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ACTION ALERT: Help stop voter suppression and fraud S.B. 144

4 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee rammed through Democrats’ extremist S.B. 8 amendment to S.B. 144 — turning the formerly two-page bill about election judge safety into an over 165-page bill that will allow for unsecured ballot drop boxes, 16-year-olds voting in municipal elections, widespread ballot harvesting, and removal of security measures on ballots. 

Judiciary Chairwoman Gail Chasey (D-Bernalillo) only allowed for 25 minutes of public comment on either side, with even Democrat county clerks questioning the motives of the night-hour tactics to desperately ram through the bill no one has had a chance to read. 

Democrat Bernalillo County Clerk Linda Stover was skeptical of the lengthy amendments, questioning why the bill’s sponsor and his expert witness, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, did not consult county clerks. “Perhaps you should include some of the clerks in the discussion.” 

During commentary against the radical amendments to the bill, Chairwoman Chasey repeatedly silenced and muted attendees whom she disagreed with. After the comments, she claimed, “this is a safe space to speak your mind,” with the caveat, “I don’t allow comments from our members to attack members or their witnesses. And I do not allow imputation of terrible motives like ‘treason’ to any of our members. There were a couple of times I cut people off for that reason.”

Naturally, commenters in support of the amendment, despite many of them saying they had no idea what was in the language that they had no time to read, were not cut off by Chasey.

After some discussion from the committee members, Chasey demanded the Committee take a vote despite multiple representatives still waiting to ask questions of the bill sponsor. One of those representatives was Rep. Bill Rehm (R-Bernalillo) who was not called on yet for questions. He noted his hand had been up to speak, but Chasey gagged him. The committee rammed through S.B. 144 with its amendments by a vote of 9-3, with Rehm voting against it but “under protest.” 

The radical legislation now heads to the House floor for final consideration in that chamber before making its way back to the Senate for a concurrence vote. The concurrence vote will be a key factor in its defeat, as the Senate has rules set in place to stop the logrolling of legislation like this. The public is urged to contact all legislators to vote “NO” on S.B. 144. 

CONTACT NM REPRESENTATIVES TO VOTE NO ON SB144!

email nm representatives

If the button does not work for you, please add these email addresses in your BCC line of a new email: eliseo.alcon@nmlegis.gov, anthony.allison@nmlegis.gov, phelps.anderson@nmlegis.gov, deborah.armstrong@nmlegis.gov, gail@gailfornewmexico.com, brian.baca@nmlegis.gov, karen.bash@nmlegis.gov, rachel.black@nmlegis.gov, kay.bounkeua@nmlegis.gov, c.brown.nm55@gmail.com, micaela.cadena@nmlegis.gov, ambrose.castellano@nmlegis.gov, christine.chandler@nmlegis.gov, gail@gailchasey.com, jack.chatfield@nmlegis.gov, zachary.cook@nmlegis.gov, randal.crowder@nmlegis.gov, art.delacruz@nmlegis.gov, meredith.dixon@nmlegis.gov, rebecca.dow@nmlegis.gov, brian.egolf@nmlegis.gov, daymon.ely@nmlegis.gov, csecows@aol.com, kelly.fajardo@nmlegis.gov, joanne.ferrary@nmlegis.gov, natalie.figueroa@nmlegis.gov, doreen.gallegos@nmlegis.gov, hgarciad69@gmail.com, miguel.garcia@nmlegis.gov, joy.garratt@nmlegis.gov, JasonHarperNM@gmail.com, joshua.hernandez@nmlegis.gov, pamelya.herndon@nmlegis.gov, susan.herrera@nmlegis.gov, dayan.hochman-vigil@nmlegis.gov, dwonda.johnson@nmlegis.gov, RYAN@LANEFORLIBERTY.COM, raymundo.lara@nmlegis.gov, derrick.lente@nmlegis.gov, stefani.lord@nmlegis.gov, georgene.louis@nmlegis.gov, tara.lujan@nmlegis.gov, patricia.lundstrom@nmlegis.gov, willie.madrid@nmlegis.gov, antonio.maestas@nmlegis.gov, javier.martinez@nmlegis.gov, marian.matthews@nmlegis.gov, matthew.mcqueen@nmlegis.gov, roddmontoya@gmail.com, roger.montoya@nmlegis.gov, greg.nibert@nmlegis.gov, kristina.ortez@nmlegis.gov, randall.pettigrew@nmlegis.gov, jpandp@comcast.net, bill.rehm@nmlegis.gov, andrea@andrearomero.com, andres.romero@nmlegis.gov, pat.roybalcaballero@nmlegis.gov, angelica.rubio@nmlegis.gov, debbie.sarinana@nmlegis.gov, larry.scott@nmlegis.gov, linda.serrato@nmlegis.gov, nathan.small@nmlegis.gov, jamesstrickler@msn.com, candie.sweetser@nmlegis.gov, luis.terrazas@nmlegis.gov, liz.thomson@nmlegis.gov, townsend@pvtn.net, christine.trujillo@nmlegis.gov, martin.zamora@nmlegis.gov

