be required to contribute to their own health plans.

The legal team for the ACLU in Novak and McCreary v. New Mexico is George Bach, staff attorney with the ACLU of New Mexico, Ken Choe, a senior staff attorney with the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project of the ACLU, and cooperating attorney Maureen Sanders of Sanders & Westbrook, P.C.

Biographical information for all of the couples, a Q&A about the lawsuit and the legal papers filed today are available at www.aclu.org/caseprofiles.

Read the complaint

Q & A

Memo: Cost of domestic partnerships for retirees in New Mexico

Senate Bill 503: Relating to Retirement; Amending the Retiree Health Care Act

Whitney Potter, Communications Manager
American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico
PO BOX 566, Albuquerque, NM 87103
Tel: (505) 266-5915 ext 1003
Cell: (505) 507-9898
Fax: (505) 266-5916
Email: wpotter@aclu-nm.org

Learn more about the ACLU of New Mexico https://aclu-nm.org/

Repub Senators Vote to Block Debate on Iraq War Resolution

Read all about it, and here's the U.S. Senate roll call. A 'Yea' means the Senator voted for cloture that would permit debate and voting on the Warner-Levin Resolution on Iraq. A 'Nay' means the Senator voted against cloture, blocking any discussion or voting on the measure. The measure needed 60 votes to move forward but got only 49. The only Repub Senators to vote Yea were Coleman (R-MN) and Collins (R-ME). No Democrats voted Nay except for Reid, who did it so for procedural reasons, so the matter can be raised again. Talk about Repubs caving. For instance, Hagel and Warner voted against bringing their own resolution to a clear up or down vote! The wrangling on this is expected to continue....

Call the Governor on Health Security Act

From the Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign:
The Governor’s office has already received well over 100 calls asking him to support Senate Bill 720, the Health Security Act. Supporters: Please make your call to the Governor in support of Senate Bill 720, the Health Security Act, on Monday (February 5) or Tuesday (February 6). Tell your friends to call as well! In fact, tell all the people you know who support the Health Security Act that they need to call the Governor.

It’s time for the Governor to hear from the people of our state that we do not want a Massachusetts-style plan that continues the trend of pouring taxpayer dollars into a failing private insurance system. We want passage of the Health Security Act (Senate Bill 720), which lets New Mexico set up its own plan, like a cooperative. Calling the Governor is easy and will really help our Campaign. And NOW is the time to do it!

Be sure to let us know once you have made the call! We appreciate hearing from you.

Governor’s office: 505-827-3000. Remember to mention the Health Security Act (Senate Bill 720) by name and bill number.

Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing
The Health Security Act (Senate Bill 720) will have its first hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee sometime this coming week—either Wednesday or Friday. Below are the names of the Judiciary Committee members and their telephone numbers at the capitol.

Sen. Cisco McSorley, Chair (D) – Senate District 16 (Albuquerque): 986-4485

Sen. Richard C. Martinez, Vice Chair (D) – Senate District 5 (Rio Arriba County): 986-4389

Sen. William H. Payne, Ranking Member (R) – Senate District 20 (Albuquerque): 986-4276

Sen. Rod Adair (R) – Senate District 33 (Chaves County): 986-4385

Sen. Kent L. Cravens (R) – Senate District 21 (Albuquerque): 986-4391

Sen. John T. L. Grubesic (D) – Senate District 25 (Santa Fe): 986-4260

Sen. Clinton D. Harden (R) – Senate District 7 (Colfax, Curry, Harding, Quay, San Miguel, Taos, and Union counties): 986-4369

Sen. Linda M. Lopez (D) – Senate District 11 (Albuquerque): 986-4737

Sen. Lidio G. Rainaldi (D) – Senate District 4 (Cibola and McKinley counties): 986-4310

Sen. Michael S. Sanchez (D) – Senate District 29 (Valencia County): 986-4727

If you are a constituent of one of the above state senators, we will let you know when to call him or her.

Don’t Know Who Your State Senator Is? Here’s how to find out:

• Go to the legislature’s website: www.legis.state.nm.us
• Click on “Find Your Legislator”
• Under “Senate,” click on “Search by Name, District or Zip Code”
• Enter your zip code (in some areas—like Albuquerque—you may need to input the extra four digits after your zip code)

There are also Senate district maps available: click on “Districts” instead of “Find Your Legislator” and chose the statewide map or the Albuquerque map. If you have any questions, contact Josette (771-8763; jhaddad@cableone.net).

