THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF NEW MEXICO

We Need Your Voice - Attend the League Day at the Legislature

Priorities

The 2009 60 day Legislative Session will be dealing with many pieces of legislation that have been prioritized by the League of Women Voters. The Winter 2009 issue of La Palabra (online; click here ) contains a wealth of information about the bills and issues of interest to the League that will come up in the 2009 Legislative session.

This year two general priority areas have been selected: health care and election/ethics reform. We also expect to support individual bills in other areas, including repeal of the death penalty, education, drug policy, freedom of choice, a domestic partnership bill, and some water and natural resource issues.

LWVNM selects its priorities based on several factors, including the potential for making progress in a given area, the availability and interest of League lobbyists, and support for the issue in existing League positions. All three factors must be present. This year we know that there will be strong efforts by multiple groups to improve health care in New Mexico, to move forward with same-day registration, and to repeal the death penalty, and so we hope to see some progress in these areas. Education is of course a perennial subject, as it accounts for a large fraction of state expenditures.

There are other issues in which many League members are interested, especially in the area of natural resources, but which we do not have the positions to address as the League. Keep this in mind for the state convention next year; what additional positions do we need to develop through our study and consensus process?

Some of the issues will be addressed by our two League Day speakers:

• Diane Wood of the ACLU will speak on domestic parnership legislation, freedom of choice, and the repeal of the death penalty.
• Maggie Toulouse-Oliver, Bernalillo County clerk, will speak about same-day voter registration.

So join us for League Day on February 3, and ensure that the League of Women Voters is a real presence as we move forward with these important issues during the 2009 legislative session.

Logistics

Although reservations are not required we would like to have an idea of the number of attendees. Please e-mail Dick Mason at the following: polirich@aol.com; or call the office at 505-884-8441

The LWVNM Action Committee will be sending out email Action Alerts throughout the 2009 Legislative session. If you are not part of the LWVNM Topics List please go to www.lwvnm.org and sign up. You can also join the LWVNM Topics listserve by sending a blank e-mail message to lwvNMtopics-subscribe@yahoogroups.com from the address where you wish to receive LWVNMTopics messages. You will get back a message from yahoogroups.com requesting confirmation that you indeed wish to joing this group. Ignore the contents of this message! Just hit the “Reply” button and then the “Send” button to confirm that you wish to join. Then you will receive a second welcoming message from yahoogroups.com that you should save, since it will tell you how to post messages to the list, access its archives and other useful information. That’s all there is to it!

For further information on League Day please call 505-884-8441 or visit the state website at www.lwvnm.org

Transportation: Contact your local League if you can drive or if you need a ride. Parking near the State House is hard to find during the session. The state does operate a shuttle from other parking lots. Get the schedule and locations here: nmshtd.state.nm.us/upload/images/Schedule2009.pdf

Lunch: Bring or buy a lunch. For $10, you may purchase a sack lunch that will include a veggie or meat sandwich, chips, cookie and drink. Reservations are required and must be made by 3pm, Thursday, January 29. Call in your order and choice of sandwich to the League in Santa Fe, 1-505-982-9766, or e-mail Jane Gaziano at jeg7@aol.com. Questions? Call Dick Mason at 1-505-994-0685.

Accommodations: Garrett's Desert Inn, which is located across the street from the Land Office at 311 Old Santa Fe Trail, offers a legislative rate of $59 plus tax. That doesn't include breakfast, but they have an attached restaurant. There may be a charge of $8.00 for parking if you check out the morning of League Day. Call 1-800-888-2145 to make a reservation. Mention the LWV and ask for the legislative rate.