This is language you can add in your email body. Feel free to tweak as you like:

Dear Representative, I am emailing to OPPOSE Senate Bill 144, which was amended in the dead of night to add 165 pages of new, dangerous language. The amendments include measures to harm our elections and rip away the voices of New Mexicans, especially from marginalized and underserved communities like senior citizens, low-income families, and others. This bill will permit votes to be harvested from our seniors and forged ballots that will cancel out the voices of New Mexicans — creating widespread voter suppression. For these reasons and others, please vote NO on voter suppression SB 144. We cannot allow New Mexico to become the wild west of voter fraud. Thank you.

The legislation still does not have a place on the latest House floor calendar uploaded to the Legislature’s website at 1:06 a.m. on Wednesday, but that could chance on a dime. The Piñon Post will continue to keep you updated on the latest. The most up-to-date info can be found on Twitter. 

In the House Government, Elections, and Indian Affairs Committee, radical gas tax on the poor S.B. 14 has stalled, with a committee vote on the measure being pushed to the next meeting. As of Wednesday, there is no scheduled meeting for the committee. With another hurdle looming for the bill’s final passage in the House, the bill appears to be dead. 

ACTION ALERT: Help stop voter suppression and fraud S.B. 144 Read More »

There is still time to oppose the CCP’s extreme gerrymandered redistricting maps

2 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

The New Mexico Citizens Redistricting Committee held its last public meeting on Friday to hear what the public has to say about redistricting and their needs. The Committee heard from communities of interest from across the state, including Native American, Hispanic, and other communities that offered their ideas for what proper representation means. 

The Center for Civic Policy (CCP), a dark money group funded heavily by out-of-state billionaire financier George Soros, who destabilized the British Pound at the Bank of England, and millionaire Rob McKay, whose foundation had its non-profit status revoked in 2018, is trying to partisanly gerrymander the map to favor one side. 

The group claims its extremely partisan congressional map (Concept H) is the “people’s map,” but it would erase the only Native American member of New Mexico’s congressional delegation — GOP Rep. Yvette Herrell — and likely place in a far-leftist. The map would also segregate the South Valley of Albuquerque into the Second District and lump a large chunk of Albuquerque into a strange district that sprawls all the way to Roswell. The strange shape of the districts also would lump Hobbs with communities like Española and Santa Fe, which have astronomically different cultures and needs.

The CCP’s state legislative map (Concept G) does much of the same, achieving an extreme partisan gerrymander while also erasing rural representation. It would chop communities like Clovis into thirds while not taking into account the needs of energy-producing, farming, ranching, and other communities that are the backbone of the state’s economy. The map also takes into account at least 8 Native American-majority districts to ensure fair representation. The CCP’s map does not have this many Tribal districts.

Members are urged to comment using what Members Lisa Curtis and Robert Rhatigan have had to say at the August 2, 2021 meeting that radical changes should not happen unless there is overwhelming support for such changes:

Board Member Curtis said, “It seems like a radical change to any of the districts — since we’re not an elected body — … the public would have to say ‘we want a radical change.’” Member Curtis said, “there would have to be overwhelming support for a radical change from the current districts” and “We are imposing something on people if we’re doing radical change without the public jumping up and saying ‘this is what we want.’” 

Board Member Rhatigan added, “…unless there’s overwhelming public consensus to change the general composition of our three congressional districts, I’m inclined to draw districts that we have one [representative] in Albuquerque and we have one northern district and a southern district.”

