Democracy for New Mexico

Gov. Richardson Urges NM Legislature to Pass Medical Marijuana Bill

Excellent news. According to an Albuquerque Journal article, Gov. Bill Richardson has announced his continuing support for NM Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino's medical marijuana bill, SB 238. Excerpts:

Gov. Bill Richardson today urged this year's Legislature to pass Senate Bill 238, a medical marijuana bill titled the "Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act" named in honor of the late Lynn Pierson, who advocated marijuana use while suffering from cancer, and Erin Armstrong, who has been suffering from cancer since being diagnosed as a teen-ager eight years ago.

... "I continue to support a medical marijuana bill that includes proper safeguards to prevent abuse," Richardson said in a news release. "I will work with legislators to get it passed this session to provide this option for New Mexicans suffering from debilitating diseases."

... A similar bill passed the state Senate in last year's session by a 34-6 vote, with 12 Republicans joining 22 Democrats in voting for passage, but the bill died after reaching the House floor in the closing hours of the 2006 session, the Journal has reported.

For more information on this bill and how you can help support it, read our previous post. Having passed both the NM Senate Public Affairs Commitee and the Senate Judiciary Committee, the bill is headed for a vote by the full Senate, probably this Thursday, February 8, 2007.

Moving Along: NM Sen. Feldman's Bill to Open Legislative Conference Committees

Senate Bill 288, introduced by Senator Dede Feldman (D-Bernalillo-13), and that would require that legislative conference committees be open to the public, cleared the Senate Rules Committee Monday on a vote of 4-2. Voting against the bill were Steve Komadina (R-Sandoval) and (surprisingly) Linda Lopez (D-Bernalillo) The measure now moves to the Senate Public Affairs Committee (click to get contact info for members).

Senate Bill 288 amends Section 10-15-2 of the state’s Open Meetings Act to make meetings of conference committees as well as standing committees of the Legislature open meetings that are subject to the requirements of the Act. The language of Senator Feldman’s proposed measure would also eliminate the current exemption for “any bill, resolution or other legislative matter not yet presented to either house of the legislature or general appropriation bills.”

“This is about having a fully public legislative process,” said Senator Feldman. At least 40 of our states have open conference committees and there is no reason why we shouldn’t as well. There’s no reason to hide the ball when it comes to having the House and Senate work to come to agreement on proposed legislation.” The proposed legislation is supported by the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.

NM Dem Senate Caucus Leader Introduces Another DOMA

Two so-called Defense of Marriage Acts (DOMA) have already been stopped in the NM Legislature this year on the House side. Now we have to contend with another version on the Senate side, introduced by Sen. Lideo Rainaldi (D-Gallup), pictured right, who calls himself a Democrat. In fact, he holds the leadership position of Majority Caucus Chair. I find it especially galling that a Democratic leader would introduce such an unfair, anti-democratic bill. How about you? Here's what Equality NM had to say:

From Equality NM: DOMA NUMBER THREE
On Friday, Senator Lidio Rainaldi (D-Gallup-4), pictured left, introduced the third DOMA of the Legislative Session, Senate Bill 816. This legislation mirrors the previously introduced House Bill 395 and seeks to define marriage as solely between a man and a woman and deny recognition of valid marriages performed between same-sex couples in other jurisdictions.

The Senate DOMA will be much harder to kill. The Bill must go through Senate Judiciary, which is the Committee on which Senator Rainaldi currently sits. We are once again facing a vicious and hate filled public hearing on the Senate Floor. EQNM will continue to provide updates as this legislation is scheduled for public hearing.

The Attacks Continue! Help Us Stop Them By Donating Now To Equality New Mexico's Lobbying Efforts! Also, EQNM has a new Legistration Tracker that makes it much easier to follow bills of interest to the civil liberties and GLBT community and everyone who cares about equality under the law for all Americans. (End of EQNM alert.)

Note that our Democratic Senate Leadership assigned Rainaldi's DOMA bill to only two committees, unlike Sen. Ortiz y Pino's NM impeachment bill, for instance, that was assigned to be heard in three committee, which generally means the bill will have a hard time. What are NM Senate Democrats like Michael Sanchez, who has much to say about committee assignments, thinking?

