Democracy for New Mexico

Joint Memorial to Oppose the Federal Real ID Act Unanimously Passes NM House Judiciary Committee

From the Democratic Leadership of the NM House of Representatives:
A surprising unanimous vote Monday by the NM House Judiciary Committee forwards House Joint Memorial 13 to the House floor. Committee Republicans joined Democrats to oppose the implementation of the Federal Real ID Act of 2005.

House Majority Leader, Rep. Ken Martinez, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, opposes the Real ID Act because it infringes on civil liberties, imposes undue hardships on record keeping in the Department of Motor Vehicles, and could cost New Mexico as much as $37 million dollars over five years.

During the committee hearing Rep. Ken Martinez (D-Grants), the memorial sponsor, said, “There are three things as a state that we can do with this national ID mandate from the federal government. We can do nothing. We can implement it. Or we can send it back. This memorial proposes that we send it back to Washington. My only regret is that New Mexico will not be the first state to say no to this mandate because the state of Maine has already passed a joint memorial that is very similar.”

The Real ID Act of 2005 requires that states adopt uniform federal standards and documentation verification procedures for issuing driver’s licenses. These licenses could then be used as the equivalent of a national identification card to enter federal buildings and board airplanes within the United States. Documents that were used by state motor vehicle departments to verify citizenship would be scanned into an electronic data base that would be required to be shared with all other states.

HB 13 calls on the New Mexico legislature to not authorize funding to comply with this federal mandate. The memorial also calls upon the United States Congress to repeal the Real ID Act and urges the New Mexico congressional delegation to support that repeal.

Fro more information contact: Kathleen MacRae 505-681-3920, or Victoria Chávez 646-241-5335.

To follow the progress of all pending legislation, go to the legislative website at https://legis.state.nm.us/lcs. To contact Rep. Martinez call 505-986-4777.

Ben Lujan, Speaker of the House
Ken Martinez, House Majority Leader
Sheryl Williams Stapleton, House Majority Whip

Editor's Note: Maine was the first state to reject the Real ID card.

House Bill 603: Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act Introduced

From Equality New Mexico:

Yesterday afternoon, Representative Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque), pictured left, introduced House Bill 603: Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act, on the House floor. This legislation would create a process by which any two adults in a committed relationship, fitting specific criteria would be able to register as domestic partners. Registering as domestic partners would create a series of rights and protections currently unavailable to unmarried couples.

Help Equality New Mexico Lobby for Family Protections by Donating Now.

The Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act would allow couples registering as domestic partners to have access to many of the benefits and protections currently available to married couples on the state level. These include:access to basic health coverage, family leave, presumption of parentage, decision making upon incapacity, and issues related to assuring that the person with whom you live and love is protected should you die.

Join EQNM for Lobby Day at the Roundhouse on March 5.

There are over 1400 state and federal rights and benefits that flow from marriage, most of which will not be available to domestic partners. But right now, lesbian and gay couples, and many of our senior New Mexico citizens are without a safety net for access to basic protections. This legislation would provide some of these basic rights and protections. EQNM believes in full equality for all New Mexicans, and continues to pursue full civil marriage rights for all. At this time, we are working to pass legislation to provide the most possible protections to New Mexican families.

Contact Your Legislators and Tell Them All New Mexican Families Deserve Protection

House Bill 603 has been assigned to the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee. EQNM will update information as hearings are scheduled.

Senate Bill 502:  An Act to Amend the Retiree Health Care Act
Senator John Grubesic (D- Santa Fe), pictured left, has introduced Senate Bill 502. This bill would amend the Retiree Health Care Act to allow domestic partners of state employees to maintain their health insurance after their state employee partner retires. The Bill is currently assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Equality New Mexico will update information when the first committee hearing is scheduled so that you may contact the members of the committee to urge them to support this important bill.

NM: Don't Let These Discriminatory Bills Hit the Floor!