Members of the public still have time to make their voices heard by submitting comment in the Redistricting Committee’s comment portal. Citizens are urged to advocate against the CCP’s maps while supporting the “Rural Representation” map proposed by Megan Richardson and state House map concept B. 

For the Congressional map, citizens should ask for minimal changes in the redistricting of the three congressional districts, supporting Concepts A, B, C, or G. Concept H, the CCP’s map should be advocated against for its clear partisanship. Ex-state Sen. and far-left Committee Member Michael Sanchez took offense on Friday to the words “extreme” and“radical” to talk about the CCP’s maps, which appears to show he is trying to advocate for them.

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR TESTIMONY
YOUR ACTION TO OPPOSE EXTREME REDISTRICTING IS VITAL FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR STATE.

Please submit comments by Friday, October 15, when the Committee will adopt concept maps to propose to the Legislature.

If nothing else, the commentary submitted against the CCP’s maps is the most important in defeating the far-left, partisan maps that do the diametric opposite of the Citizens Redistricting Committee’s purpose — to give the power to the PEOPLE, not out-of-state-funded dark money groups.

There is still time to oppose the CCP’s extreme gerrymandered redistricting maps Read More »

ACTION ALERT: Attend Friday NM redistricting meeting to support fair maps

2 Comments / Action Alert, New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Friday, the New Mexico Citizens Redistricting Committee is set to meet in Farmington to discuss redrawing state House, state Senate, congressional, and Public Education Commission maps. 

This redistricting year is the first in the state’s history where citizens are allowed to submit their very own district maps along with written testimony for free.

Far-left extremist groups seeking to expand seats to fulfill their partisan advantage, such as the Center for Civic Policy, have proposed heavily gerrymandered maps that would cut communities of interest into sections and partition seats into strange shapes to meet a partisan advantage. One such map is Concept H, which is an extreme partisan gerrymander, making all three congressional districts in New Mexico solid blue by chopping up the South Valley of Albuquerque into the southern Second District and taking away the oil patch from the Second to add to the Third District, making it stretch all the way from Eddy and Lea Counties to Santa Fe and west to McKinley and San Juan Counties. 

Concepts A, B, C, or G should be advocated for at the meeting for their non-radical changes to the congressional plan. 

In the group’s state House and Senate maps, districts would be heavily gerrymandered to span across many counties. In the extremist dark money group’s state House plan, Clovis is chopped up into three districts while District 49 on the western side of the state would span four counties. District 67 would span five counties while many other districts have twisted shapes, indicating an extreme partisan gerrymander. 

Citizens are encouraged to attend this vital meeting (in-person or via Zoom) to oppose these extreme gerrymandered plans, which are proposed and funded by dark money groups to skew the maps politically — a grave violation of the Committee’s purpose: to create fair maps. State House maps to advocate for include Concept B or the Megan Richardson map proposed in the application “Districtr,” which would all create fair maps. Please show up to attend via in-person in Gallup or Farmington or via Zoom.

The meeting details are below:

The Citizen Redistricting Committee will hold a public meeting on Friday, October 8, 2021 from 3pm to 7pm or until adjourned, to provide members of the public an opportunity to share public comment and testimony to the Committee on the proposed concepts of district maps for New Mexico’s offices to be redistricted.

Satellite locations that will be broadcasting this meeting and providing opportunities for public comment are as follows: 

University of New Mexico Gallup Campus, Calvin Hall Auditorium, Room 248
425 N 7th St, Gallup, NM 87301
For more information, click here. 

To submit a public comment, or statewide district plan online, visit the CRC’s Public Redistricting Portal.

For in-person attendance at meetings:

Masks are required for those who have not been vaccinated and encouraged for those who have been vaccinated. You are also encouraged to practice social distancing.

To attend the meeting virtually, please see the details below: 

Agenda & Meeting Materials: https://www.nmredistricting.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Agenda-for-2021-10-08-CRC-Meeting-Farmington.pdf 

Please click this URL to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83550539072

Webinar ID: 835 5053 9072

No Password

Dial-in Numbers:

+13462487799,,83550539072# US (Houston)

+16699009128,,83550539072# US (San Jose)

CRC Rules of Procedure 

The Gallup meeting on October 8 from 3-7 p.m. at the University of New Mexico Gallup Campus, Calvin Hall Auditorium, Room 248,  meeting is a satellite location happening simultaneously with the CRC meeting taking place in Farmington, NM meaning that the CRC members will not be physically present in Gallup. The CRC hosts satellite locations to provide community members the opportunity to make public comments or provide testimony on redistricting issues in person with other community members when they cannot make it to the CRC’s in-person meeting locations and or have limited internet access.