You're Invited: Democratic Party Organizing Meeting 2/7 at GI Forum

From Bill Kass:
Our series of monthly meetings in Albuquerque started with Ward 25A and combined with an ad hoc group called Grassroots Democrats. Our goal is to expand the active membership of the Bernalillo County Democratic Party – not to create a separate organization. I think that this is a task that legitimately belongs to the DPBC but has recently been ignored. Our long term strategy is to find DPBC officials who will continue to organize and strengthen the party throughout the year – not just at election time. We encourage anyone who might be interested in getting more involved in Democratic Party activities to attend.

We will hold our next organizing meeting on February 7 at 6:00 PM at the GI Forum, 3301Mountain Road NW. The most direct access is to take Rio Grande Blvd. to Mountain Road and turn west. The GI forum is located near the end of Mountain Road about ¾ mile west of Rio Grande Blvd. – almost to the river. It seems like it is farther than it is because there are about 5000 speed bumps on Mountain Road.

We will start with our usual potluck dinner at 6 PM followed by a meeting focused on finding candidates for upcoming County / Ward / Precinct/ County Central Committee / State Central Committee, party positions.

Agenda:
6:00 PM: Potluck
7:00 PM: Business Meeting - Announcements:

• Opportunities for action at the legislature.
• Critical dates for Party Elections in March and April
• Introduction of Candidates for County Chair

7:30 PM: Small Group exercise: Break into small groups based on geography (wards or areas of Bernalillo County) to develop a plan for finding candidates for party offices in all of these areas. Report back with group actions.

We invite all those who are currently party officials to continue - your experience is valuable to the Party. There are also many positions that are unfilled. We want to fill those positions with active, engaged Democrats who will help to create an identity for the Democratic Party. Please join us in this effort. For more information or to RSVP, please contact me at kwjdr@msn.com.

Bill Kass

Email Gov. Richardson on Progressive Eyewitness ID Reform Bill

The national blog TalkLeft has a post on NM Senate Bill 5, including a good description of what the bill would do and why it's needed. The story is also crossposted at DailyKos. The legislation is sponsored by Sen. John Grubesic (D-Santa Fe) and addresses the problem of mistaken eyewitness identification, the most common cause of wrongful convictions. The bill has already been passed by the Senate Public Affairs Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee, and heads next to the NM Senate Floor. It may be voted on as early as today.

The bill is supported by the state's criminal defense attorneys, the American Civil Liberties Union and Barry Scheck's Innocence Project, among others. In a letter urging the adoption of such measures, Scheck called NM's bill "an excellent model" that "incorporates many of the scientifically documented 'best practices' for eyewitness reform."

Unfortunately, the eyewitness ID reform bill is being fought by NM Attorney General Gary King and law enforcement agencies. To urge your State Senator to support this bill, click here. We also need Governor Richardson to step in and support this bill. As the Talk Left post says:

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson wants to be the Democrats' nominee for President. A good way for him to begin the journey would be to endorse Senate Bill 5 and show he values justice and is willing to be smart, not tough, on crime. Send him an e-mail and urge him to support this bill.

(Thanks to Tim O'Toole for the heads up on this.)

Stop NM Taxpayer Subsidies for Proposed Dirty Desert Rock Power Plant

"Woman in Gas Mask" (Credit: Small Axe Organization)

Editor's Note: Activists, including many Navajos, are opposing the construction of a huge, polluting, coal-fired power plant called the Desert Rock Power Plant in the Four Corners region. For more information, check our previous post on this. Now, a bill has been introduced in the NM Legislature to provide a generous tax subsidy to the company that plans to build the plant. Needless to say, there's a serious effort underway to fight this legislation, explained below. Be sure to explore the website mentioned below. It has an abundance of info, resources, photos and videos about the proposed coal-fired plant and the struggle to stop it.

From the Sierra Club, Dine CARE, Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy: The tax subsidy for dirty coal was tabled in the House. But the bill is still alive in the Senate. Please continue to support this effort by:

1. CALLING the Senators below and ask them to OPPOSE SB 431 . 
2. ATTENDING the “No to Desert Rock” Rally on FEBRUARY 5, 2:00-3:00 PM Round House Rotunda (northwest corner of Paseo de Peralta and Old Santa Fe Trail). For more information please go to: https://www.desert-rock-blog.com/blog

Please call, email or write your Senator and ask them to OPPOSE SB 431.