Sadly, Sen. Rainaldi has consistently supported discriminatory legislation that would prevent all of our citizens from being treated equally under civil law and has voted with conservative Republicans against bills that would help minorities achieve equality here. See this post from the 2005 legislative session.

As most thoughtful people realize, religious beliefs are one thing, and are protected by our Constitution. Expecting civil laws to enforce particular religious beliefs, however, is misguided at best and mean-spirited and unconstitutional at worst. Let's hope that potential Democratic supporters of Rainaldi's bill can be respectfully persuaded with logic and real-life stories to see the difference.

And with Gov. Richardson running for president, let's hope he steps up and clearly denounces legislation like Rainaldi's aimed solely at stirring the pot and making headlines for the sponsors in areas where GLBT rights are often misunderstood or outright mocked.

Tell the NM Senate to Vote For Compassion on Medical Marijuana

From the Drug Policy Alliance Action Center:
Medical marijuana legislation is headed to the New Mexico Senate floor this week after passing the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 7 to 3 on Monday evening! This is the final push to get SB 238, the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act, sponsored by Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, through the Senate and into the House for final committee hearings and the House floor vote.

This is the year to finally help patients access the medicine they so desperately need! Please call your Senator by Thursday and encourage them to support SB 238 during the floor vote.

You'll want to call your Senator's Capitol office phone number, which can be found at the NM State Legislature website. If you don't know your Senator's name, just enter your zip code plus four. Click here to find your zip plus four-digit code.

Tips on Making a Call: Most legislators' staff answer their phones during the session and log all of the messages. The call only takes a minute. The call to your Senator will take little time but make a huge impact.

• Be courteous, positive, and brief.
• Identify yourself and mention that you are a constituent.
• Ask the legislator to vote yes for SB 238 on the Senate floor.
• Feel free to briefly tell them why you personally support the bill.

In Brief: The Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act would allow qualified patients suffering from certain serious illnesses such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and epilepsy to use marijuana for relief from their symptoms. Feel free to refer to our or before you call.

Thanks so much for calling - and please feel free to forward this information to other individuals and email lists that might be interested. The more voices that speak up for these bills, the more likely they will become law. If you have any questions please call us at (505) 983-3277.

Reena Szczepanski
Drug Policy Alliance Network
www.improveNewMexico.org

Learn More About the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act: The Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act would allow qualified patients suffering from certain serious illnesses - such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, and epilepsy - to use marijuana for relief of their symptoms. The law would require a patient to receive a recommendation for cannabis (i.e., medical marijuana) from his/her medical provider. The patient could then apply to participate in the program through the Department of Health, and an independent review board of doctors would consider each application.

Upon approval by the board, the patient would receive a registry identification card from the New Mexico Department of Health, certifying that he/she was a participant in the Lynn and Erin program. By registering in this way, the patient and the patient's primary caregiver would be allowed to possess only enough cannabis to treat the patient. Only providers who already can prescribe controlled substances could recommend patients for the program. The Department of Health will develop regulations for licensed producers within the state, identifying standards for safety, security, and distribution.

The new law would not allow medical marijuana use in public, and would penalize lying to a law enforcement officer regarding the medical use of marijuana. The Department of Health would keep a registry of participants so that law enforcement officers could confirm the validity of a patient's registration card. Patients under 18 years old could only participate with parental consent.

First Hearing Friday 2/9/07 on NM Impeachment Bill: What You Can Do

UPDATE: The February 9th Senate Rules Committee hearing on this bill has been POSTPONED! The hearing has been reset for Friday, February 16th. Click here for more information.

From Desi Brown and State Sen. Ortiz y Pino’s office:
As many of you know, the first hearing on New Mexico’s attempt to call for the impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney will be this Friday, February 9th at 9 AM in the Senate Rules Committee, Room 321. I volunteer for Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino and have been asked to write a summary of what we would like for local activists and interested parties to do in the coming days both before and after this hearing.