ACTION ALERT: Attend Friday NM redistricting meeting to support fair maps Read More »

ACTION ALERT: Attend Thursday NM redistricting meeting to oppose extreme partisan maps

1 Comment / Action Alert, New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Thursday, the New Mexico Citizens Redistricting Committee is set to meet in Albuquerque to discuss redrawing state House, state Senate, congressional, and Public Education Commission maps. 

This redistricting year is the first in the state’s history where citizens are allowed to submit their very own district maps along with written testimony for free.

According to the committee staff, “Use the public input portal to submit a map or written testimony.  The link to do that is here. Submit a Public Comment or Map – New Mexico Citizens Redistricting Committee (nmredistricting.org) This is the first time that communities have had access to this kind of FREE mapping technology during redistricting to help policy makers better understand and respect what we want and need in terms of representation.”

In order to ensure fair districts are drawn, New Mexicans are encouraged to submit their maps to keep communities of interest together and to ensure the maps do not give any side a partisan advantage. The Committee will listen to concerns from voters and make determinations based upon the public’s input, which makes attending these meetings extremely important.

Far-left extremist groups seeking to expand seats to fulfill their partisan advantage, such as the Center for Civic Policy, have proposed heavily gerrymandered maps that would cut communities of interest into sections and partition seats into strange shapes to meet a partisan advantage. One such map is Concept H, which is an extreme partisan gerrymander, making all three congressional districts in New Mexico solid blue by chopping up the South Valley of Albuquerque into the southern Second District and taking away the oil patch from the Second to add to the Third District, making it stretch all the way from Eddy and Lea Counties to Santa Fe and west to McKinley and San Juan Counties.

In the group’s state House and Senate maps, districts would be heavily gerrymandered to span across many counties. In the extremist dark money group’s state House plan, Clovis is chopped up into three districts while District 49 on the western side of the state would span four counties. District 67 would span five counties while many other districts have twisted shapes, indicating an extreme partisan gerrymander. 

Citizens are encouraged to attend this vital meeting (in-person or via Zoom) to oppose these extreme gerrymandered plans, which are proposed and funded by dark money groups to skew the maps politically — a grave violation of the Committee’s purpose: to create fair maps.

Here are the meeting details:

The Citizen Redistricting Committee will hold a public meeting on Thursday, October 7, 2021 from 3pm to 7pm, to provide members of the public an opportunity to share public comment and testimony to the Committee on the proposed concepts of district maps for New Mexico’s offices to be redistricted.

Satellite locations that will be broadcasting this meeting and providing opportunities for public comment are as follows: TBA

To submit a public comment, or statewide district plan online, visit the CRC’s Public Redistricting Portal.

For in-person attendance at meetings:
Masks are required for those who have not been vaccinated and encouraged for those who have been vaccinated. You are also encouraged to practice social distancing.

To attend the meeting virtually, please see the details below: 

Agenda & Meeting Materials: https://www.nmredistricting.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Agenda-for-2021-10-07-CRC-Meeting-IPCC.pdf 

Please click this URL to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83550539072

Webinar ID: 835 5053 9072

No Password

Dial-in Numbers:

+13462487799,,83550539072# US (Houston)

+16699009128,,83550539072# US (San Jose)

CRC Rules of Procedure 

With it being offered in-person or virtually, there is NO reason you should not be in attendance. The future of our state relies on your action.

ACTION ALERT: Attend Thursday NM redistricting meeting to oppose extreme partisan maps Read More »

Legislative Update: Recreational pot, gas tax hike bills to be heard in committee Tuesday

Leave a Comment / Action Alert / By

With less than two weeks left in the 2021 Legislative Session, there are many bills being rammed through committees by Democrats in both chambers, and here are some key pieces of legislation that will be heard in committee on Tuesday:

SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE
SENATOR GEORGE MUÑOZ, CHAIRMAN – Tuesday, March 9, 2021, 9:30 a.m.

