Contacting a legislator:  Find legislators' email addresses, phone numbers and mailing addresses by going to NM State Legislative Directory or the Legislature's Web Site.  Note that legislator's home addresses might be listed as their "District Office".  During legislative sessions, letters to legislators should be addressed to the State Capitol, Santa Fe, NM 87501.  Also during sessions, you can reach any legislator by calling the Legislative Switchboard at 986-4300 or you can call their office using the telephone number that can be found using the links above. You can reach the governor's office by calling 476-2200 or sending a message at Gov. Richardson.  You can search for legislation by going to the Legislature's Bill Finder.

Affordable Housing & Homelessness:  HJM22 (Sen. John Ryan & Rep. Bill O’Neill) asks Gov. Martinez to implement an Interagency Council on Child Homelessnesss. HJM22 passed the House and the Senate and does not need the Governor's signature. SB177 (Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino) would have allowed local municipalities and counties to ask voters to increase property taxes to create a local housing fund. SB177 was amended in the Senate Corporations Committee so that it only applied to Santa Fe County and was not heard in the Senate Finance Committee.

Family-Sustaining Income: Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-NM advocates that deeper cuts not be made to the funding for programs that help low-income families.  Those programs include General Assistance, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (cuts to monthly assistance amounts and other TANF programs have already been made), child care assistance (cuts were already been made to eligibility and copayments for families have been increased), and programs for people experiencing homelessness.  HB2 includes adequate funding for the General Assistance program and further cuts to the TANF program.  The funding for child care assistance is insufficient to continue the program at the present level.  Programs for people experiencing homelessness have not been cut.  SB72 (Sen. Tim Keller) would not allow employers to consider credit scores in hiring except when there is a real occupational requirement for doing so.  SB72 was tabled in the Senate Corporations Committee.  SJR10 (Sen. Cynthia Nava) proposed a constitutional amendment for voter approval in 2012 that would designate a small percentage of the Land Grant Permanent Fund to fund early childhood care and education programs in our state.  Those programs would include quality child care assistance.  SJR10 has passed the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee and was not heard in the Senate Finance Committee.

Health Care: We advocate that the Medicaid program receive sufficient funding so that no further cuts to benefits and programs are needed. SB38 (Sen. Dede Feldman) would have created a health insurance exchange which is necessary to implement federal health care reform in New Mexico.  SB38 was joined together with SB370 (Sen. George Munoz) and passed the Senate and the House and was vetoed by the Governor.HB33 (Rep. Danice Picraux) is similar to SB38 and was been sent back to the House Health and Government Affairs Committee.   SB321 (Sen. Richard Martinez & Rep. Antonio Maestas) provided for substance abuse treatment instead of incarceration for minor drug offenders.  SB321 passed the Senate and the House and was vetoed by the Governor.

Hunger:  A New Mexico state program provides supplemental SNAP (formerly Food Stamps) benefits for seniors who are eligible for minimal assistance under federal rules.  The funding ($1 million) for this program is completely eliminated.  SJM7 (Sen. Cynthia Nava) asked the Public Education Department to convene a task force to study children’s access to proper nutrition.  SJM7 has passed the Senate and was not heard in the House Education Committee.  SB144 (Sen. Cynthia Nava) requires all school districts to establish breakfast programs in their elementary schools with at least 85% of their students eligible for free or reduced lunches and that it be served during the school day.  S144 passed the Senate and the House and was signed into law.

Tax Policy: It is important that a balanced approach be taken when addressing the state revenue shortfall.  Cuts to vital programs should not be the only consideration.  Additionally, the tax credits, exemptions and incentives (referred to as “tax expenditures”) that NM gives for various purposes need to be tracked and evaluated.   SB47 (Sen. Tim Keller) would have mandated that a tax expenditure budget be created to track information about credits, exemptions and incentives that have an impact on state revenues.   SB47 passed the Senate and the House and was vetoed by the Governor.  HB161 (Rep. Eleanor Chavez) was similar to SB47 and passed the House and the Senate and was vetoed.   SB6 (Sen. Peter Wirth) would have closed the corporate tax loophole that allows out of state corporations not to pay their fair share of corporate taxes in our state. SB6 was tabled in the Senate Corporations Committee.

Death Penalty: Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-NM opposed to these bills:  HJR6 (Rep. Dennis Kintigh) would have put a constitutional amendment on the 2012 ballot asking voters to reinstate the death penalty in New Mexico. HJR6 was tabled in the House Consumer & Public Affairs Committee.  HB371 (Rep. Dennis Kintigh) would have reinstated the death penalty by amending the current law.  HB371 was also tabled in the House Consumer & Public Affairs Committee.  SB533 (Sen. Rod Adair) would have reinstated the death penalty and was not heard by the Senate Public Affairs Committee.

Immigration:  SB151 (Sen. Tim Keller & Rep. Antonio Maestas) would have prohibited first responders from asking about immigration status.  SB151 passed the Senate.  SB152 (Sen. Richard Martinez) would not have allowed local and state law enforcement officers to detect or apprehend someone who is only in violation of federal immigration laws. SB152 has passed the Senate Public Affairs Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee but was not heard on the Senate Floor.  Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-NM supports laws which make it safer for immigrant families to report crimes or emergencies so they are not afraid to report these situations.