-- This is our chance to legitimately affect national policy, and it could hinge on as little as a couple of votes in a couple of committees. Every individual, group, organization, etc who is in support of this bill needs to work their tail off doing the below listed things for the next few weeks. NOW is the time, this is YOUR chance!

-- Help us make this bill a reality! Think of it this way – we could be the heroes of several BILLION people from around the world if we are successful!

First – It is important to understand that a large number of well respected elected officials are really laying their careers on the line in supporting this resolution, therefore it is the least that we can do as activists to support them in a way that will reflect favorably on them and for passage of this bill. This means that our actions in public will be viewed as an extension of people such as Senators Ortiz y Pino or Grubesic. Please be respectful, don’t use rhetoric, and present yourselves as respectable citizens when discussing this issue with other legislators, the media, and the public.

Prior to the first hearing: There are a small handful of Senators who need to be targeted. These include:

• Senator Ben Altamirano (Rules Committee)
• Senators Mary K. Papen & David Ulibarri (Public Affairs Committee)
• Senators Richard Martinez, Lidio Rainaldi, & Michael Sanchez (Judiciary Committee)

E-mail them, stop by their offices, call them, talk to them and their staff. They are all uncommitted to supporting this bill as of now.  All other Democrats in these committees have signaled their intention to support the resolution. PLEASE BE POLITE AND TO THE POINT.

At the first hearing (and others): We will try to have information and possibly a meeting room available prior to the start of this meeting in order to make sure everyone is on the same page and sending a unified message to the committee. It is very important for us to have a significant physical presence for this bill – the more the merrier – and we want you to stand and speak if given the opportunity. If you do speak, keep it short, succinct, articulate and on topic. Pick a couple of points at most from those listed below. Remember, the less you talk, the more additional people have a chance to voice their opinion as well.

CAUTIONARY NOTE: It is also important that we all honor the legislative process and stay focused on the wording of the bill (SJR 05 – Available on the NM Legislature website ) and the reasons why these senators are discussing this bill. If members of the crowd are unruly, stray from the message of the resolution, or are in some other way distracting from the message of the bill – it may NOT pass!

As much as we all (myself included!) would like to wear inflammatory t-shirts, shout slogans, and talk about the atrocities that have occurred as a result of these two people’s actions – we must not do that in the Roundhouse. Tentative support that we may gain from the above uncommitted Senators can be lost as a result of just one person’s failure to adhere to these requests!

However, there is still a lot you can do:

• Read the resolution (SJR05). Really learn what it says, repeat this info to everyone you know.
• Memorize and practice the main issues that we have listed out below. 
• Also, there are a number of websites with info regarding impeachment. We encourage you to stay away from the ones with a lot of conspiracy/etc info. It seems that the ones with the most relevant (to us) information are:

1. www.impeachbush.tv – great talking points for our bill! (see links below)
2. www.impeachpac.org
3. www.impeachforpeace.org

• Write letters to the editor (for ALL of the papers, all over the state) all this coming week (and next week, and the week after, and the week after that!).
• Call in to radio shows (KUNM, KKOB, others and show your support). I especially encourage you to call in to KKOB – it is the most listened to station in the state, and despite its conservative leanings – you can still voice your opinion!(Please follow the same advice as that listed above for committee hearings!)
• Encourage the local TV stations to cover the issue on their newscasts.
• Organize your own local town-hall style meetings, invite qualified speakers to talk about the issue of impeachment – Invite the media!
• Contact additional legislators both in the NM State House and Senate (Republicans too!). Engage their hired help and volunteers in good conversations, this is often a great way to influence decisions.
• Spread information outside of your regular group of friends – We need support from all over the state, not just Albuquerque & Santa Fe.

