New Mexico State Senator Dede Feldman's Blog

Another Way Forward: Grassroots Solutions from NM

Here, from my new book, Another Way Forward,  are more reasons to hope even in the face of military parades, the disgraceful use of dreamers as political pawns , massive transfers of wealth to the 1%, and looming cuts to Medicare, Social Security and safety net programs. This time the solutions are extraordinary people. All of these are in the book.

            An Honor Roll of 10 Local Heroes

• Sanjeev Arora, a UNM gastroenterologist with a simple, disruptive, technological innovation to bring specialty care to rural patients with chronic diseases. He wants to touch a billion lives around the world by 2020, with his Project Echo.
• Ona Porter, of Prosperity Works, who is helping low-income people build on assets they have to enter the middle class and bring their children with them.
• Alan Marks, a radical high school teacher, who has mentored over a hundred low-income students over the years and gotten them into colleges like Yale, Stanford, Princeton, Occidental and Pomona.
• Debbie O’Malley, who helped organize her neighborhood in the Sawmill District of Albuquerque to clean up a toxic brownfield and pioneer a new type of affordable housing—an urban land trust.
• Bob DeFelice, the CEO of First Choice Community Healthcare, who has a vision of a wellness ecosystem that is not just a clinic but a holistic means of addressing the reasons behind poor health in a low-income community.
• Susan Matteucci, whose small factory on 4^th St. in Albuquerque supports a group of Spanish speaking women with on-site daycare and family support services. Now a thriving social enterprise, Southwest Creations Collaborative is based on the idea that, above all, low-income women will invest in their children.
• Andres Mercado, a Santa Fe Fire Fighter who is the driving force behind that city’s Mobile Integrated Health Office, is bringing together community resources and revolutionizing what it means to be an EMT.
• Charlie Alfero, of Silver City, established a medical home at Hidalgo Medical Services, began using community health workers to serve rural patients and is now bringing health care providers to the area with a new model of medical education.
• Cliff Crawford, a UNM biologist who before his death began an innovative project to get students of all ages collecting real data from the middle Rio Grande bosque.
• Sayrah Namaste, of the American Friends Service Committee, who is training young farmers around the state to enable them to stay on the land and develop sustainable business models.

…And there are many others out there.  If you are one of them, perhaps it is time to tell your story, find allies, mentor others and make a bigger difference in these dangerous times. Margaret Mead was right. Never doubt that one person can make a difference.

Hope for 2018-- from the Bottom Up in New Mexico

Need to revive hope in the New Year?   Here are a few of the New Mexico solutions featured in my new book,  Another Way Forward: Grassroots Solutions from New Mexico. I will be talking about others Jan. 13 1-3 at the Los Poblanos Farm Store, 4803 Rio Grande Blvd. in Albuquerque. 

Solution #1: A service corps for young people to provide training in outdoor occupations, a sense of stewardship for New Mexico’s public lands and a leg up to further education.

Solution #2: A farmers market located outside a primary health clinic to offer low-income mothers fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms at affordable prices.

Solution #3: A community land trust to provide affordable housing, preserve a traditional neighborhood, and clean up an old industrial wasteland.

Solution #4: Tele-conferencing to bring the expertise of medical specialists to rural areas and address chronic diseases and opiod addictions.

Solution #5: A new type of experiential museum for all ages that is breaking the traditional mold and creating jobs for young artists.

Solution #6: A small factory that provides quality, on-site childcare for its employees at 25 cents per hour.

Solution #7: A civics program that gives kids a real-world opportunity to write a bill and lobby it through the legislature.

Solution #8: A medical residency program that encourages—rather than discourages—budding health care providers to locate in remote rural areas.

Solution #9: A fire department whose EMTs help 911 callers find services and solve problems rather than just taking them to the emergency room.

Solution #10: A program that matches the savings of low-income families if they take a financial literacy course and use the money for school, a small business or a home.

These are only ten reasons to have hope in the New Year —look around your community for the problem solvers, or just read my book, available through me www.dedefeldman.com/another, at Amazon (including Kindle) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999586408, Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/another-way-forward-dede-feldman/1127525590;jsessionid=E807877B1B77494C2FA174B10F926C74.prodny_store02-atgap05?ean=9780999586402 or BookWorks, where I’ll be having an event Feb. 1. at 6 pm. 

