[Nmtriblibs] FW: NMLA Legislative Bulletin #6

[Moore, Patricia, DCA]

Forwarded on behalf of Joe Sabatini…


From: Joe Sabatini <jsabatini423 at gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2024 10:39 PM
To: NMLA <nmlamembership at mailman.nmsu.edu>
Cc: Joe Sabatini <jsabatini423 at gmail.com>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] NMLA Legislative Bulletin #6

CAUTION: This email originated outside of our organization. Exercise caution prior to clicking on links or opening attachments.

NMLA Legislative Bulletin #6                                                                                                                                                      January 28, 2024

Thanks to all who attended our successful Library Legislative Day on Friday, January 26th. We had a large turnout of librarians and library supporters from all parts of the state, who visited with their legislators and attended the introduction ceremonies in both the House and Senate.  Forty library supporters attended the orientation session.  Thanks to Department of Cultural Affairs Secretary Debra Garcia y Griego for greeting us at the orientation.  The New Mexico Consortium of Academic Libraries once again provided gift chocolate bars to legislators, "I believe in the POWER of libraries" buttons and flyers about library funding issues. NMLA had a table in the Rotunda on which fliers were available on several issues.  Thanks to the Fort Sumner Public Library for providing pens, to the Santa Fe Public Library for loaning us a table and chairs, and to Kathleen Knopf and Melanie Templet and others for staffing the table. The table attracted a significant number of visitors.

Our presence makes a difference.

WEBCASTS OF HOUSE AND SENATE FLOOR SESSIONS

In the House of Representatives, Rep. Kathleen Cates noted that it was Library Legislative Day and spoke about her childhood library use. Speaker Javier Martinez introduced our delegation: Ruben Aragon, New Mexico Highlands University, NMLA President; Natasha Carty, Albuquerque Public Schools; Janice Kowemy, U.N.M Indigenous Nations Library Program; Dr. Barbara Lovato, U.N.M. Valencia Library; Janet Phillips, Jemez Springs Public Library.

The webcast for the House floor session is at:
https://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00293/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20240128/-1/74499
The librarian introductions begin at 12:13:40 and end at 12:16:15. (A flamenco performance by Tierra Adentro starts at 11:59:00.)

The webcast for the Senate floor session is at:
https://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00293/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20240129/-1/74500

In the Senate, Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino begins his introduction of Library Legislative Day at 11:36:25. He spoke about 21st century libraries and their impact on their communities. He then spoke about the importance of fully funding the Rural Libraries Endowment Fund. He mentions the "Libraries on the Backroad" documentary.  He introduces our delegation at 11:40:05: Teresa Ortiz, Deming High School; Victoria Vigil, Nambe Pueblo and Samanthi Hewakapuge, San Juan College.



Committee Hearings

Two bills relating to Tribal Education were heard in the House Education Committee on Friday morning. HB 134 by Representative Derrick establishes a new Tribal Education Trust Fund to invest in tribal education capacity for generations to come. This would secure stable and consistent resources for Tribes to support Native students in their communities and to collaborate with school districts.  Tribal libraries could benefit from revenue distributions from such a fund.

HB 135 would make existing Indian education funding easier to access and use. The bill requires timely, upfront disbursements to Tribes to ensure that available funding can be fully used and does not revert.

The webcast for the Committee hearing is at:
https://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00293/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20240129/-1/74489

Presentation of House Bill 134 begins at 8:34:00. Public comment begins at 8:38:30. Committee questions begin at 9:20:30 and end at 9:36:10. The Committee rolled over the bill so that certain technical amendments could be drafted.

Presentation of House Bill 135 begins at 9:36:10. Representative Lente reviews the difficulties for tribes in expending money distributed by the Public Education Department through a grant application and disbursement system. Money appropriated by the Legislature does not get dispersed promptly, and funds revert if not expended within the same fiscal year. There was no discussion by legislators and HB 135 received a unanimous "do pass" recommendation at 9:39:30. This bill now goes to the House Appropriations and Finance Committee.

Having funding going directly to tribes will assist tribal libraries in carrying out programs with funds that will carry over into the next fiscal year and not revert. In 2022 specific tribal library project funds were allocated in December with the obligation to spend them by the end of June, 2023.


Senate Bill 170, the Rural Libraries Endowment Fund appropriation, was determined to be "germane" by the Senate Committee on Committees on January 24th, and is likely to be heard by the  Senate Indian, Rural and Cultural Affairs Committee on January 30th or February 1st.


Joe Sabatini, Co-Chair
NMLA Legislation Committee

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.zianet.com/pipermail/nmtriblibs/attachments/20240129/2963344f/attachment-0001.html>