What to talk or write about:

• The issue of impeachment has become a state’s problem due to a lack of action on the part of our federal government in investigating allegations that have been made against our president and vice president.
• California, Illinois, Minnesota, and Vermont all considered similar impeachment resolutions in 2006.  New Mexico is the first of several states to introduce legislation this year.
• The US Constitution and Sect. 603 of the House Rules allow for any state to ask for impeachment proceedings.
• This is about requesting the federal government to look into impeachable offences; this is not about putting them on ‘trial’ here in NM.
• The NM Democratic Party voted to call for the impeachment of George Bush on March 18th, 2006 at their annual convention. Out of 1,200 delegates, an estimated 80% voted for this resolution to be added to the state party platform.
• It only takes one US Congressman or Senator to bring this resolution to the forefront of Congress.  We believe there are potentially dozens of them who may be willing to do this (in 2006, over 30 US Congressmen signed a petition calling for impeachment).  Also, Republican Congressman Ron Paul has called for impeachment as well. As soon as we can confirm a name, we will let you know.
• Additional Talking Points and Rebuttals for arguments against impeachment can be found at:

1. Points city - (Substitute the word ‘state’ for ‘city’)
2. Points poliitical issues - Political Issues
3. Points general - Impeachable Offenses

These are all handy to have when talking to others! Copy them and use them, they are well written!

If any of you have additional ideas or comments regarding trying to get the activist community more involved in this issue, please contact me directly or contact Senator Ortiz y Pino’s office at (505) 986-4380.

Thanks for your interest and support!
Desi Brown, (505)256-0668
desibrown@comcast.net

Comprehensive NM Ethics Reform Legislation Introduced

From the NM House Democratic Leadership:
Santa Fe, NM – House Democrats joined their Republican colleagues last week in introducing a bipartisan ethics and campaign finance reform package. The package includes:

HB 818 – Public Financing of Statewide Campaigns introduced by Speaker Ben Lujan (D-Nambe)

HB 819 – Gift Act by Rep. Gail Chasey (D-Albuquerque)

HB 820 – Legislative Campaign Funds for Office Duties introduced by Rep. Ken Martinez, House Majority Leader (D-Grants)

HB 821 – Campaign Reporting Requirements introduced by Rep. Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque)

HB 822 – State Ethics Commission Act introduced by Rep. Mary Helen Garcia (D-Las Cruces)

HB 823 – Prohibit Certain Acts by Public Officers introduced by Rep. Joseph Cervantes (D-Las Cruces)

HJR 6 - Distribution for Legislative Expenses, CA introduced by Rep. Ken Martinez

Speaker of the House Ben Lujan said, “Maintaining the public trust and the integrity of our democratic process is important to all of us. We are working with the recommendations provided by the Governor’s Task Force and we intend to move forward with these initiatives on ethics and campaign reform.”

Rep. Martinez said, “These bills represent a tremendous amount of work by the Governor’s Ethics Task Force. This is a comprehensive package and we have a good opportunity to pass most of these bills this year.”

Rep. Cervantes said, “These bills will eliminate a pay-to-play approach to government. This is an area where New Mexico can lead the nation by adopting these reforms. They will provide citizens with the greatest assurance of ethical standards from state leaders and state officials.”

Rep. Chasey said, “We appreciate the work of the Ethics Task Force. These bills give us the opportunity to provide greater transparency in government.”

Rep. Stewart said, “I want to commend the task force on the broad view they took on ethics reform in New Mexico. We will work hard as a legislative body to pass these reforms.”

Rep. Garcia said, “New Mexico is one of the 10 states that haven’t instituted a state’s ethics commission. It’s well overdue to resolve some of the ethical problems the state has encountered.’

Rep. Eric Youngberg (R-Albuquerqe) said, “While I worked on the subcommittee that dealt with the possible impeachment of (former State Treasurer Robert) Vigil, it became clear that New Mexico was ripe for ethical reform. I am looking forward to this bipartisan effort to ensure that integrity in government is upheld.”

Rep. Kathy McCoy (R-Cedar Crest) said, “We strongly support transparency and accountability in government and quick disclosure of campaign contributions. As a member of the Governor’s Ethics Task Force, I know that the public is desperate to see public officials conduct business ethically. Our citizens deserve nothing less. Recent scandals in state agencies reflect on all of us and the public deserves lawmakers they can trust.”

Editor's Note: The website of Common Cause NM is a good place for information on the NM ethics reform package and ways you can support the effort. As the legislative session progresses they'll be issuing email alerts about this legislation. You can sign up at their website. For more on the introduction of the reform package, see this article by Steve Terrell at the Santa Fe New Mexican.

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/

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).

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