A View from Just Outside the Roundhouse: All Hands on Deck

We Are All Citizens Now

Photo Art by Carolyn Fischman

Jan. 31, 2017

What a difference a few months have made. I remember when I lost my first election in 1995 writing a letter to the voters who had supported me. I said then that the most important office in a democracy was that of Citizen, not councilor, not senator not president. With “alternative facts,” blatantly unethical appointments and rash executive orders, it’s even truer today. But how to keep the momentum from the millions (yes millions!) in the streets and even more on the Internet going in an effective direction?   My suggestion is to keep your eye on the ball—Congress. I’m trying not to pay much attention to Trump’s talk and bluster but to his policies, which must be funded (or defunded) and passed by the Republican Congress.   There are lots of online tools to make it easy to contact your representatives like Indivisible ABQ. But no sense in preaching to the choir. I’m concentrating on moderate Rs who might still have some common sense—Jeff Flake and John McCain in AZ, Susan Collins in Maine. You might even have some relatives or friends outside of New Mexico. Work with them! Yes, many Republicans will say no, or equivocate. But for every elected official, this is a profile in courage moment. Remind them of that.

And don’t forget that letters to the editor, op eds, phone calls and hand-written letters count. Mailbox full? Switchboard tied up? Be ingenious. One friend suggested post cards to Rep. Paul Ryan’s home (Paul Ryan 700 St. Lawrence Ave., Janesville, WI 53545); another suggested filling in required email forms with a zip code from the targeted state. I suggest tea party style town halls in all swing districts. Hey, we might even have to travel. This is what a movement looks like.

Ethics? What Ethics?

President Trump’s unwillingness to divest, to disclose, to remove himself completely from his hotels and businesses guarantees continued conflicts of interest and public distrust. His insistence that the laws don’t apply to him sounds like a central African dictator, who’s squirreling away the country’s money. Even worse are the conflicts that his top appointments brush off so lightly. So what if the new HHS Secretary profited off of pharmaceutical stocks he bought in advance of a vote on RX pricing? Too bad if OMB pick Mick Mulvaney didn’t pay taxes on his housekeeper. Not long ago that was enough to stop Tom Daschle and Zoie Baird, but not this group. Shameless behavior on display here http://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/tom-prices-confirmation-hearing-muddies-the-swamp as Republican senators wink and nod at nominees enduring the pesky press and public. Here’s another run-down of all the conflicts:http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/01/trumps-appointees-conflicts-of-interest-a-crib-sheet/512711/?utm_source=eb And is it coincidental that none of the Muslim majority countries where Trump has business dealings are covered by the travel ban?

Friends, if we loose our outrage about the basic principles of ethics and transparency—we’re collaborating. Common Cause, a group I am now connected with, is standing up at the national and state level. Support them. Closest to home, you can contact legislators for a strong ethics commission, disclosure of PAC and lobbyist activities and other reforms. To find out how, go to nm.commoncause.org and scroll down to Democracy Wire, at the very bottom. Common Cause New Mexico has a Face book page, too.

ABQ School Board Elections Tuesday Feb. 7

Lorenzo Garcia, Amy Legant are my picks for the North Valley district. I know, there’s only one seat—but longtime friend Lorenzo G. told me he wasn’t running and I told Amy Legant I’d support her. Darn it! Not much help on this one.

Solutions from the Grassroots

As gridlock—and worse—looms nationally, we need to remember that we have a lot to be proud of here in New Mexico. I am now hard at work on a book featuring some of the solutions that are working here at the grassroots level in health care, housing, local foods, education, and arts. I’ve always believed that real change comes from the bottom up and now I’m exploring that idea. And I’m finding a lot of local heroes here who didn’t wait for Washington to start solving problems. Let me know if you know one.

Repeal and Replace is Really, Really Bad for NM

The Affordable Care Act has cut our 2^nd highest uninsured rate by half. Over 266,000 citizens who didn’t have insurance now can go to the doc thanks to the Medicaid expansion. 40,000 more people get it through the exchange, which subsidizes policies and makes sure that they include basic benefits with no lifetime or annual caps and no exclusions due to preexisting conditions. All that will be swept away if there is no replacement, along with a reduction in RX prices for seniors and free screenings for Medicare recipients. I’ve seen estimates that from 6,000- 19,000 people will lose jobs in clinics, hospitals, insurance companies that have benefited from the act.

Fortunately, the NM legislature had the foresight to enshrine some of the ACA insurance reforms in state law, something that I was a part of. For example, under state law, insurers cannot charge women more than men for the same policy, “20- somethings” can be included on parents policies, and 85% of insurance revenues must be spent on care, not profit or admin.  

