Promoting Anti-Hunger Legislation in a 30-Day Session

The Interfaith Hunger Coalition is part of a broad movement  to craft and promote legislation to address hunger in our state in the near future and over the long term. We spent weeks discussing a strategy to put forth a three-prong proposal with legislative initiatives that we thought had a chance of gaining approval in this year's 30-day session (which focused on budgetary matters).

One significant measure became law (eliminating lunch co-pays for low-income children), while other important initiatives received allocations via House Bill 2, the overall funding mechanism approved by the House, or by other means.

A few other measures proposed by organizations participating in our coalition were approved in committee or by one legislative body and not the other, and therefore were not enacted. The above picture, which includes some members of our broad coalition, was taken after a hearing of the Health and Human Services Committee, which approved House Bill 75 on a Do Pass basis.

Success Stories

1. Eliminating Reduced-Price Co-Payments for School Breakfast and Lunch Programs:

House Bill 10, co-sponsored by Rep. Melanie Stansbury and Rep. Willie Madrid, allocated $650,000 to the NM Public Education Department (NMPED). The measure would eliminate co-pays for almost 12,500 students at 185% of the federal poverty level. This measure, crafted by New Mexico Appleseed, was signed into law on March 3 by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. (See above picture).

2. New Mexico Grown Fruits and Vegetables for School Meals Program

$400,000 to the NM Public Education Department. This measure was included in House Bill 2.

3. Senate Memorial 3 and Senate Memorial 10 (sponsored by Sen. Nancy Rodriguez) passed:

Working group to develop recommendations to glean unharvested farm produce for food assistance programs (NMDA to host)

Working group to develop recommendations on donating school meals food to students (a food waste issue) (NMPED to host) 

4. New Mexico Food & Agriculture Omnibus Appropriations (House Bill 253)  Sponsored by Reps. Stansbury, Candy Sweetser, Gail Armstrong, Rebecca Dow, and Kelly Fajardo: The approval of this omnibus legislation sets a precedent for a broad anti-hunger measure (similar to the federal Farm Bill)  that our coalition hopes to promote in tje 2021 session. This initiative provided these important allocations.

- $150,000 to the New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA) to develop and promote market opportunities for farmers, ranchers, and agribusiness in NM (key sponsor Representative Gail Armstrong)

- $200,000 to NMDA to assist the soil and water conservation districts

- $200,000 to the New Mexico State University for experimental station facilities

- $100,000 to the NMSU for 4-H programs

5. -$1.485 million for HSD to create a "Heat and Eat" assistance program for 68,000 families eligible for SNAP benefits was funded at the level requested by the executive.

6. -$3.7 million for HSD to upgrade Employment and Training Program for SNAP recipients who are able-bodied adults without dependents was funded. This would prevent 27,000 New Mexicans from losing SNAP benefits.

7. Child Care Assistance - The budget is $5 million greater than last year's operating budget. This is far less than the $20 million requested by the executive budget.The increase allows eligibility to remain at current levels, and allow for some increases in enrollment.

8. The Legislative Hunger Caucus
The Legislative Hunger Caucus, convened by Rep. Joanne Ferrary and Rep. Melanie Stansbury, held its first meeting during the session. Several representatives and one senator were present at the Jan. 31 meeting, including Rep. Natalie Figueroa of Albuquerque, Rep. Phelps Anderson of Roswell, Rep.  Dan Baronne of Taos, Rep. Stansbury of Albuquerque, Rep. Karen Bash of Albuquerque, Rep. Ferrary of Las Cruces and Sen. Bill Tallman of Albuquerque. The caucus was launched publicly on Feb. 6 with brief speeches from Rep. Ferrary and Rep. Rebecca Dow of Truth or Consequences. The caucus will discuss potential anti-hunger issues to bring before the State Legislature.

 Good News, Bad News
1. TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) Transition Bonus -The budget appropriates $1.8 million to this program, but instead of the general fund dollars requested by the executive, it uses federal dollars. "This is problematic and unworkable, because the federal funds will place TANF reporting requirements on program participants which are difficult to comply with when you have a full time job," said Tim Davis of the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty. "This means the program will be difficult to administer and will likely result in a low participation rate."

2. No allocations were approved for the New Mexico Grown Fruits and Vegetables for Senior Meal Programs and for the expansion of the New Mexico Senior Market Nutition Program via House Bill 2. However, the House and Senate unanimously approved the Kiki Saavedra Senior Dignity Fund (House Bill 225), which could provide some funding for these senior nutrition programs.

Almost There
A number of important measures proposed by our coaltion did not get a full vote on the floor, although some were approved in committee.These initiatives are likely to come up again in the 2021 session or funded through other vehicles.

1. House Bill 75 and House Memorial 6 would have allocated $200,000 to the Human Services Department (HSD) to develop a Hunger Task Force to study hunger, malnutrition, food production and distribution in our state.

2. House Bill 69  proposed $100,000 for pilot program to fight college hunger.

3.  House Bill 340 requested $500,000 for nonperishable food product for New Mexico Food Banks. Reported by  Health and Human Services Committee with Do Pass recommendation. Sent to House Appropriations and Finance Committee.

4. According to New Mexico Voices for Children, it appears that a request for $200,000 for Tax Help New Mexico was not included in the final budget. The measure would have restored funding for tax preparation help fro people of low income.

Other important measures

House Bill 148  to increase the Working Families Tax Credit passed the house floor. The final vote in the House was 45-23.The measure went to the Senate Finance Committee, which took no action.

Other important measures

House Bill 148  to increase the Working Families Tax Credit passed the house floor. The final vote in the House was 45-23.The measure went to the Senate Finance Committee, which took no action.