S.B. 11 CLEAN FUEL STANDARD ACT (also known as the 20-cent gas tax on the poor act) by Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-Bernalillo). 

The bill puts extreme clean fuel standards on businesses that produce or import transportation fuels and fuels used in motor vehicles. The restrictions on these companies would force them to invest in costly upgrades to their fuel standards, meaning these costs would transfer to the consumers. The bill also adds vague and sweeping “enviro-justice” provisions to state law.

In California and Oregon, where clean fuel standards are already in place, there are already increased costs of up to 24 cents per gallon on gas, which directly hurts poor consumers. 

Call these Senators and ask them to oppose S.B. 11–the gas tax on the poor and the middle classes. 

  • George Munoz (D), Chair, 505-397-8836, senatormunoz@gmail.com
  • Nancy Rodriguez (D), Vice Chair, 505-397-8844, nancy.rodriguez@nmlegis.gov
  • William E. Sharer (R), Ranking Member, 505-986-4381, bill@williamsharer.com
  • William F. Burt (R), 505-986-4366, bill.burt@nmlegis.gov
  • Pete Campos (D), 505-397-8818, pete.campos@nmlegis.gov
  • Jacob Candelaria (D), 505-397-8819, jacob.candelaria@nmlegis.gov
  • Crystal R. Diamond (R), 505-986-4703, crystal.diamond@nmlegis.gov
  • Roberto “Bobby” Gonzales (D), 505-397-8825, Roberto.gonzales@nmlegis.gov
  • Siah Correa Hemphill (D), 505-397-8821, siah.hemphill@nmlegis.gov
  • Jeff Steinborn (D), 505-397-8852, jeff.steinborn@nmlegis.gov
  • Pat Woods (R), 986-4393, pat.woods@nmlegis.gov

On Monday, the committee took public comment on S.B. 11, but committee debate and the final committee vote was rolled over to Tuesday. There is still time to email senators to oppose the bill.

TAX, BUSINESS AND TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
Senator Benny Shendo Jr., Chair – Tuesday, March 9, 2021 – 1:30 p.m. or 15 minutes after floor session – Virtual Zoom Meeting

H.B. 12 CANNABIS REGULATION ACT by Rep. Javier Martinez (D-Bernalillo) and Rep. Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe). This marijuana legalization bill according to the bill sponsor, “makes for the perfect conditions if you will. I don’t think the opportunity has ever been better than it is now to pass a legalization bill.” He says New Mexico needs the bill to cover for gaps in the budget, despite revenue projections being astronomically lower with recreational legalization of pot in states that have legalized it like the state of Colorado.

The revenue projections from the fiscal impact report claim in 2022 the law will increase state revenues by $15,186,000. Mind you, the state’s projected budget is over $7 billion, meaning pot legalization would only make up 0.2% of revenues. Even with the bill’s higher projections of $35,128,400 in revenues by 2024, that would only be approximately 0.5% of the needed revenues for a state budget projected at $7 billion. 

Pro-family groups such as the Family Policy Alliance are organizing against the legalized pot bills, making the case that, “Since Colorado legalized recreational weed, our neighboring state has seen a dramatic increase in violent crime, traffic fatalities, and marijuana hospitalizations. And usage by minors – sometimes fatal, from eating poorly regulated marijuana “candies” – has soared.” 

S.B. 288 CANNABIS REGULATION ACT by Sen. Cliff Pirtle (R-Chaves, Eddy and Otero) does much of the same that Rep. Martinez’s bill would, however, it would bring in even less revenue, operating at a net loss of over $2 million from the state’s General Fund in fiscal year 2022 and the most it would bring in for the state would be $8,078,400 in fiscal year 2024, as projected in the fiscal impact report. Local governments’ tax revenue would be higher than the state’s.

Read more about New Mexico legislators bankrolled by the big marijuana lobby. 

For public participation send an email to SCORC@nmlegis.gov with your Name, Entity Represented, Bill #, For or Against and indicate if you wish to speak. The deadline to respond is Tuesday, March 9 at 10:00 a.m. You will be contacted by our Zoom Operator with the virtual meeting instructions. 

Legislative Update: Recreational pot, gas tax hike bills to be heard in committee Tuesday Read More »

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