From the DFA-DFNM Meetup Message Board:
Contact your representative and tell them discrimination has no place in New Mexico's Constitution! Two unfair bills will be heard in the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on Thursday, February 1, at 1:30 PM in Room 315 of the Roundhouse in Santa Fe.

Representative Gloria Vaughn (R-Alamogordo) has introduced House Joint Resolution 2 (HJR2), proposing an Amendment to New Mexico's Constitution which would define marriage as solely between a man and a woman. It would also bar New Mexico from recognizing any legal marriages between same-sex couples performed in other jurisdictions.

Representative Nora Espinoza (R-Roswell) introduced another bill aiming to strip the rights of New Mexico's LGBT citizens. House Bill 395 (HB395) is a State-level version of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). This bill seeks to define marriage as solely between a man and a woman, and prevent New Mexico from recognizing any valid marriage between same gender couples performed in any other jurisdiction.

Both bills are currently in committee. Don't let these bills hit the floor. Contact your Representatives today and tell them you don't want discrimination written into New Mexico's Constitution! Email the committee members and let them know that bills such as HJR2 and HR395 only serve to weaken our state and divide our people. Their task is to improve the quality of life for all New Mexicans, not to waste time entertaining bills that simply seek to diminish it for some.

The House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee meets Thursday, February 1st at 1:30 PM in Room 315. Both these bills are on the agenda for that day.

Editor's Note: You can automatically contact the legislators on the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee by using this tool at the Equality New Mexico website.

(To find your representative, click on the link below:

https://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/leg.asp?who=H

Consumer and Public Affairs Committee Members :

Gail Chasey (D), Chair
District 18, Bernalillo County
gailchasey@msn.com

Irvin Harrison (D), Vice Chair
District 5, McKinley & San Juan Counties
irv4u@cnetco.com

Thomas A. Anderson (R)
District 29, Bernalillo County
kb5ysg@arrl.net

Nora Espinoza (R)
District 59, Chaves, Lincoln & Otero Counties
noralee@cableone.net

Antonio "Moe" Maestas (D)
District 16, Bernalillo County
antonio@moejustice.com

Al Park (D)
District 26, Bernalillo County
alpark.nm@gmail.com

W.C. "Dub" Williams (R)
District 56, Lincoln & Otero Counties
986-4454 (no email address)

Guest Blog: An Updated Voting Machine Audit Provision (SB179)

This is a Guest Blog submitted by Paul Stokes of United Voters of NM and Verified Voting NM, which were instrumental in gaining passage of last year's legislation that mandated the use of paper ballot voting systems in all NM counties:

An evaluation presented to the Election Reform Task Force of 2005 of the audit provision in the New Mexico Election Code revealed ambiguities and substantive issues that need to be addressed. In addition, changes are needed to make the audit compatible with our new paper ballot voting systems.

We have, therefore, developed a new audit provision to address these needs, and while we were at it, we developed a new audit concept that is just now gaining currency in the election integrity community. The essence of the concept is to randomly select a sample of voting machines in such a way that the size of the sample would assure that, if faulty machines existed, there would be a high probability (e.g., 90%) that at least one faulty machine would be in the sample. The sample size would be dependent on the margin between the winner and the loser - the larger the margin, the smaller the sample size needed to catch faulty voting machines that could change the winner.

If no errors are found in the sample, the winning candidate is selected based on the voting machine counts. If errors are found, then an election commission decides whether the magnitude of the errors is such that the election result might be reversed. If so, further sampling or a full recount would be called for, depending on the details of the errors. If the election commission decides that it would unlikely for the election to be reversed, no further recounting would occur, and the winner would be declared based on the original results, as corrected for errors found in the sample that was recounted.

Some features of audit provision are:

- It will cover votes cast by absentee ballots, at early voting sites, and during election day in a uniform way.

- Offices covered are the governor or president (whichever is on the ballot), the statewide office for which the winning margin is smallest, and the federal office for which the winning margin is smallest.