Republicans are already finding out how difficult it is to replace the ACA. http://wapo.st/2kccZkx?tid=ss_mail Certainly the ACA has not been perfect. Deductibles, premiums and co-pays have gone up. But just wait until you see the death spiral when the mandate is withdrawn. My prediction is that the replacement will be the same sorry health savings accounts or barebones policies that cost more with less coverage. Lifetime and annual limits will be restored. And oh, if we can buy cheaper policies across state lines, kiss our local insurance companies (like Presbyterian) goodbye. Lots of political risk here, but nothing compared to the real lives at stake.

Call members of the U.S. Senate and tell them not to confirm Tom Price as HHS Secretary. Meanwhile,

Keep the faith! With all its perils, we may be entering the most exciting time of our lives since the 1960s (for those of you who remember them).

Gary Johnson as President-- You've Got to be Kidding

Editor's note:  This article is set to appear in the Las Cruces Sun News and the Las Vegas Optic.  I wrote it because there are many who don't remember what Gary Johnson's term as governor was really like.I remember it vividly.  I was there.

                       Former Governor Has Terrible Track Record when it comes to Playing with Others

 There’s been much interest in former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, the libertarian candidate for President, these days especially from those disenchanted by both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Recently the focus has been on his “Aleppo” moments—the lack of knowledge of the most war-torn city in Syria and his inability to name even one foreign leader he admired. Regardless, Johnson has hung on to disenchanted voters and millennials who find his unconventional approach refreshing.

For those who know him only for his ardent defense of marijuana legalization or his non-interventionist stance, a glimpse into his history as Governor of New Mexico should be revealing.

I served as a Democratic New Mexico State Senator for six of his eight years as Governor, from 1997-2002. It was a rocky ride, to say the least.

The Republican Governor was in perpetual conflict with the Democratic legislature. He took great pride in his record number of vetoes (742). But the vetoes were only the legal ways he sought to exercise power over the legislative branch. In 1995 he signed casino gambling pacts with many of the state’s tribes—without legislative approval. His controversial action was struck down later that year by the New Mexico Supreme Court, which ruled that he had exceeded his authority. The compacts were later authorized by the legislature in 1997, my first year in Santa Fe.

That was the year when states were charged with enacting their own welfare reform packages to comport with then President Bill Clinton’s new welfare-to-work program. Again, Johnson didn’t wait for legislative authorization. He enacted his own Progress New Mexico program, one of the most restrictive in the nation. When the legislature crafted its own program, sponsored by Rep. J. Paul Taylor, it was immediately vetoed by Johnson, who continued to implement his program. J Paul Taylor, several other legislators and welfare recipients took the Governor to court—and won. In September, the NM Supreme Court struck down Progress NM and ordered Johnson to work with the legislature. He didn’t. He continued to implement Progress NM and in December was held in contempt of court. At that time, Johnson was the only Governor to achieve that distinction.

Johnson was a limited government kind of guy—in the extreme. His major thrust was privatization of government services from prisons to education. He was never successful in enacting a voucher program for public schools, despite repeated attempts. Another lawsuit from a bipartisan group of legislators, tried to halt Johnson’s private prison drive, but in the end, he succeeded (with the help of his arch- rival Sen. Manny Aragon) in getting private prisons in Hobbs, Santa Rosa and Grants. The state is still digging out from problems with the prisons (lawsuits and riots) and one of the prisons recently closed.  

Not everything about Gov. Gary Johnson was bad, of course. I was a fan of his solitary battle against the war on drugs—but then, it’s important to remember that his outspoken and courageous stands came only after he had safely secured re-election in 1998. We didn’t hear much about drugs before then, perhaps for obvious reasons.

I understand why some people might not want to remember Gov. Gary Jonson’s era as Governor. To the nation’s newest voters his term is ancient history. But those who lived through it know it was a time of chaos, gridlock, abuse of power and name-calling, even worse than today. Through it all Johnson remained obsessed with marathons, hang-gliding, skiing and his own workout regime, giving it a theater-of-the-absurd quality that rivals even today’s antics.

So if you’re contemplating a protest vote in this year’s election, get serious about the prospect of contempt and chaos. And this time, I’m not talking about the Republican nominee.

Dede Feldman is a former Democratic State Senator from Albuquerque’s North Valley. She is the author of Inside the New Mexico Senate: Boots, Suits and Citizens.

It Can't Happen Here-- Or Is Trump Bringing it All Back Home?

Note:  Here's a book review I wrote that appeared recently in the ABQ Free Press. 

Sinclair Lewis’s classic American satire, It Can’t Happen Here, was first published in 1935 in an era of economic depression and growing fascism at home and abroad. The dystopia was an immediate bestseller, spurring an unabridged series in the New York Post and countless theater productions.