The Senate is currently considering an $85 million subsidy for the proposed Desert Rock coal-fired power plant. No subsidies or tax breaks to build a dirty plant for electricity to other states – NOT our money, not out of New Mexico ’s pocket into Sithe Global’s wallet.

Molly Hogue: Praying and Hoping for Change (Courtesy of Lori Goodman)

If Desert Rock is built, all the clean energy and anti-pollution progress we have made in New Mexico will be wasted. Sithe Global claims their plant would be a “clean” coal plant, but it would NOT meet New Mexico ’s standards for power plants and would severely impact surrounding communities and add millions of pounds of carbon and mercury pollution into New Mexico ’s air and water.

Tips: Please call AND write. If the Senator does not have an email or you would prefer to send a hand written letter, please fax the letter to 505-986-4280 or mail it to New Mexico State Capitol, Santa Fe, NM 87501.

Senator: Shannon Robinson, Chair
Corporations & Transportation Committee
District: 17, County(s): Bernalillo
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4856
E-mail: shannon.robinson@nmlegis.gov

Senator: Ben D. Altamirano, Sponsor of HB 431
District: 28, County(s): Catron, Grant & Socorro
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4733

Senator John Arthur Smith, Vice Chair
Revenue Stabilization & Tax Policy
District: 35, County(s): Hidalgo, Luna & Sierra
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4363
E-mail: john.smith@nmlegis.gov

Senator James G. Taylor
District: 14, County(s):Bernalillo & Valencia
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4862
E-mail: jamesg.taylor@nmlegis.gov

Senator Cisco McSorley (Chair of Judiciary)
Distict: 16, County(s): Bernalillo
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4485
E-mail: cisco.mcsorley@nmlegis.gov

Senator Bernadette M. Sanchez, Vice Chair
District: 26, County(s): Bernalillo
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4267

Senator Diane Snyder
District: 15, County(s): Bernalillo
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4375
E-mail: hdsnyder@spinn

Senator Mark Boitano
District: 18, County(s): Bernalillo
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4366
E-mail: boitanom@aol.com

Senator Dianna J. Duran
District: 40, County(s): Dona Ana & Otero
Capitol Office Phone: 585-9896
E-mail: dianna.duran@nmlegis.gov

Senator Phil A. Griego
District: 39, County(s) L.A. ,Mora,Sand,S.M.,S.F. & Taos
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4861
E-mail: senatorgriego@yahoo.com

Senator Stuart Ingle
District: 27, County(s): Chaves, Curry, De B & Roosevelt
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4702

Senator Cynthia Nava
District: 31, County(s): Dona Ana
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4834
E-mail: cynthia.nava@nmlegis.gov

Senator David Ulibarri
District 30, County(s): Cibola, Socorro & Valencia
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4260

Helpful Links:

Desert Rock Blog:
https://www.desert-rock-blog.com/blog

NM Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy:
https://www.nmccae.org/Legislature_07/index.htm

Sierra Club, Rio Grande Chapter:
https://riogrande.sierraclub.org/campaigns/desert_rock_power_plant/desertrock_power_plant.htm

SF Mayor Coss' Next Coffee Focuses on Bus Riders

From the City of Santa Fe:
The next Coffee with Santa Fe Mayor Coss will be held with bus riders and people interested in public transit to talk about how Santa Fe Trails Bus service can be made even better for the community. The Coffee will be held on Wednesday, February 7, from 6 to 7:30 PM, at Santa Fe Place Mall. Participants should use the food court entrance. Signs will be posted to direct participants to the meeting location.

Discussion topics may include:

• Improving pedestrian infrastructure to enhance access to bus stops;
• Establishing relationships between the transit system and the local business and tourism industry;
• Exploring alternative fuel technologies (for future bus purchases);
• Designing and developing transit center improvements; and
• Any other city transit-related residential interests or concerns.

Everyone from the community is welcome, whether you are a regular commuter, an occasional rider or someone who has never ridden the bus and has questions. For more information contact Special Projects Coordinator Becky Lo Dolce at 955-6629.

