_Mission Statement

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

Explore our new website!

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 Check regularly to see new content and features. You can view the complete League calender under the events tab, You can search the site (and the national and state League sites in our custom search box, and discover information on League positions in the Advocacy Center.

The site is YOUR site:  click here to send your ideas on things you’d like to see. 

League Day at the Capital

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League Day will start at the Capitol.  Members can pick up their information packets starting at 8:30 AM at the League table in the West or East Lobby.   Members are encouraged to attend sessions in the House and Senate and/or committee hearings before 10:30am when we will head to the Desert Inn for the program:

Alicia Manzano, M.P.A, Outreach Director, New Mexico Voices for Children, will speak on budget issues being considered in the session.  Alicia is also the Director of the New Mexico Fairness Project that advocates for fairness in the New Mexico budget. 

Marcela Diaz (B.A., Columbia University) is the Executive Director ofSomos Un Pueblo Unido, a statewide immigrants’ rights organization in New Mexico. She will speak        on why we should be supporting driver’s licenses for the undocumented.

Our luncheon speaker will be  Denise Lamb, Director of the Elections Bureau for Santa Fe County. She will speaking on
Voting Issues in New Mexico. There has been much publicity about problems with New Mexico’s voting system: What is valid, what isn’t?

Candidate Forums for Santa Fe City Council 

The League, along with the AAUW, or co-sponsor, will hold two candidate forums for Santa Fe City Council.  A total of 9 candidates have announced their candidacy.

 Please come to the forums:

Districts 1 & 2 Candidates: Patti J. Bushee, Houston J. Johansen, Peter N. Ives, Elizabeth “Dolly” Lujan, Bob Sarr

Saturday, January 28, 3-5 pm
Unitarian Universalist Congregation Church
107 W. Barcelona Road and Galisteo

Districts 3 & 4 Candidates: Marie Campos, Gilbert R. Martinez, Christopher M. Rivera, Bill Dimas, Carol Robertson Lopez 
Thursday, February 2, 6:30-8:30 pm
Genoveva Chavez Community Center
Community Room
3221 Rodeo Road

For more information email voterservices@lwvsfc.org .

The League in the News

  • Youth Voter Registration Grants Received  The League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF) has awarded the LWVSFC a competitive grant (thank you to our Voter Services Chair, JoAnne Dutcher and Marcy Litzenberg) to support a Youth Voter Registration project.  An generous donor also made a grant for the project, which aims to engage high school, community college, and/or vocational school students in the electoral process in order to redress the fact that more than half of all 18-year-old citizens in the United States were still not registered to vote in 2008.  Overall, Americans under the age of 30 remain severely underrepresented in the electorate, and the disparities in youth voting grow even wider when looking at African-Americans, Latinos, and those with no college experience.  This project will target underrepresented communities to support voter registration in the spring of 2012.  

  • League Speaks to School Board in Opposition to Restrictions on Freedom of Speech    League members attended and spoke at several School Board meetings in opposition to restrictions on freedom of speech during public comment periods.  We were joined at all of these meetings by the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, and the two groups made a difference in the outcome.

  •   The New Mexican report on our legislative lunch: "Higher Learning Center, Constitutional Amendment on Funds Among Legislative Issues"                                                                  Local lawmakers, speaking at a League of Women Voters luncheon Thursday, spoke about potentially controversial education-related issues that could spark controversy in the upcoming session of the Legislature. 

    Sen. Nancy Rodriguez, D-Santa Fe, talked about the ongoing battle between Santa Fe Community College and the state Department of Higher Education over a planned $12 million Higher Learning Center. Rodriguez said that despite a recent attorney general's opinion that there is no need to seek legislative approval for the project, Higher Education Secretary José Garcia says otherwise. 

    Meanwhile, Rep. Jim Trujillo, D-Santa Fe, talked about proposed constitutional amendments he's carrying that would make permanent the rate at which the state taps money from a state permanent fund for education. 

    The session begins Jan. 17. Sessions in even-numbered years consider only bills dealing with budget or financial matters — unless the governor gives a "message" for a bill. 

    Rodriguez said she intends to spend much of her time during the session "fighting for Santa Fe Community College." The center, planned on property adjacent to the Santa Fe University of Art and Design off St. Michael's Drive, would allow Santa Fe area residents to pursue a bachelor's or master's degree at the site. The college purchased the land in September. 

    A $12 million bond issue has been approved by local voters. More than 500 students have already enrolled in an interim center established at the community college. 

    Garcia in November told the community college board that Gov. Susana Martinez wants to stop any proliferation of new college campuses until the state "reviews what is happening and is sure we are getting a bang for our buck." 

    Rodriguez spoke about the Dec. 30 opinion from Attorney General Gary King that concluded, "The Center appears to have been properly created by the [community college] Board with the approval of [the Higher Education Department] pursuant to the Learning Center Act. As discussed above, the Act does not require the prior approval of the Legislature for the establishment of a learning center." 

    State Rep. Luciano "Lucky" Varela requested the opinion from King's office. 

    Larry Behrens, a spokesman for the Higher Education Department, said Thursday that Garcia had not seen the opinion." 

    "We can't comment on any opinion until we see it. However, we are working with Santa Fe Community College on this issue and will continue to do so," he said. 

    Santa Fe Community College board member Linda Siegle, who attended the lunch, said the college is "between a rock and a hard place." 

    "Our options are limited," she said. "A lawsuit would cost taxpayers money. It would take money and time." 

    Trujillo's proposed constitutional amendments likely will reopen a controversy from nine years ago. 

    In a 2003, special election, state voters by a very slim margin — about 200 votes — approved constitutional amendments that increased the percentage of interest on the permanent fund. Then-Gov. Bill Richardson spearheaded that move. His political organization raised money to run an advertising campaign in favor of the amendments. 

    The measure mainly was opposed by many Republicans, who called it a "raid" on the fund. 

    However, the plan had the strong backing of prominent Republicans U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici and former Gov. Garrey Carruthers. 

    Before the amendment, the amount distributed annually was 4.7 percent of the fund's five-year average market value. After the amendment passed, distributions increased to 5 percent until July 2004, then rose to 5.8 percent for the next eight years. 

    If Trujillo's proposed amendment — or something like it — doesn't pass this year, the rate will go down to 5.5 percent next year for four years, then down to 5 percent thereafter. 

    "If we don't pass it, we'll have to come up with $35 million next year to make up for it," Trujillo said after Thursday's luncheon. "Then in 2016, we'll have to find another $75 million." 

    Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog atroundhouseroundup.com      

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