Yet today’s citizens know little about it. They should pay more attention.

            Consider the main character Buzz Windrip, a presidential candidate who is a professional common man. His folksy, down-to-earth speeches use simple words to extol the greatest nation on earth, bash the big banks, the political elites and the press. He suggests that Negroes and Jews be barred from civic activity (even though he allows that many, many Jews are part of his movement) and that women stay at home. For safety’s sake, foreigners present too great a risk to America’s way of life to permit their presence. Windrip’s 15-point plan enlarges the military, increases veteran’s benefits and expands the definition of treason to include among other things, advocating foreign alliances.

            Sound familiar? Just replace the word Mexican or Muslims for Jews and Negroes and it’s hard not to think of Donald Trump. In the novel, the rise of the Chief, as he is later called, is preceded by an era of radio demagoguery voiced by a Father Charles Coughlin figure that bears a striking similarity to Rush Limbaugh. Like the anti-Semitic Coughlin, Bishop Paul Peter Drang has a huge following. His “League of Forgotten Men” is 27 million strong and forms the base of Windrip’s growing support. It is composed of formerly middle class men dispossessed by the big banks.   It is strongly reminiscent of the Tea Party.

            In an era of economic insecurity and a fear of foreign forces, Buzz Windrip is elected legally. Opposition does not mobilize quickly and he carries out his promises, which most had not taken seriously. He declares martial law. The Supreme Court is abolished. Congress becomes an advisory body. The “MM”, formerly a private marching club tasked with beating up opponents who dared to appear at Windrip’s campaign rallies, becomes a national police force, staffing checkpoints and concentration camps to which dissenters are sentenced—when they are not summarily shot.   Ironically the wall Windrip said he’d build to keep foreigners out is ultimately used to keep Americans from escaping to Canada.

            It Can’t Happen Here is not regarded as one of Sinclair Lewis’s best books. He won the Nobel Prize for his others: Main Street, Arrowsmith and Babbitt, mainstays of high school English classes. But this is his strongest protest against middle class complacency and the tendency of most Americans to opt for security—tendencies that have lingered into our era, and now loom over the 2016 presidential race.

Where are the heroes, the protestors, and the resistance to Lewis’s creeping fascism? The protagonist of It Can’t Happen Here is a small town newspaper editor, a reluctant liberal, who values his individualism and intellect too much to take action in time. Finally, he joins the resistance just as the totalitarian regime declares war on (where else?) Mexico. At the end of the novel, his success is uncertain.

In 2016, my friends assure me that Donald Trump will never be elected. Too many constitutional protections, too much media scrutiny. But in the wake of terrorist attacks, the shrinking middle class, and the waning hopes of our youth, I can’t help but worry. Anything can happen when fear takes over. Especially, as Lewis demonstrates, when the groundwork for fascism has already been laid.

Primary Election Pics, NM Human Services Dept. Debacle

Bloggers Note: Here's my latest View from Just Outside the Roundhouse 

Primary Election Upon Us, Finally

     Yup, it’s that time again. May 10 is the first day of voting for the June 7^th Primary. Initially you can vote only at the County Clerk’s annex at 15^th and Lomas or by absentee ballot (call 243-8683 to request one). Early voting starts in earnest on May 21 at locations around town and will continue through June 4. Check the clerk’s website for early voting locations.

The last day to register is May 10. You can now do it on line at http://www.sos.state.nm.us/. If you don’t register as either a Democrat or a Republican you are ineligible to vote in the primary.

It could be different, you know, and many of us have been pushing to change this system, which discourages many, many, many (as the Donald would say) voters. Those who decline to state a party (DTS) now compose 22% of registered voters in NM. Many of them are young people; more are simply turned off by partisan politics. Yet their voices (all 220,000 of them) are silenced in primaries, which-- since most districts are not competitive-- are often decisive. And why set an artificial deadline for registration, about a month before the actual election? Lots of people don’t tune in until the field is defined and the day approaches. Should they be disenfranchised? Only if you want to restrict the electorate, in my opinion. NM should have same-day registration like many other states.

But never mind, we have to play by the rules we’ve got now.

                  Here are a few of the candidates I feel strongly about.