Guest Blog: Urgent Aspartame Ban Action Alert

This is a guest blog by Stephen Fox of Santa Fe:
New Mexico Needs Your Immediate Help! New Mexico Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino’s Senate Bill 498, to ban Aspartame in New Mexico, may end up being scuttled this week in the Senate Public Affairs because of an ”analysis” by an Assistant Attorney General, Zach Shandler, which essentially throws in the towel and agrees with corporate theories of the FDA’s approval of aspartame preempting and preventing any state level legislative ban on Aspartame, in order to protect New Mexicans from, for example, Brain Tumors and Multiple Sclerosis resultant from ingesting Aspartame/Methanol/Formaldehyde and another brain tumor causing agent/metabolite of Aspartame: Diketopiperazine.

This cannot be the work of the Attorney General of New Mexico, Gary King, Ph.D. Organic Chemistry. He was asked to write a letter endorsing the two bills, one in each Chamber of the Legislature, which he may still be doing; that support letter may be still in the works, which at this writing is completely unclear.

After all, Gary helped write the bill back when he was the Attorney General candidate whom we endorsed so strongly in dozens of New Mexico publications, precisely because with his background in chemistry and his long history of Consumer advocacy as former chairman of the House of Representatives Consumer Affairs committee and as the legislator who wrote most of the administrative procedures for the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy back in the 1990’s, he could understand the medical and biochemical harm done by this artificial sweetener, which is metabolized as methanol and formaldehyde, and should never have been approved by the FDA in 1981, when its approval was forced through the FDA by then CEO of G.D. Searle, Donald Rumsfeld, for vast personal fiscal gain, as well as the obvious parallels between Aspartame corporate liabilities and the corporate liabilities at the heart of the $235 billion tobacco suits in the 1990’s.

States and even cities can and must protect themselves, and in fact do all the time in these jurisdictional realms. For example, New York City was not preempted by FDA approval of artificial trans-fats when its city council recently banned them. States have gotten rid of all kinds of things with prior federal approval by FDA or EPA other agencies: Asbestos, another fine example. The Vioxx suits in Texas were not preempted by FDA approval of Vioxx! There is no potential Balkanization of consumer statutes in the USA, or as Shandler alluded, no potential threat of suits by the FDA over jurisdictions herein.

I ask you to telephone Gary King, Attorney General of New Mexico, as soon as you can, starting Monday, to inquire whether Mr. Shandler’s minion’s opinions are the final word from the A.G. on this vital issue, or will King come through with a strong letter defending all states’ rights and states' obligations to protect the health of their citizens, especially when we have a corporate-manipulated United States Food and Drug Administration that will facilely rubber-stamp just about whatever ghastly new chemical additive industry asks it to approve!

There are hundreds of millions of lives at stake, because of the neurodegenerative afflictions attributed to Aspartame, even in the FDA compiled consumer complaint lists: Multiple Sclerosis, Lou Gerhig's disease, Sudden Cardiac Arrest, Brain tumors, etc.

Please also ask all of your friends, neighbors, associates, colleagues, and family to also call him, even if you are not a constituent from New Mexico. We are not at this point talking about suing 25 corporations: we just want to pass a long overdue bill that prohibits the sale of Aspartame in New Mexico.

If Attorney General King also capitulates to the corporate demands that New Mexico stop impugning Aspartame because of its proven neurotoxicity and cancer-causing 26 year record of killing people, our battle becomes an almost impossible uphill battle, which must be prevented by direct citizen intervention, communication, and correspondence to New Mexico Attorney General Gary King.

This is urgent, as the Senate Public Affairs Committee will decide this matter this week, and two Senators, Mary Kay Papen of Las Cruces and Dede Feldman of Albuquerque, would vote against this measure easily, just because of this pusillanimous “analysis” from Assistant New Mexico Attorney General Zach Shandler, really the last quarter from which we could have expected such a pathetically weak consumer protection stance, which we cannot allow to ruin or eviscerate the most important consumer protection legislation in the United States in 2007!

After you call, take the time to write it down and mail it or Xerox it or email it to Gary King on his website as Attorney General.

