UUCSF Legislative Update.  February 4, 2012.  Recommendations about Bills, Memorials, Etc.

By Kitty Sherlock  (kcsherlock43@yahoo.com) Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Santa Fe, Social Justice Team

PART 1. DIRECTIONS

A.  Purpose: The goals of the UUCSF Social Justice Team and its Hunger and Poverty Task Force are based on the seven principles of Unitarian-Universalism. We are led by these basic values to foster and defend equality and diversity for human beings and respect for the interdependence of all living creatures. This list of current bills being debated in the NM State Legislature was based on input from the organizations listed below. I have compiled the list (“PART 2”), along with recommendations for support or non-support, so as to encourage you to take informed action on relevant decisions that are being made right now, decisions that will either implement or ignore our values. I welcome your thoughts about this effort.

B.  Directions:

For basic information about these bills, go online to www.nmlegis.gov. Click on “Bill Finder.” There you have several choices on how to search:

a.   How to find the entire list of bills by number, you next click in the right hand panel on “Bill Locator 2012.” You will be linked to a list of the all the bills in numerical order (by bill number). This list will provide a short version of the title, name of the sponsor who introduced the bill, and list the committees it has been assigned to. If you click on the Bill I.D. number, it will take you to the entry for the bill, listing its committees and current status.  In the entry for the bill number, you will see an option called “Introduced.” Click on “Introduced,” and it will take you to the actual statement/script of the bill.

b.  How to search by the name of the sponsor of the bill, click on “Sponsor” and it will take you to that legislator’s page. From there, click on the Legislative Session (year) for the bills that legislator has introduced.

c.   How to search by bill number, click on “Number” and it will take you to the entry for just that bill.

This website, www.nmlegis.gov., will also provide you with a listing of the standing committees (held during the Legislative Session) and the interim committees (held later in the years) and their members.

d.  Locating where the bill is now: On the Bill Finder page, - panel on the right, you’ll find “Today’s Agenda.” Click on it and go to “Committee Meeting Schedules” to find today’s schedule. Call Committee Secretaries for a projection on when future bills will be discussed by that committee.

e.  How to locate legislators: Although your comments can be received by all legislators, your input will be taken especially seriously by your own local Representatives and Senators. To identify and contact them, go to www.lam-nm.org and click on the “Lutheran Advocacy Ministry” website. On the left, you will see a panel with green lettering that says “Take Action.”  Under that, click on “Legislative Contacts.” You will be asked to type in your home address and zip code.  (Santa Fe’s representatives are not classified by zip code, so you have to click on the next page that shows up, which asks for your home address. Based on that, it will tell you your state Representative and your state Senator.) To contact legislators or their offices by telephone while they are at the Legislature, call the Legislative Switchboard at 505-986-4300 or look on the www.nmlegis.gov website, or look in the 2011 Legislative Almanac (a free handout at the Legislature).

f.  Effective methods: It is more effective if you focus on one subject area or one bill at a time. (You may need to send more than one message.) Please let me know if you take action (letter or email writing, phone calling, visit, etc.) on any of these bills or on other bills that you suggest we include (contact Kitty Sherlock - kcsherlock43@yahoo.com).

C.  Sources: On the chart on the following pages, I have listed recommendations from these organizations. If you want to get more information from them, click on the link which is their acronym listed at the right side of the chart.

ABQ Interfaith - abqinterfaith@gmail.com

ACLU - New Mexico chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Contact Kathryn (505) 266-5915, Ext. 1005)

AFT - American Federation of Teachers - www.nm.aft.org

El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos - elcentronm.org

ENM - Environment New Mexico - www.environmentnewmexico.org

HANM - Health Action New Mexico - a statewide coalition to improve access to quality health care for all New Mexicans - www.healthactionnm.org

IWJNM - Interfaith Worker Justice New Mexico - www.iwj.org

LAM - Lutheran Advocacy Ministry.  Ruth Hoffman. Website:  www.lam-nm.org Go to “Take Action,” then click on “Legislative Updates” to learn bill status, recommendations and brief description.

LWV - League of Women Voters. Website: www.lwvnm.org

NMABE- New Mexico Association for Bilingual Education - www.nmabe.net

NMVFC - Voices for Children. Bill Jordan (505-244-9505). Websites: www.nmvoices.org This is connected with:  Better Choices New Mexico (Website: www.betterchoicesnewmexico.com) and Invest in Kids Now! (Website: www.investinkidsnow.org).