         Cynthia Hall is running for the PRC in the district that covers much of ABQ. She will be one of the best, most experienced commissioners ever. A former PRC lawyer, she knows the issues. A former grassroots organizer for open space, she has not lost touch. An alternative energy and environmental advocate…. need I go on? After diligently working to become a publicly financed candidate, she was disqualified by Brad Winter (the SOS who replaced Dianna Duran) for a $50 error—something that could have been remedied. (Simultaneously, Winter negotiated with Republican lawyers for state senate candidate Sandra Jeff (D), who had not paid $1,000 in back fines. He allowed her on the ballot and reduced her fine to $100.) Much to her credit, Cynthia is truckin’ right along. Contribute here http://cynthiaforprc.com/.

            Roman Montoya is running for Bernalillo County Clerk, and boy, are we lucky he is…He’s a current deputy for Maggie Toulouse Oliver, and cut from the same cloth.   I first met him at a conference when he described the office’s plan to facilitate and encourage—not discourage—voter turnout. He’s innovative and committed to an inclusive view of democracy! http://www.romanmontoya.com/

            Adrian Pedroza is a progressive running for County Commission District 2, mostly in the South Valley. More and more, as power descends to the local level—important decisions (like whether to go forward with Santolina) are being made on the County Commission. The son of immigrants, Adrian knows the community from his work with the non-profit Partnership for Community Action. He has an MBA, business experience, and has been recognized by the White House as part of a new generation of Hispanic leaders. Pure and simple…. Adrian gives me hope for the future.   Help him if you can.

http://www.adrianfornewmexico.com/

            Nancy Bearce, who is running for County Treasurer will clean up the embarrassing state of affairs in that office and use her experience in state government and insurance to put us on a better path. She testified before my committee in SF about state insurance matters and often, I thought she was the only adult in the room.   https://www.facebook.com/Nancy4CoTreasurer/

            Raul Torrez is running for District Attorney. I’m impressed by his credentials as a federal prosecutor and his vision for a new day in criminal justice. Check him out at http://www.raultorrez.com/

Sen. Mimi Stewart is a progressive beacon in the NM State Senate. She is fearless, courageous and savvy. We need to keep her there in Senate District 17 and not regress to the district’s former senator, erstwhile Republican Shannon Robinson. His zigzag path is risky in many ways.   Mimi is looking for volunteers. http://mimistewart.org/contact/

Liz Thompson, is the best bet for a Democratic victory in the fall in this swing District 24 in the mid-heights and she may be the key to taking back the NM House. Liz was on her way to becoming one of the House’s best health advocates before she was ousted by Conrad James (who is not running) in 2014. This district flips between Ds and Rs. Ds take it in general election years, usually. http://www.lizthomson.org/

Even thought Senate District 39 is up north, I can’t help but put a plug in for Liz Stefanics, who is running for the seat held for 18 years by Sen. Phil Griego, and now held by a Republican appointee. Liz held this seat before-- from 1993 -1996 and was one of the state’s earliest progressive office holders. Her term on the SF County Commission is now ending. Tell your friends in the rural areas around Santa Fe. http://lizstefanics4newmexicosenate39.com/

NM Human Services Department Off the Rails?

The state’s largest department, charged with helping its most vulnerable citizens with health insurance (Medicaid) and emergency food aid (SNAP, or food stamps) seems to have gone completely off the rails. The Center for Law and Poverty is calling for the court to put the Department into receivership as a result of the latest development— department supervisors directing caseworkers to inflate the assets of food stamp applicants so they couldn’t get emergency benefits. The department was already out of compliance with other court orders over delays in the federal food stamp program. Whoa. Maybe the Center is right. I say that with a heavy heart because there are good people in Human Services, trying to make a difference. I was an early admirer of Centennial Care for it’s emphasis on care coordination and primary care, but now I’ve lost faith.  

In spite of the current leadership, there’s been a messy buildup, as a result of the previous Secretary, including the de-construction of the state’s behavioral health system and its misguided audit to find fraud and replace the state’s providers with Arizona companies. We know how that worked out: the AG found no intentional fraud, many of the NM providers folded, and the Arizona companies left town. I’d be surprised if the state was not headed for more court action on this.

Now the Department is in the process of cutting Medicaid, as instructed by the legislature. It will be cutting $419 million from the program—and the state’s hard-pressed economy.     There’s been no consideration of the revenue enhancements many other states are using to pay for the expanded program we need to serve new recipients (the feds are paying for over 90% of it, but we can’t come up with $89 million for the rest). And no talk of better bargaining for outrageously priced prescription drugs. Instead the department is cutting provider rates to the tune of $26-30 million—a cut that will affect UNM hospital the hardest and make the state’s slim roster of doctors and other providers (especially in rural areas) wonder if it’s really worth it. And there’s more to come—benefit and eligibility reductions are next up.

Have a great Spring and try to enjoy the Presidential race. It’s scary but historic.