- An election commission will be formed consisting of the director of the bureau of elections, the attorney general or designee, the state auditor or designee, and three public members, one of whom is an expert in statistics and two of whom represent different nonpartisan voter information/education organizations.

- The election commission is responsible for establishing the rules for carrying out the audit, for overseeing the audit, and establishing standards and procedures for the audit.

This audit provision was selected by United Voters of New Mexico and Verified Voting New Mexico as one of their priorities for the 2007 Legislature. It was presented to the interim legislative committee on Courts, Corrections, and Justice, and was approved for the 2007 Legislature. Senator McSorley introduced legislation embodying the audit provision as Senate Bill 179. Representative Stewart has offered to carry the bill in the House.

You can help get this audit provision passed by writing your legislators, Senator McSorley, and Representative Stewart, and by attending Legislature committee sessions where the bill is being heard. Visit the NM Legislature website for contact information, bill tracking, etc.

Thanks, Paul Stokes

Editor's Note: This is a Guest Blog by Paul Stokes of Albuquerque. If you'd like to submit a post for consideration as a Guest Blog, please contact me by clicking on the Email Me link at the upper left-hand corner of our main page.

5th Annual Peace and Justice Day at the NM Legislature: Jan. 31

From the Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center: Peace and Jusitice Day at the legislature!

BRING THE TROOPS HOME FROM IRAQ!
DISMANTLE THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS AT KIRTLAND AFB!
STOP THE ESCALATION: NO WAR ON IRAN!
at the 5th Annual Peace & Justice Day, NM State Legislature
Wednesday, January 31, 2007, 9 AM to 2 PM (or so)

11 AM: News Conference in the Rotunda featuring Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino and an overview of 2007 Peace and Justice Legislation, including

• A Memorial calling for immediate withdrawal of US Troops from Iraq,
• A Bill to create a New Mexico Office of Peace (SB499),
• A Joint Resolution calling for Impeachment of the President and Vice President (SJR5),
• A Memorial to Dismantle the 2500 Nuclear Weapons at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque (see earlier post), and
• A Bill requiring the state to provide testing of New Mexico military veterans for depleted uranium, a radioactive heavy metal used as a weapon in the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On critical issues such as these it is important for states to take action when the federal government will not.

Other legislative issues on which New Mexico and Senator Ortiz y Pino are taking the lead are Biodiesel Tax Credits (SB607), Election Day Registration, Medical Marijuana, Earned Income Tax Credit, and Military Recruitment in Public Schools.

Peace and Justice groups will have information tables all day in the West Halls of History displaying the human cost of war and work being done locally for Peace and Justice.

To carpool from the P&J Center in the morning, and for more info call 268-955. For more info on the legislation, contact Desi Brown, assistant to Senator Ortiz y Pino, (505) 256-0668 or desibrown@comcast.net.

Editor's Note: You can find and track legislation and get contact information on legislators at the NM Legislature website.

Lobbying Day Wed. for Memorial to Dismantle Kirtland Nukes

From Stop the War Machine:
State Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino's office is writing a memorial that calls for the dismantlement of the 2000 nuclear weapons at Kirtland Air Force Base (the largest concentration of nuclear weapons anywhere -- If Albuquerque were to secede from the union, it would be the world's third largest nuclear power: Russia, USA, Albuquerque). The memorial will be introduced on Wednesday, January 31 (Peace and Justice Day) at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe.

Folks are invited to come to the Roundhouse in Santa Fe on Peace and Justice Day (Wed. Jan. 31) and meet at the Stop the War Machine table (west entrance to the Rotunda) at 10 AM to pick up materials and organize lobby groups. There will be a Press Conference at 11 AM in the Roundhouse Rotunda. All are invited.

All are invited to contact their state senators and state representatives to express support for this memorial.