Thank you very much,
Stephen Fox
Stephen@santafefineart.com

Contact Information for your calls Monday and later this coming week:

Attorney General Gary King
(505) 827-6000, Executive Assistant, Lisa Wood

NM State Senator Mary Kay Papen of Las Cruces
NM State Senator Dede Feldman of Albuquerque, Public Affairs Chair
(505) 986-4300

At the same number, you can also reach two Senators whose support is also absolutely vital, just not quite so urgently as the two above:

NM Senate, President Pro Tempore, Ben Altamirano of Silver City
Majority Leader, Michael Sanchez of Belen

After all of our medical articles and warning, two of these four Senators, and actually many others in both houses, still consume beverages with Aspartame, which is tragic, of course, but still "their business."

They should not, however, let their own consumer choices, govern their votes on efforts to protect the rest of the 1.8 million New Mexicans from the harm done by Aspartame/Methanol/Formaldehyde/Diketopiperazine. We can still ban it entirely, rather than use a fall back plan, to ask the Legislature to require every Aspartame product to have a cross and bones poison label on every product.

Click to read Stephen Fox's previous guest blog on this topic.

Editor's Note: This is a guest blog by Stephen Fox. Guest blogs are meant to permit readers to express their opinions on issues and the opinions expressed are not necessarily those of DFNM. If you'd like to submit a guest blog for consideration, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand corner of the main page.

Sunday Bird Blogging: Bears Superbowl Edition

Bears fan Bosco the Peach-Faced Lovebird will be ringing his little bells every time Brian Urlacher makes a tackle

UPDATE: If you're watching ads during today's game, be sure to watch for this one.

Today's the day. The time is right for dancing in the end zone with Bears and lassoing Colts behind the line of scrimmage. All that and Prince singing Purple Rain at halftime in a game that may well be played in plain old driving rain. Wish they were playing at Soldier Field in Chicago, where it was predicted to be in the range of -2 to +2 degrees this afternoon. Bears weather!

Chicago's Jennifer Jennings Band sent us a link to their special Bears Superbowl anthem, Rock on Chicago Bears, to get us in the mood. Mary Ellen and I are wearing our NFC Championship Bear shirts, and I dug out some Bears paraphernalia I bought back in the dark ages, when the Bears last played in the Superbowl in 1986.

Sunny the Sun Conure intends to follow the game online, so he can enter comments in all the football blogs and generally trash talk about the Colts. He predicts Colts QB Peyton Manning will choke. Again. This morning Sunny found a picture of the famous Picasso sculpture that presides over Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago and is insisting it's a bird:

And Sunny was positively put out by a CAT wearing a Bears helmet in front of Chicago's Art Institute:

Sunny sez the Monsters of the Midway seem to be everywhere these days.

The seven parakeets -- Whitey, Queenie, Ginger, Hambone, Peanut, Jumbo and Georgie -- were too edgy about the game to even have their pictures taken this morning. They'll be twittering nervously and pecking on chips and dip until the last whistle is blown in Miami today. They won't be alone ... My prediction? Bears 21, Colts 17. So there.

Note: Neither of the above photos was photoshopped. This kind of thing really IS going on in the frigid reaches of Bear-mad Chicagoland. Hey, when your team gets to the Superbowl every 21 years or so, you go all out!

See our previous post to check out a video of the Super Bowl Shuffle and other recollections of Bear games past.

Listen to NM Sen. Dede Feldman's Messages About Her 'Green' Bills

Sen. Dede Feldman (R) at Opening Day of Legislature
(Photo from Feldman blog)

From NM Senator Dede Feldman (D-13-Bernalillo):
Listen to Dede Feldman's short audio description of Senate Bills 542 (Energy-Efficient Appliance Tax Credit) and 543 (Sustainable Building Tax Credits) here (mp3). And here's more information (mp3) about Senate Bill 542, in which Senator Feldman tells consumers how to take advantage of the savings if SB 542 is passed.

You can express your support by contacting members of the Senate Corporations Committee at 1-505-986-4300 and asking for their extension, or by emailing them directly by clicking their email links below:

Sen. Shannon Robinson
Sen. Gerry Ortiz y Pino
Sen. Diane Snyder
Sen. Mark Boitano
Sen. Dianna Duran
Sen. Phil Griego
Sen. Stuart Ingle
Sen. Cynthia Nava
Sen. David Ulibarri

Here are links to the actual text of each of the two bills:
SB 542 (ENERGY-EFFICIENT APPLIANCE TAX CREDIT)
SB 543 (SUSTAINABLE BUILDING TAX CREDITS)

Editor's Note: You can visit Senator Feldman's blog at https://senatorfeldman.typepad.com/.