RESULTS - Results Santa Fe - kcsherlock43@yahoo.com or lydia.pendley@gmail.com

SOMOS - Somos Un Pueblo Unido - somosunpueblounido.org

UU - Unitarian Universalist Legislative Network (Rev. Liz McMaster mcmaster5965@msn.com or Kitty Sherlock kcsherlock43@yahoo.com)

Part 2. UUCSF LEGISLATIVE UPDATE #1 for 2012 NM LEGISLATIVE SESSION February 4, 2012. Recommendations and status of bills, memorials, etc. at the Legislature.

The UUCSF 2012 Legislative Issues Survey: Results and Conclusions

The UUCSF Social Justice Team survey asked for the priorities of congregational members so as to guide our advocacy efforts during the 2012 Session of the NM Legislature and to align them with the other UU congregations’ agendas in New Mexico.  We greatly appreciate the 63 responses we received, which represent approximately 25% of the congregation.

Results: The original list of issues was adapted from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America’s (“ELCA”) list of topics for advocacy for the 2012 NM State Legislature.  Except for the question on LGBT issues, all of the other questions relate to aspects of poverty. We asked respondents to prioritize their top 3 issue choices to support.  We also asked for suggestions for other issues, to which 12 people responded. A majority of first-priority choices were for: health care reform, hunger and nutrition assistance, and fair and responsible tax policy.  A majority of second-priority choices were for: hunger and nutrition assistance, health care reform, and “family-sustaining income” (including child care, early childhood education, Medicaid, etc.  The majority of third-priority choices were for:  health care reform, family-sustaining income and comprehensive immigration reform.  Among the additional suggestions: 4 respondents said all the issues were important to be supported, 2 people suggested “peace/ending the Afghanistan War,” 1 suggested “environment” and 1 “reproductive choice.”  Other comments reinforced tax policy, voting reform and early childhood education as priority issues.

Conclusions:

On Jan. 10, the Social Justice Team discussed the survey results and conclusions. We realized the limitations of the focus of this survey, but, nevertheless, we decided to support all of the issues, giving priority to the overall 3 top-rated issues - health care, hunger/nutrition and tax policy.

We (members of the Social Justice Team) plan to support our congregation’s advocacy by:

a.  Providing information to the congregation about upcoming bills and how to contact one’s state legislative representatives:

- Kitty Sherlock will develop a bill database and will put on the “uusantafe.org” website;

- Marion Seymour will providing more in-depth info about bills as they come up for discussion, to people listed on her “alert list.”  To get on her list, contact her at: "seymour.marion@gmail.com;

- The SJT will have an info table in the church lobby between services on Sundays during the 30-day session.

b.  We have offered to provide hospitality for the representatives from other NM UU congregations who may wish to stay overnight in Santa Fe.

Thank you again to all of you who responded to our survey!  And thanks to Jim and Sherry Kraemer, whose great technology skills made this survey so easy for us!

Arriba!

Trish Steindler and Kitty Sherlock, Social Justice Team

Complete Survey Results January 2012

New Mexico Unitarian Universalist Legislative Network (NMUULN) is working to build a strong voice for legislation that aligns with our UU principles. For the past two years, UUCSF has been part of a newly-developing UU Legislative (advocacy) Network, led statewide by  Reverend Liz McMaster (mcmaster5965@msn.com).

Goals of the New Mexico Unitarian Universalist Legislative Network (NMUULN):

• To empower UU’s in New Mexico through greater participation in the legislative processes of the State;
• To extend the influence of the values and positions of the Unitarian Universalist Association and/or the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee;
• To develop collaborative relationships between New Mexico UU congregations;
• To raise awareness of the UU denomination in the State.

Organizational Structure: NMUULN will operate as a virtual, collegial, consensus-based organization. All congregations are urged to participate. The primary methods for conducting business will be via internet and teleconferencing. A coordinator will assume responsibility for:

• Tracking legislative activity and communicating with Network representatives throughout the State;
• Convening NMUULN “meetings” and documenting the results of these meetings;
• Assuring that testimony regarding NMUULN positions is presented to members of the Legislature;
• Urging congregations to support agreed upon legislation through letters, phone calls and visits to their local legislators, establishing letter writing campaigns, etc.

Decision Making Process: It is assumed that all actions will reflect positions approved by the UUA in its General Assemblies. Further, matters of conscience adopted by individual congregations within NM will be considered as eligible for support by the NMUULN, with the final decision regarding such support being reached by consensus of the participating members.

Matters of interest considered by the NMUULN may be in reaction to proposals before the Legislative bodies, or may be proactive in nature. In the latter case, it is anticipated that the various congregations will consider the issues in question according to the procedures set forth in the By-Laws of each congregation.

Any support for or opposition to impending legislation will be presented as being based on consensus of representatives of NMUULN. However, individual congregations may express support for or opposition to impending legislation as reflective of the positions reached by those individual congregations.