Launching the Legislative Hunger Caucus

The Legislative Hunger Caucus was only an idea two years ago when I brought it up at the End Hunger Summit in Albuquerque in the fall or 2017. This concept of bringing legislators of both political parties and both chambers of the New Mexico State Legislature to discuss, craft and prioritize solutions to hunger in New Mexico became an official "priority" through a memorial that was approved during the 2019 legislative session. 

The caucus is now a reality with the leadership of Rep. Joanne Ferrary and Rep. Rebecca Dow in the House and Sen. Michael Padilla in the Senate. Rep. Ferrary hosted a meeting of interested legislators on January 31.

The caucus became public on Food and Farms Day at the State Legislature, an event sponsored by the New Mexico Food and Agriculture Policy Council. Reps. Ferrary and Dow offered their visions for ending hunger in New Mexico (see below). Their comments were brief because they had to return to committee meetings.



Of course, the ongoing effort to address hunger in New Mexico is broader than the state legislature. At the End Hunger Summit in 2017, I also broached the concept of bringing citizen organizations and legislators together to address hunger in New Mexico. This citizen-legislative partnership was contained in the language of a memorial introduced in the 2018 legislative session.

Thanks to efforts by Rep. Melanie Stansbury, a broad coalition is now in place to help propose legislation that would address many aspects of hunger. This coalition, which will work closely with the Hunger Caucus, has offered a set of proposals for the short 30-day session in 2020. The proposals will be much broader during the long 60-day session in 2021, including a possible omnibus bill (similar to the federal Farm Bill) that brings together many efforts to address hunger via a single legislative piece. Stay tuned!