| Welcome
to the e-Voices MONDAY MINUTE, your weekly email newsletter from New
Mexico Voices for Children. Please take a minute to add your voice to the
pressing issues of the day. Also, tell us what issues you'd like to know more
about so we can tailor the MONDAY MINUTE to your interests. Thanks!
February
26, 2007
The
State of Things at the Statehouse
We have several legislative issues that
we'd like you to contact your legislators about, so get out your dialing finger
and warm it up! Caring
about childcare
Quality childcare is essential in a young child's development.
The first three years of life is when the "architecture" of the brain
is being formed. This is a time when positive stimulation is crucial. Sadly, childcare
workers often earn less money than unskilled laborers even when they have significantly
more education. Please urge the members of the Senate Finance Committee to include
an additional $3 million in HB 2 as a rate increase for licensed childcare providers.
This would be in addition to the childcare funding already in HB 2.
Please contact
members of the Senate Finance Committee here: Sen.
Tim Jennings, Co-Chair, 986-4362
Sen. John Arthur Smith, Co-Chair, 986-4363,
john.smith@nmlegis.gov
Sen. Carlos
Cisneros, Vice-Chair, 986-4863, carlos.cisneros@nmlegis.gov
Sen. Joseph Carraro, Ranking Member, 986-4387, joecarraro@aol.com
Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, 986-4395, sue.wilsonbeffort@nmlegis.gov
Sen. Pete Campos, 986-4311, petecampos@newmexico.com
Sen. Carroll Leavell, 986-4278, leavell4@leaco.net
Sen. Leonard
Lee Rawson, 986-4703, lee.rawson@nmlegis.gov
Sen. Nancy
Rodriguez, 986-4264
Sen.
Bernadette Sanchez, 986-4267 There's
no place like home
Our friends at the Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry request that you call
the governor's office and ask him to keep his promise to fund the State Housing
Trust Fund with $15 million. Children who grow up in substandard housing are at
risk for a whole host of problems that may follow them through life, such as illness
due to exposure to mold, lead paint and other toxins. Poverty-ridden neighborhoods
also tend to be magnets for drug use and the associated crimes, and children in
these neighborhoods are more likely to be either victimized by crime and/or find
it a more acceptable career choice than children who grow up in safer neighborhoods.
We could go
on and on about the difference safe housing – and home ownership in particular
– can make to a child and their family, but we'll spare you the sermon. Instead,
click here to read the bill: http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/07%20Regular/bills/senate/SB0282.html.
Then please call the governor's office at (505) 476-2200. Good
health may all be in your head
Mental health is too often stigmatized or its importance is downplayed by society,
but it's as crucial to having a good quality of life as any other factor, health
or otherwise. Our friends at Las Cumbres Community Services are seeking your support
with HB 281, which would appropriate $500,000 for the Early Childhood Mental Health
Training Institute. This is the only training center of its kind in the state,
and one of only a handful in the nation. Their work helps reduce domestic violence
and child abuse and neglect, and decrease the number of unplanned pregnancies
– all of which are vital if New Mexico's children are to thrive.
Click here
to read the bill: http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/07%20Regular/bills/house/HB0281.html.
Then please call the state legislative switchboard at (505) 986-4300 and asked
to be transferred to your representative. Or,
you can find out who your state legislators are and how to contact them here:
http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/legislatorsearch.asp If
you'd like more information about Las Cumbres or the Training Institute, call
Elizabeth Lee at (505) 955-0410. Find
out more about food
The
New Mexico Task Force to End Hunger and the NM Association of Food Banks are following
a number of bills this session, as well. They range from getting locally grown
produce into New Mexico's schools to funding that allows schools to continue serving
breakfast to those students who don't get enough to eat at home. Children don't
learn well on empty stomachs, so these appropriations have long-reaching affects
– for our children and the communities they will one day form.
Click here
to find out about the bills and what you can do to help out: http://www.nmhunger.org/action/index.php#num0
Will Work
for Change
Tickets are selling fast for the Barbara Ehrenreich benefit in March. This best-selling
author of "Nickel and Dimed" and "Bait and Switch" will speak
at the Lensic Theater in Santa Fe on March 11. Tickets are $10 and proceeds benefit
the Santa Fe Living Wage Network. Click here to buy tickets: http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?orgid=23679&schedule=list
Find out more
about Barbara Ehrenreich here: http://www.barbaraehrenreich.com/ and find out
more about the SF Living Wage Network here: http://www.santafelivingwage.org/
An Author
of Our Own
Speaking of writers who speak and tickets that sell well ... consider getting
a pair (or more) for our Amy Biehl Youth Spirit Awards Ceremony and join us in
honoring New Mexico youth who take community service to the extreme. This year’s
keynote speaker is Carol Cassell, the local author of "Swept Away" and
"Straight from the Heart: How to Talk to Your Teenagers About Love and Sex."
Cassell is also the former president of the American Association of Sex Educators.
This year,
44 youth (aged 13 to 26) have been nominated for their community service work
and dedication. All will be honored and four will be chosen to receive scholarships.
Don't miss this inspiring and heart-warming event! The
awards ceremony is Friday, April 20, 2007, in Albuquerque. Call 244-9505 ext.
10 or visit http://www.nmvoices.org/abysa.htm
for more information and to purchase tickets. Free
Tax Help
Don't forget that if you are over the age of 65 or have an annual
income under $36,000 you can get free tax preparation through TAX HELP New Mexico.
Offices are open statewide and some offer services in Spanish and Navajo. TAX
HELP NM is a program of Central New Mexico Community College (CNM). Get more information
here: http://www.cnm.edu/taxhelp/. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your
financial support is critical to our work. Please consider making a contribution
today at http://www.nmvoices.org/donate.htm
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