To find contact information for your state legislator:
https://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/lcsdocs/HouseMailingList.PDF

To find contact information for your state senator:
https://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/lcsdocs/SenateMailingList.PDF

Questions? Contact Jeanne Pahls at 401-4808 or StoptheWarMachine@comcast.net

Guest Blog: Support the NM Bill to Ban Aspartame

Guest Blog by Stephen Fox:
The House bill for New Mexico to ban Aspartame was turned in; it has a number now, House Bill 391, with three committee assignments: Consumer and Public Affairs; Business and Industry, and Judiciary.

The bill is to ban the sale of Aspartame in New Mexico. This is a neurotoxic artificial sweetener that metabolizes as methanol and formaldehyde and even one more brain tumor causing agent, diketopiperazine. Its approval was forced through the FDA in 1981 by then CEO of G.D. Searle, Donald Rumsfeld, for vast personal gain, despite the FDA having turned down the approval for 15 prior years.

This broad base of support in the New Mexico House of Representatives proves that there is deep concern among legislators for the failures of the USA FDA to recognize the harm done by Aspartame to rescind FDA approval; therefore, the legislators are choosing to act at the state level in order to protect the health of all New Mexicans from further damage caused by this neurotoxic carcinogen, presently found in 6000 USA food products including diet sodas, sugarless gum, low fat yogurt and Equal (table sweetener), as well as more than 500 medications, including children's vitamins and aspirin.

These 19 Representatives have signed HB391:
Irvin Harrison (Sponsor, Vice Chair, Consumer and Public Affairs Committee)
W. Ken Martinez (Majority Leader New Mexico House of Representatives)
Henry Kiki Saavedra (Chairman, House Appropriations Committee)
Gail Chasey (Chair, House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee)
Debbie Rodella (Chair, House Business and Industry Committee)
Roger Madalena (Chair, Energy and Natural Resources)
Dan Silva (Chair, House Transportation Committee)
Jose Campos (Chair, Voters and Elections)
Miguel Garcia (Chair, Labor and Human Resources)
Nick Salazar (Chair, Rules and Order of Business; Vice Chair,Health and Government Affairs)
Bobby Gonzales (Vice Chair, Taxation and Revenue)
Patricia Lundstrom (Vice Chair, Transportation)
Ray Begaye (Vice Chair, Agriculture and Water Resources)
Joni Gutierrez (Member, Appropriations and Finance)
Elias Barela (Vice Chair, Enrolling and Engrossing)
Dr. Danice Picraux (Vice Chair, Finance and Appropriations)
Jim Trujillo (Vice Chair, Energy and Natural Resources)
Tom Swisstack (Member, Judiciary)
Andrew Barreras (Member, Business and Industry)

The Committee Assignments (3) are challenging; following are lists identifying the members of which committees we should be concentrating our efforts on to convince. Those wanting to help this effort could send quick 2 sentence notes of thanks and appreciation to these members above. Here are their email addresses, and if they don't do email, I have listed their Capitol Telephone numbers.  Letters to Governor Richardson and to Lt. Governor Denish are also helpful; they have email forms at their respective websites.

Irvin Harrison (irv4u@cnetco.com)
Ken Martinez (mlo1@7cities.net)
Henry Saavedra, in care of Buffie.Saavedra@state.nm.us
Gail Chasey gailchasey@msn.com
Roger Madalena: 505 986-4417
Debbie.Rodella@nmlegis.gov
Jose Campos josephs@plateautel.net
Miguel Garcia  Miguel.garcia@nmlegis.gov
Nick Salazar  nlsalazar@lanl.gov
plundstrom@nwnmcog.com
Danice.picraux@nmlegis.gov
Joni Gutierrez jonig@zianet.com
Dan Silva (505) 986-4425
ray.begaye@nmlegis.gov
danice.picraux@nmlegis.gov
jimtrujillo@msn.com
Tom Swisstack tswiss1@msn.com
elias@barelalaw.com
ajbarreras4staterep@hotmail.com

Thanks for helping so much, thus far....I think the real battle is going to be in the committees where the corporate lobbyists will concentrate on trying to slow down, subvert, and defeat this vital, long overdue legislation entirely. Some members I don't list because they have already informed me
that they will vote against it, so we won't waste effort on opponents: there is plenty to do to convince the fence-sitters!

