End Hunger Day at The State Legislature on March 5

At the beginning of the 2019 session of the New Mexico State House of Representatives, Speaker Brian Egolf promised efficiency,meaning that actual bills would receive priority on the House floor over non-binding memorials.

Often these memorials have been used to recognize a group, commemorate an event or express an intention or a goal on a very important issue.  According to the State Legislature's Glossary of Terms, a memorial is "a formal expression of legislative desire, usually addressed to another governmental body, in the form of a petition or declaration of intent."

Speaker Egolf's directive did not necessarily diminish the importance of each of the topics and groups that were going to be recognized. In lieu of a memorial, these groups, issues and commemoriations would be recognized with a certificate, which is an "expression of...congratulations or acknowledgment of achievement."  In other words there would be a written recognition but there would be no ceremony on the House floor.  This change of policy was covered in an article published in The Albuquerque Journal on Jan. 15.

So, where did this leave the End Hunger in New Mexico memorial for this year? This memorial, put together before the start of the session, was initially sponsored by Rep. Joanne Ferarry. The measure promoted the creation of "a multidisciplinary, multi-stakeholder 'hunger council' made up of legislators, state and local government agency representatives and experts in hunger and poverty policy has been meeting to develop a single statewide plan for ending hunger in New Mexico."

We are happy to say that Speaker Egolf agreed that hunger in New Mexico is an important enough issue to bring to the House floor. End Hunger Day in the New Mexico State Legislature is scheduled for Tuesday, March 5, at 11:00 A.M. House Joint Memorial 13 (HJM13) will be read on the House floor and members of the Hunger Council will distribute important materials to each of the legislators.

And if the language sounds familiar, House Memorial 90 in the 2018 session, expressed the initial intent to create the hunger council. That memorial was introduced by then Rep. Sarah Maestas Barnes, along with Rep. Ferrary, Rep. Rebecca Dow and Rep. Deborah Armstrong. The Interfaith Hunger Coalition, Roadrunner Food Bank and other anti-hunger organizations are currently involved in the  council.

HJM13 not only reaffirms the creation of the Hunger Council, but also provides for the creation of a Hunger Caucus within the State Legislature (comprised of both House and Senate members). The council will serve in an advisory and research capacity, while the caucus (to be recruited by Rep. Ferrary) will deal with the actual nuts and bolts of anti-hunger legislation.  In addition to Rep. Ferrary, HMJ13 is co-sponsored by Rep. Dow, Rep. Liz Thomson and Rep. Karen Bash.