DPBC Dems! Don’t miss the 2021 Ward, Precinct, and CCC Meetings!

February 5, 2021Informationpdacnm

At the upcoming 2021 Democratic Party of Bernalillo County (DPBC) Ward, Precinct and County Central Committee (CCC) elections, active Dems will vote for Ward and Precinct officers and members of the County Central Committee (CCC). Some of us may run for those offices. All of us will have the opportunity to raise questions and support issues that matter to us as citizens.

Here are some handy QUICK ACCESS links to encourage you to participate Note that this year some precincts split and new wards were created, so it may be a good idea to check yours:

Registration Forms for Ward and Precinct Meetings

Note: All Registrations must be submitted no later than 11:59 pm two full days before the scheduled Ward and Precinct meeting.

For the County Central Committee Meeting, March 13

Note: Statements of Candidacy forms for the March 13 meeting must be submitted no later than March 8.

CALL TO ACTION: push back against extremism

January 12, 2021Information, Meetings, Newspdacnm

ACTIONS: NEW MEXICO: LOCAL & ROUNDHOUSE

Right now: Protect our Legislators and the Roundhouse – contact your State Representative and Senator, plus leadership.

Find your NM legislators:

Online at – https://www.nmlegis.gov/members/find_my_legislator

Call – the NM Legislative Council Service at 505 986-4600

Senate:

Sen. Peter Wirth, Majority Leader: peter.wirth@nmlegis.gov Capitol phone (505) 986-4727

House:

Rep. Brian Egolf, Speaker of the House brian.egolf@nmlegis.gov Capitol phone (505) 986-4782

Talking point suggestions: We are concerned for your safety and the safety of all the employees when in the Roundhouse for any required days. It is clear from the FBI notices about Trump extremists’ plans, and from white nationalist social media promising a civil war and “blood on the walls” – that state capitols are being targeted starting January 16th. With only 60 days to consider hundreds of bills, we need this Legislative session to continue with no delays for building evacuations, bomb detection, and more. We ask that you consider a full virtual session or change the in-person days to later in the session. Additionally, your leadership is critical – please speak out now about the full legitimacy of the Electoral College vote, and that any attempts to derail your work is an attack on our democracy.

Continue reading CALL TO ACTION: push back against extremism →

Using New Mexico’s Wonderful Legislative Website

January 12, 2021Information, Legislationpdacnm

By Lance Chilton

New Mexico may not be at the top of all lists, but it is very near the top in its excellent legislative website, nmlegis.gov. Here’s a little of what you’ll find there, and at the bottom of this list, you’ll find a link to more complete guidance as to how to use our great site.

On the home page, you’ll have a choice of Legislators, Legislation, Committees, Publications, What’s Happening, Webcast, Quick Links, Highlights and Contact Us.
Click on Legislators. If you don’t know who he/she is, search by your address for both senator and representative. Once you do know, you can search by his/her name to find out which committees they serve on, what legislation they have sponsored, and their home and Santa Fe phone numbers and addresses. Call them up! Invite them for coffee and to hear your views!
Click on Legislation to find bills introduced in any session since 1996! You can search by keyword (for example, “vaccines”), by the legislator who introduced them (for example, Sen Lopez), by the bill number and year, or you can get a complete list of an entire session’s bills. Then you can find out what happened to each of them in which you’re interested (a little info on abbreviations needed – see below).
Click on Committees (often very helpful to find out who is most likely to affect your favorite bill’s chance of passage.) Both session and interim committees are listed, and committee agendas are included if one has already been planned.
Click on Publications. A great variety are listed to click on, including House and Senate rules, economic analyses, and a variety of important program reports from the Legislative Finance Committee, the Legislative Educational Study Committee, and the Legislative Council Service (example: Early Childhood Planning and Capacity)
Click on What’s Happening. House and Senate floor and committee calendars are posted here during session evenings for the following day. Remember that things change, though.
Click on Webcast. Virtually all floor and committee sessions are televised as they’re happening. You don’t have to be there to watch – except, oops, if you want to testify before a committee. You can’t do that remotely. But you can watch archived recordings of previous floor and committee meetings.
Click on Quick Links. Lots of varied info available. My favorite: finding out what’s happening around Santa Fe and especially in the Capitol Rotunda in the link marked “Social Calendar.” For example, I now know that January 23 is “Children and Youth Day” in the rotunda.
Click on Highlights. You can get the Legislative Council Service’s summary of the results of every session going back to 2002. Be careful what you ask for, though: the 2019 session’s very readable version stretched to 220 pages!
Click on Contact Us. A short list of standing committees (such as LFC, LESC, LCS) can be found there, or you can just call the Capitol at 505-986-4300 or 505-986-4600 to be put through to the person or agency you want to speak with by the always helpful Capitol operators.

So that’s the basics. There will be more here. Or just noodle around. The site is very intuitive; a real joy to use.

Progressive Democrats of America Central New Mexico

A Chapter of Progressive Democrats of America

DPBC Dems! Don’t miss the 2021 Ward, Precinct, and CCC Meetings!

CALL TO ACTION: push back against extremism

Using New Mexico’s Wonderful Legislative Website

Take Advantage of Your Rights as a Citizen

Read the complete Newsletter here….