UPDATED January 26, 2022
We’re now in week 2 of the legislative session, and things are happening!
Senate Health & Public Affairs Hearing on SB 80, Plus Presentation by Superintendent of Insurance
Senate Bill 80, the bill introduced by Sen. Ortiz y Pino and Sen. Pope to appropriate $1.5 million to continue the Health Security Plan design process, is scheduled to be heard by the Senate Health & Public Affairs Committee on Wednesday, January 26. The committee meets at 1:30 PM, or half an hour after the Senate floor session ends. SB 80 is currently #7 on the agenda.
In conjunction with the hearing, Superintendent of Insurance Russell Toal will be presenting on progress so far with the Health Security Plan design process. We're excited to hear what he has to share!
To participate in the hearing and listen to the presentation, you'll need to join the committee's Zoom webinar. The Zoom link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87967039414, or you can call in at 1-669-900-9128. The webinar ID is 879 6703 9414. Please plan to (virtually) attend! You'll get to hear what the Superintendent has to say—and you'll also have a chance to show your support for the Health Security Plan design process if the committee chair asks how many in the audience support the bill.
We need lots of testimony during the hearing! Remember to keep your remarks brief. In one or two sentences, explain why continuing the design process to create the Health Security Plan is important to you.
Call Your Senator (if they’re on the committee)
If your senator sits on Senate Health & Public Affairs, please call today and ask them to support SB 80, the Health Security Act Adoption Study. If you're not sure who your senator is, use the legislature's handy Find Your Legislator tool to find out.
Senate Health & Public Affairs Committee Members:
Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, Chair - District 12 (Albuquerque) 505-986-4482
Sen. Bill Tallman, Vice Chair - District 18 (Albuquerque) 505-986-4373
Sen. Gregg Schmedes - District 19 (Bernalillo, Sandoval, Santa Fe & Torrance counties) 505-986-4395
Sen. Jacob Candelaria - District 26 (Albuquerque) 505-986-4380
Sen. David Gallegos - District 41 (Eddy & Lea counties) 505-986-4278
Sen. Stuart Ingle - District 27 (Chaves, Curry, De Baca, Lea and Roosevelt counties) 505-986-4702
Sen. Brenda McKenna - District 9 (Bernalillo & Sandoval counties) 505-986-4301
Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez - District 16 (Albuquerque) 505-986-4389
Sen. Liz Stefanics - District 39 (Bernalillo, Lincoln, San Miguel, Santa Fe, Torrance and Valencia counties) 505-986-4377
Junior Comes First
This year, “junior” funding requests had to be submitted early—the Senate deadline was Monday, and the House deadline is today (Tuesday). (The “junior” budget bill is made up of discretionary funding requests from each senator and representative. For more information on “junior” and our legislative strategy, see our January 21 blog post.) Needless to say, we’ve been busy contacting supportive legislators to ask them to commit some of their discretionary funding to the Office of Superintendent of Insurance for the continuation of the Health Security Plan design process.
This Thursday: Legislative Update @ 6:30 PM
Join us this Thursday, January 27, at 6:30 PM for our first weekly 2022 legislative update, via Zoom. Register now!