THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF NEW MEXICO

ACTION COMMITTEE 2009

LWVNM advocacy is coordinated by the Action Committee. All League members are invited to participate in the Action Committee, whether or not they wish to become registered League lobbyists. The Action Committee meets by phone on Fridays at 1 p.m. during the legislative session, and monthly throughout the year. To join this conference call from your city, please get in touch with the president of your local League.

You can also receive Action Alerts by sending a message to Action listserv.

Download the appropriate legislative agenda (House Committees, Senate Committees, House Floor, Senate Floor, HAFC) in order to find out if the bill is scheduled for a hearing. These agendas usually cover meetings coming up in the next two days, although some committees report their agendas farther in advance than that. Near the end of the session agendas may be posted only the night before a meeting.

GUIDE TO THE LEGISLATIVE WEB SITE

If you know the number or sponsor of a bill, you can most easily find it using the bill finder. This page also allows you to search by key word, subject, or status. The subject index is updated only weekly, but it provides a well-organized index to the bills introduced to date.

Alternatively, the locator provides a list of all bills introduced to date. The titles are usually sufficiently descriptive to determine whether the bill is of interest. Locator reports provide other ways to search: by date of introduction or date of legislative action, or by current location, referrals, actions, etc.

The page for each bill lists the referrals and actions to date on the bill (use the link to the Key to Abbreviations provided on each page, also available on the left-hand side of most pages) as well as PDF files of the bill as filed, all amendments, and if appropriate the Financial Impact Report, which often contains a useful summary of the bill in addition to the financial analysis.

Contact information, committee assignments and other information including a link to sponsored legislation can be found through the members' page.

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BECOME A LEAGUE LOBBYIST

At the state level the League lobbies primarily on the basis of its state positions, which reflect the interests of the New Mexico Leagues, supplemented occasionally by national positions. We can not advocate at the state level on the basis of local League positions that have not been adopted by LWVNM.

If you wish to advocate in the name of the League of Women Voters of New Mexico, you must register with the Secretary of State's office. Registration is free, as the League does not pay its members to lobby, but the registrant must file an authorization form signed by the president of the LWVNM together with his or her application in order to become a League lobbyist. The required forms can be downloaded from the Secretary of State's web site. You will need the lobbyist registration form and the lobbyist authorization form.

An individual representing only himself or herself when speaking with a legislator or other state official or employee is not a lobbyist under the terms of the law and does not need to register. Individuals can be very effective without representing a group. Indeed, the most effective citizen lobbyist is the one who engages with his own state Senator and Representative. League members who visit their legislators on League Day (February 3 in 2009) should speak only as individuals unless they are registered as League lobbyists.

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