Key Committee members are going to be:

House Consumer and Public Affairs:
antonio@moejustice.com Antonio Maestas
alpark.nm@gmail.com Al Park, also Chairman of House Judiciary
noralee@cableone.net Nora Espinosa, Republican from Roswell
Dub Williams (505 986-4454)

Business and Industry:
George Hanosh (Vice Chair) 505 986-4243
Justine Fox Young (Albuquerque Republican) jfoxyoung@gmail.com
Tom Garcia (ocate@hotmail.com)
Dona Irwin (donagale@zianet.com)
Tom Taylor (tom@tomtaylor.net) House Republican Leader
Gloria Vaughn Alamogordo Republican 986-4453
Richard Vigil rrvigil@plateautel.net

House Judiciary: Most emails should be sent to Al Park, Joe Cervantes,Dan Foley, Bill Rehm, Mimi Stewart, Eric Youngberg, and Teresa Zanetti

Al Park, Chair Democrat (alpark.nm@gmail.com)
Joseph Cervantes, Vice Chair Democrat (cervanteslaw@zianet.com)
Elias Barela, Democrat (elias@barelalaw.com)
Gail Chasey, Democrat gailchasey@msn.com
Daniel R. Foley, Republican (Arch conservative, Minority Whip)
daniel.foley@nmlegis.gov

Antonio "Moe" Maestas, Democrat antonio@moejustice.com
W. Ken Martinez, Democrat mlo1@7cities.net
William "Bill" R. Rehm, Republican bill.rehm@comcast.net
Mimi Stewart, Democrat mstewart@osogrande.com
Thomas E. Swisstack, Democrat tswiss1@msn.com
Gloria C. Vaughn, Republican 505 986-4453
Eric A. Youngberg, Republican eric_youngberg@msn.com
Teresa A. Zanetti, Republican electzanetti@comcast.net

I appreciate your immediate attention to these requests for correspondence in favor of banning aspartame: they will make the difference. In all cases, even with telephoning, always ask for a response in writing which will state their position. This will be invaluable in assesing where we stand, i.e., in counting the votes....

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Respectfully,
Stephen Fox
stephen@santafefineart.com
Santa Fe, NM 87501
505-983-2002

Editor's Note: This is a Guest Blog by Stephen Fox. If you'd like to submit a post for possible publication as a Guest Blog, please contact me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand corner of our main page. Guest Blogs provide an opportunity for readers to express their opinions on issues of interest to them and don't necessarily reflect the views of DFNM or myself.

Citizen's Lobby Day on Surface Owners' Protection Act

Passed along by the Coalition for the Valle Vidal:
COME ONE! COME ALL! NM Surface Owners’ Protection Act Citizen’s Lobby Day and Press Conference

Representative Andy Nuñez (D-Hatch) invites you and yours to Santa Fe for a special press conference and citizen’s lobby day in support of the Surface Owners’ Protection Act, a strong bill that would protect landowners’ facing oil and gas development on their property:

Tuesday, January 30, 2007
11:00 AM – Citizen’s Lobby Orientation (location TBA)
12:30 PM – Press Conference, State Capitol Room 310
Santa Fe, New Mexico

A brief orientation session on the legislative process and the Surface Owners’ Protection Act will take place at 11:00 AM. We are in the process of confirming the location for this session. A press conference in support of the Surface Owners’ Protection Act will take place at 12:30 PM in Room 310 of the Roundhouse. Your attendance at the both the orientation and the press conference is requested. Those travelling to Santa Fe are encouraged to call their State Representatives and Senators and let them know you would like to meet next Tuesday to discuss the need for passage of a strong bill protecting landowners’ facing oil and gas development on their property. For a list of all legislators, visit https://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/

