Tuesday, February 1, 2022
If you want a deeper dive into water, food and agriculture issues, this is the day to listen in and learn!
Thank you to everyone for a deep dive into policy work at today’s NM Food & Agriculture Policy Council meeting. As a follow up I share my gratitude for several of our member organizations, La Semilla Food Center and the NM Acequia Association for providing immediate follow up information, clarifications, and updates to prepare us for numerous legislative bills of interest being presented tomorrow morning in three different committees. I’m adding the committees, times, bills, and zoom call information below as well. You can always find the information on the legislative website.
First, we commend our colleagues at the Alliance for Local Economic Prosperity for their work to get the HB75 Public Banking Act in this Legislative session. It had an extensive hearing this afternoon (Monday) in the House Commerce & Economic Development Committee and was tabled with the promise by Representative Maestas, Chair to work closely with the Alliance through the interim to bring it to the next session. Bill sponsors, Representative Roybal Caballero and Senator Steinborn did a commendable job expressing how the public bank will benefit NM in many ways. Thanks to everyone who spoke in favor of the bill!
Per SB157 Continue Labor Incentive Program, V Quevado from La Semilla Food Center shares the following:
I wanted to clarify that our concern over lack of transparency and misused CLIP funds only means we cannot actively support the bill — but we are not at this time going to oppose it because we overwhelmingly support improved wages, and we know there is room to amend the bill to assure this. We won’t know until the hearing tomorrow if Senator Steinborn is incorporating any amended language. It would simply require proof that laborers — because that is who is named in the bill — are receiving the wages, and that the recipients are listed on the NMDA website so that there is oversight and transparency. The farm labor system already lacks oversight, safety protections, and wage protections. We just want to be moving in the right direction.
Per the numerous water bills we have been discussing, Jaime Park from the NM Acequia Association shares the following:
Good evening! Earlier today Theresa had remarked that water bills have been slow to be scheduled this session and we didn’t know much yet on when some of the bills NMFAPC is following will be heard. Schedules have been released and it looks like several are being heard tomorrow around the same time:
House Ag, Acequias and Water Resources Committee at 9:30 a..m.:
HB 24, State Engineer Water Planning & Management: this is the $12 million appropriation to OSE that we don’t know how it will be used….
HB 41, Water Trust Fund
HB 66, Meat Inspections (non water, but of interest to NMAA and I believe NMFAPC)
Senate Conservation starting at 9 a.m.:
SB 162, Strategic Water Reserve, is #4 on the agenda; other bills to be heard that are of interest are SB 139, NMSU statewide Ag Programs; SB 157, continue chile labor incentive program; and Jessica also raised SB 54, storage of certain radioactive waste (it’s house bill companion, HB 127 will be heard this Thursday in HEENRC at 8:30 a.m.; as well as HB 164, uranium mine cleanup, which Jessica also flagged to follow)
The HB 126, State Personnel Diversity Act is also being heard Tuesday, February 1st at 1:30 p.m. or 15 minutes after house floor session ends in House Labor, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee. This isn’t a priority bill for either of our orgs, but we did briefly discuss it and the possibility of proposing amendments to expand the mandate of the bill to include state agencies reviewing their regulations, policies, procedures and guidance with a DEIJ lens and recommending revisions to such in order to implement DEIJ in the work that they do….not just in hiring personnel….
The House Appropriations and Finance Committee will be presenting HB2. This will be important for many of us who are advocating for the Food, Farms and Hunger Initiative along with other food and agriculture bills of interest. THANKS to everyone who has reached out to House Appropriation and Senate Finance members with NMFAPC priority requests!
House Appropriations begins at 8am
Senate Conservation begins at 9am
House Agriculture, Acequias and Water Resources begins at 9:30am
Here are the committee schedules for tomorrow, Tuesday, February 1st:
HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS & FINANCE COMMITTEE – PATRICIA A. LUNDSTROM, CHAIRWOMAN Tuesday, February 1, 2022 – 8:00 am – Room 307 – Zoom
Full Committee Hearing
HB2 FINAL REVIEW – General Appropriation Act of 2022
You are invited to a Zoom webinar Please click the link below to join the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Or One tap mobile : US: +12532158782,,89182101231# or +13462487799,,89182101231# Or
Telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 669 900 9128 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 646 558 8656 Webinar ID: 891 8210 1231
HOUSE AGRICULTURE, ACEQUIAS & WATER RESOURCES COMMITTEE – DERRICK J. LENTE, CHAIR Tuesday, February 1, 2022 – 9:30 AM – Room 315 – Zoom
HB 24 STATE ENGINEER WATER PLANNING & MANAGEMENT (LUJAN/ROMERO A.)
HB 41 WATER TRUST FUND (HERRERA)
HB 66 MEAT INSPECTIONS (CHATFIELD/ARMSTRONG G.)
You are invited to a Zoom webinar. When: Feb 1, 2022 09:30 AM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Topic: HOUSE AGRICULTURE, ACEQUIAS, AND WATER RESOURCES
Please click the link below to join the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Or One tap mobile : US: +13462487799,,86337399512# or +16699009128,,86337399512#
Or Telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 346 248 7799 or +1 669 900 9128 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 646 558 8656 or +1 301 715 8592 Webinar ID: 863 3739 9512
CONSERVATION COMMITTEE – Senator Elizabeth Stefanics, Chair Tuesday, February 1, 2022 – 9:00 a.m. – Room 311
Presentation/Discussion: Rolf Schmidt-Peterson, Director/Hydrologist, State of NM – 50 Year New Mexico Water Plan
*SB 54 STORAGE OF CERTAIN RADIOACTIVE WASTE (STEINBORN)
SB 157 CONTINUE CHILE LABOR INCENTIVE PROGRAM (STEINBORN)
SB 139 NMSU STATEWIDE AGRICULTURAL PROGRAMS (STEFANICS)
SB 162 STRATEGIC WATER RESERVE (STEFANICS)
Meeting may be viewed via Webcast at www.nmlegis.gov (click on the Webcast tab and select Senate Conservation) For public participation, click the following link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Thanks to everyone for your immense work and dedication!!!
Pam Roy
Farm to Table and the
New Mexico Food & Agriculture Policy Council and
Santa Fe Food Policy Council