New Mexico State Senator Dede Feldman's Blog

Yes, It’s True, I have an Opponent in the June Democratic Primary

            March 18 was candidate filing day for all members of the legislature and other offices up for election this year.  Much to my surprise, I have an opponent in the June Primary and… the race has now begun!

            Ever since I came to the legislature 12 years ago, I have been fighting for quality, affordable health care, campaign finance reform, consumer and environmental protection, and more recently, clean alternative energy.  And with your help, I will continue.

 

            The theme of my campaign this year is “A Leader who Listens, “ something I’ve been trying to do, with annual constituent surveys, year-round involvement in neighborhood affairs, and the open hearings that I hold as Chair of the Health and Human Services—and Senate Public Affairs Committees. 

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            If you’d like to see me continue to push though legislation like the Graduated Drivers License program, the Do Not Call List, the Nurse Advice Line, Solar and Green Building Tax Credits, the Senior Prescription Drug Program, and the Credit Freeze Bill… please join my campaign.  Together, we can do so much more.

A Leader Who Listens

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Here’s How to Help: 

            Please go to www.dedefeldman.com and make a contribution through pay pal.  I am going to run a grassroots campaign, walking the district and listening to voters, but,it takes money to print signs and brochures and do mailings.  If you’d like to contribute in other ways—please call me at 242-1997 or e-mail me at [email protected].  Volunteers are always welcome.

            Here’s the news release I sent when I announced my candidacy:             

For Immediate Release:                                                         Contact: Dede Feldman

Thursday, March 13, 2008                                                     242-1997 or 220-5958

                        

           Senator Dede Feldman to Seek Re-Election in District 13

            State Senator Dede Feldman, an Albuquerque Democrat, announced today that she is running for re-election in Senate District 13, which includes parts of the North Valley, mid-Heights and West Side.  Feldman currently serves as Chairman of the Senate Public Affairs Committee and the legislature’s interim Health and Human Services Committee. 

            Feldman is the sponsor of two of the only health care reforms to pass the session this year-- to prevent insurance companies from turning down people with pre-existing conditions and to attack chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. For the past several years she has spearheaded the effort to promote alternative energy, successfully sponsoring both the solar and the green building tax credits.  A steadfast supporter of ethics and campaign finance reform, she has pushed for public financing of elections, campaign contribution limits, and open legislative committee meetings.  In 2003 she was the successful sponsor of a requirement that candidates file reports electronically so that they can be posted on the Internet to allow public scrutiny.

            Feldman polls her active constituency every year before the session to ask their opinion of the difficult health and education issues facing the state.  “I try to listen and educate the folks back home on what is happening in Santa Fe,” she says.

            Feldman often works with the Attorney General’s office on consumer protection issues, and she has passed bills allowing consumers to freeze their credit reports and restrict unwanted telephone solicitations.  She is also the architect of the state’s graduated drivers’ license program, and off-highway vehicle restrictions.

            “I’m trying to save lives,” Feldman says of her interest in public health.  “You can do that in many ways-- by training kids to be operate vehicles safely, by extending health insurance coverage, or providing access to care through a nurse hotline, or even peer counseling programs to prevent suicide.”

Feldman’s legislative work has been recognized nationally by the Women Legislators Lobby, the National Recycling Coalition which named her “Best Elected Recycling Official,” and by her fellow legislators who awarded her the Milago Award in 2007.

            A former high school and university teacher, Feldman is the owner of a small marketing and communications company.  She is a former journalist.  A resident of the North Valley for 32 years, she is married to Mark M. Feldman, a custom homebuilder.  They have been married for 39 years and have a 25-year old daughter.

                                                            

A Leader Who Listens

Some Health Reform Beats No Health Reform…

Some Health Reform Beats No Health Reform… 

So read the Albuquerque Journal editorial on March 10^th.  The endorsement was a great birthday present for me (I’m a Pisces, can you tell?) that described the signing of a few of the only health care reform bills to emerge from the session--- SB 226 and SB 129.   The bills, which I sponsored, were signed after a lot of you phoned, wrote and faxed the governor. As you may remember, one (SB 226) was an insurance reform bill that makes it harder for insurance companies to turn down people with preconditions on technicalities, and harder to refuse to pay when their expenses go over a certain limit.   The other (SB 129), which the Governor was initially was going to veto, sets in motion a process to come up with a strategic, statewide plan to confront the major cost drivers in the health care system—chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity. Thank you; thank you again for all your help.  It’s affirmation that your voice does count. 

Now What?