Background
The Surface Owners’ Protection Act, if passed, will for the first time, require companies in New Mexico to: notify landowners 30 days in advance of drilling operations; negotiate a surface use agreement with the landowner; and, adequately compensate the landowner for damages and use of the land. Representative Andy Nuñez (D-Hatch) has led the charge to pass the bill for the past two legislative sessions in Santa Fe. In 2005 the bill made it through the House of Representatives but
the session ended before the bill could be voted on in the Senate. In 2006 the bill was pulled because it was amended heavily in committee and watered down by the oil and gas industry to the point that it lacked key landowner protections. With your support and involvement, Representative Nuñez is hopeful the bill will pass in 2007. (Final bill language should be available on-line very soon). 

For more information, call Gwen at 970-759-4387.

Saturday's Insight NM Radio Show to Feature Maestas, Grant, Burgos

Eric Griego's weekly political talk and call-in show, Insight New Mexico, produced by Suzanne Prescott, will again be aired on Progressive Talk Radio 1350 AM in Albuquerque tomorrow, Saturday, January 27th, from 3:00 to 4:00 PM. The show is also rebroadcast on Sunday's from 7-8 AM. We need to support the show if we want it to remain on the air!

The January 27 Show Lineup Includes: Democratic NM State Rep. Moe Maestas, Albuquerque Tribune columnist Gene Grant, NM conservative blogger Mario Burgos and a surprise guest. More on the guests:

Moe Maestas - is a Democrat serving in the New Mexico House of Representative from District 16 in Albuquerque. He's a 'freshman' legislator and sits on the Consumer & Public Affairs Committee, Judiciary Committee and is the Chair of Enrolling and Engrossing. We're not sure what the last assignment is but we hope to find out. He is sponsor of the following Bills:

HB183 PROHIBIT UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE OF LAW
HB184 UNIFORM REVISED LIMITED PARTNERSHIP ACT
HB271 IDENTIFY MINORS & DEPENDENTS UPON ARRESTS
HB272 CORRECTIONS POPULATION CONTROL ACT CHANGES

Moe Maestas can be reached at: antonio@moejustice.com.

Gene Grant - is the host of "The Line," the round table public affairs program that airs Friday nights at 7pm on KNME. Grant is also a columnist for the Albuquerque Tribune on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Whether art, culture or politics Gene presents a unique and insightful blend. Contact Gene at https://www.abqtrib.com/staff/gene-grant/contact/.

Mario Burgos - Mario's blog is popular in New Mexico and has a pronounced conservative take on New Mexico politics. Compare our guests' points of view. How persuasive are their arguments concerning issues you care about? If not Mario, then someone should remind you "not to believe everything you think." Visit Mario Burgos, the blog. 

A Surprise Special Guest - Eric will feature a guest from one of Albuquerque's active advocacy groups.

More National Attention for NM Impeachment Resolution

The Nation's John Nichols comments on the New Mexico impeachment resolution, Jack Cafferty's respectful reporting about it on CNN and its premise being bolstered by the ongoing Scooter Libby trial. Building, building, building. As was said at the resolution press conference, "'We created a ripple. Your voice is going to turn it into a tidal wave hopefully." Only if we keep up the pressure...

Where is Richardson on impeachment?
What I and many others are awaiting is a definitive word from the presidential candidate from NM, Gov. Bill Richardson, on this matter. You'd think he'd be weighing in on an impeachment effort being launched within his own state legislature, but you'd be wrong. Apparently he'd rather talk about other matters less "controversial." Personally, I think if Richardson wants serious consideration as a presidential candidate, he should comment seriously about perhaps the most important issue on the table: Bush's lawbreaking and what to do about it. What about it, Governor?