With the failure of the administration’s Health Solutions bill to pass the legislature, the Governor has said that he will call a special session to deal with health care reform sometime during the summer.  That’s to give the administration and the Senate (where most of the opposition was located) a chance to work things out in advance.  To do so, the Senate President Pro Tem, Sen. Tim Jennings, has appointed a working group composed of the leadership and “a few executive members” to meet with the Governor’s representatives.  This is a great idea to focus on areas of possible agreement and construct a roadmap to a compromise.  At this point, there are no House members involved, although that may change if the working group morphs into a full-fledged health committee that will delve into the matter in more detail and hold meetings in public.  Whether the more extended deliberations will simply retrace the old territory covered by three or four task forces over the years, delay a decision, or bear fruit by the summer is anybody’s guess. Compromise has certainly been made more difficult by the Governor decision to veto only Senate bills, and specifically the bills of many of the leaders on the working group (Jennings, Rawson, Ingle, Lopez, Smith) who have opposed health care reform.   Stay tuned.

Spring is in the Air…Getting Ready to Plant? Come to the Seed Exchange

If you’re a home gardener or just want to celebrate the spring cycle, here’s a great event that’s happening in Senate District 13 on Sunday March 30 from 1-3 p.m.  It’s a seed exchange and party for local growers—and eaters.  It’s sponsored by the Rio Grande Community Farm, the non-profit that demonstrates sustainable, local agriculture on the open space at Montano and Rio Grande that many of us in the old Anderson Field Alliance fought to preserve back in 1996.  Some of you may know it as the home of the Corn Maze, which delights children and the young at heart every autumn; others may walk the ditches that criss-cross the fields, which are also visited by hundreds of sand hill cranes. Still others may be involved in the community garden they run every year.

     The free Seed Exchange will start at 1:00 p.m. Sunday March 30 with community booths, master gardeners, and arts and crafts.  The event may be accessed by going west on Montano Rd. toward the river and turning right at the sign on the field, right before the Presbyterian Church.  It will be followed by a fundraising reception ($25 suggested contribution) at the barn.  For more information or to sign up for a free booth… contact Abby at 999-1258.

Education, Healthcare Took Back Seat in Budget

            
                   Senator Dede Feldman and Legislative intern, Mercy Berman

           Voters hear a lot about the importance of education and health care during every election season, but the true test of our elected officials priorities can be found in the state’s recently approved budget.

            Ordinary citizens have been making extraordinary efforts to improve New Mexico this year by participating in town halls, task forces and the like.  Yet, in spite of the Herculean efforts of hundreds of citizens who have come together to grapple with tough issues such as the state school funding formula, the inability of small employers to afford health coverage for their employees, and the growing number of uninsured people here, this year’s budget stops short of making the investments we need to assure a healthy, well-educated New Mexico, now and into the next decade.

            As Chairs of the Senate Education and Public Affairs Committees, which deal with schools and health care, two areas that are often played off against one another, we are very disappointed.

            In this year’s session of Health Care Reform, so dominated by proposals for universal health care and coverage, we under-funded Medicaid, the state-federal insurance program that now covers almost 190,000 low-income children, by $11 million.  That’s the amount the administration told legislative budget makers was needed to keep the program whole.  It did not include the additional $9 million to enroll 9,000 more low-income children, the first logical step towards broader coverage for all.

            That’s distressing since there is a fairly broad consensus that, with three federal dollars for every state dollar devoted to the program, Medicaid is a great financial investment.  Also, an ounce of prevention for babies—in terms of immunization, treatment for developmental delays and regular checkups—is worth a pound of cure, especially when those cures—in the form of special education or juvenile incarceration—are expensive ones.

            Healthier children are also better learners who can take advantage of some of the opportunities we are beginning to create for them in pre-kindergarten and early childhood education, two other areas where there is overwhelming evidence that the investment pays off handsomely.

            But it was in the field of education that the recent session was perhaps the most disappointing for child advocates.

            During the last two years, policy makers and citizens have been examining the public school funding formula at a cost of $1 million for a task force and other research.  An independent, out-of-state consultant has told us that we are under-funding our K-12 schools by $350 million, and a lawsuit looms if we do not remedy the situation.

            But what happened in the recent legislative session?  The Senate Finance Committee did not even schedule hearings on the issue, and in spite of all the work and the warnings, the issue died without a plan to go forward.

            Perhaps it’s not so unusual for existing programs and new initiatives to go unfunded in tough budget years. But, if we can find funds for a myriad of programs, not to mention tax breaks for a vast array of industries, surely we can find the money to enable sick kids to go to the doctor and support our schools, which are still the best avenues to opportunity and success.

            For us, it’s a matter of priorities—and values.

            Senator Cynthia Nava( D- Dona Ana) is the Chairman of the Senate Education Committee.  Senator Dede Feldman (D- Bernalillo) is Chairman of the Senate Public Affairs Committee.