FGGAM MEDIA CENTER received this news release yesterday:
I am still wrapping my head around the Governor’s wish list….it is a year long session? Will every one get a chicken in the pot? Will Churches stay at 25%? Will the people be heard? Some of my terminology does not fit here in 2020 for some, the term ‘a chicken in every pot’ comes from the Great Depression and I would say we are getting closer to that in America. We certainly as a nation are spiritually depressed. Things are changing in so fast….a Legislator told me that ‘our future is at stake’…..so very true, our nation is at great risk at this point in our history…..so very many that call America home, do not see it…they are spiritually blind.
Have you checked up on the State by State and Federal Deficit lately? We are all playing with monopoly money…..we are fooling ourselves if we think we are a stable nation.Sate by State and U.S. Debt Clock
Pray for our Governor. I called up to her office last week, I was promised a return call from Michelle or one of her assistance……I will never get a call…..Just like when former Governor Susana Martinez had me wait in her office for an hour for promised meeting but she never came out. One of her assistants came out and said the Governor had ‘something come up’
I am astounded at the Governor’s LONG LIST! You can either laugh, cry, or pray or do all three!!! BUT PRAY FOR SURE!
First of all, please pray the Will of God will be done in the New Mexico Legislative Special Session that starts at High Noon today.
Thanks to Representative Jim Townsend, pictured above, for the following report. Jim is the real deal.
Every one of us have to prepare ourselves and our families for the unexpected, our State should also. Rainy days or unexpected times are a fact of life, we need to be better prepared. We should never spend our rainy day funds, to do so is reckless and puts us in jeopardy and we all know it. Tell your State Representative or Senator to protect your future, save the State Permanent Funds, don’t spend it, because a rainy day will come.
Governor includes business and tax relief, public safety reform,
election changes, other items for special session
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will ask the New Mexico Legislature to consider tax relief for individuals, loans for small businesses and local governments, police reform and election improvements, among other topics, when it meets in a special session beginning today
Lawmakers will be asked to consider those bills in addition to modifying the state budget that takes effect July 1, the main purpose of the special session.
As a result of the global pandemic, projected state revenues declined steeply following the legislative session earlier this year, leaving a gap estimated at more than $2 billion. The executive budget framework includes cuts to state agency budgets, grants to local governments and sovereign nations and a preservation of a portion of the pay raises that had been scheduled for educators while using the state’s unprecedented reserves and federal funding to patch the budget hole created by the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among the non-budget measures the governor supports and will ask the Legislature to take up are proposals requiring police officers to wear body cameras, banning chokehold restraints, and making police disciplinary history a matter of public record. Those measures have gained traction across the nation in the wake of the May 25 murder of George Floyd, a black man who died while a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly 9 minutes.
Additionally the governor will support a proposal to create a state commission by statute to explore the issue of qualified immunity.
“This is not the end of the reform work we must take up – on public safety and racial injustice or on budgetary matters,” said Gov. Lujan Grisham. “The focus of this special session is relatively narrow given the economic crisis and the public health concerns about gathering for an extended period of time – but we must begin to address both the financial and human rights emergencies of this moment and put ourselves in a position to evaluate and enact broader structural reform in the next regular session of the Legislature.
“New Mexico families, workers and businesses have been suffering as a result of this pandemic, and it is our duty not merely to shore up the state budget – although that is imperative – but to deliver them whatever immediate relief we can as a state. We must assure New Mexicans, all together, that this state will take care of its own, will meet the needs of its families and workers, and we can serve as a national example of a targeted, sustainable, balanced recovery.
“I look forward to and anticipate bipartisan cooperation and expeditious work with the Legislature this week, as well as the professionalism and diligence New Mexicans have come to expect from this group of legislators,” the governor added.
The governor also supports, as part of her “call,” a proposal to promote and ensure the security and timeliness of remote voting during the pendency of a public health emergency like a pandemic. New Mexico’s election code currently requires voters to request an absentee ballot before one can be issued. The proposal to be taken up by the Legislature will give county clerks the authority to send a ballot to registered voters with a current mailing address and will allow voters and election administrators to track their ballots through the mail delivery system to help ensure timely delivery of their ballots, among other changes.
Tax relief for small businesses and individuals impacted by the pandemic will also be on the call. Specifically, the governor will ask the Legislature to waive penalties and interest for small businesses and individuals who have been unable to make timely property tax and gross receipts tax payments due to the economic impact of the pandemic.
Additionally, she will ask the Legislature to approve a proposal to direct the State Investment Officer to invest a portion of the state’s multibillion-dollar Severance Tax Permanent Fund to support loans to small businesses and municipalities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The low-interest, long-term loans would help municipalities meet budget shortfalls and get businesses back on their feet following COVID-19-related closures.
The governor will also ask the Legislature to temporarily endorse gubernatorial flexibility and authority to assist businesses amid a public health emergency or pandemic – for example, to potentially allow liquor delivery or electronic notary services.
The legislative session will begin at noon Thursday.
The police and public safety reform proposal will be sponsored by Sen. Joseph Cervantes and Rep. Micaela Cadena.
The proposal regarding a commission to evaluate qualified immunity will be sponsored by Speaker Brian Egolf.
The election modification proposal will be sponsored by Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto and Rep. Linda Trujillo.
The severance tax support for small businesses and municipalities proposal will be sponsored by Sen. Jacob Candelaria, Sen. John Sapien, Rep. Daymon Ely and Rep. Marian Matthews.
The tax relief proposal will be sponsored by Sen. Peter Wirth and Rep. Christine Chandler.
The proposal regarding gubernatorial authority to permit flexibility in allowing liquor delivery and other potential items will be sponsored by Sen. Mary Kay Papen and Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas.
Evil is real – and powerful. It has to be fought, not explained away, not fled. And God is against evil all the way. So each of us has to decide where we stand, how we’re going to live our lives. We can try to persuade ourselves that evil doesn’t exist; live for ourselves and wink at evil. We can say that it isn’t so bad after all, maybe even try to call it fun by clothing it in silks and velvets. We can compromise with it, keep quiet about it and say it’s none of our business. Or we can work on God’s side, listen for His orders on strategy against the evil, no matter how horrible it is, and know that He can transform it.
IMPACTFUL WORDS FROM CATHERINE MARSHALL!!!
From Billy Graham:
Where does evil come from? The Bible admittedly doesn’t answer all our questions about evil, but it does tell us that evil comes ultimately from Satan, who is absolutely evil and opposed to everything good, including God. And while Satan isn’t equal to God, he’s a powerful spiritual being who seeks by every means possible to block what God is doing. Jesus called him “a murderer from the beginning … and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
One of Satan’s biggest lies is to convince people that he doesn’t even exist, and that evil isn’t real. But if evil isn’t real, why did Jesus Christ come into the world? Jesus didn’t come to teach us how to think positive thoughts. He came to give his life as the final sacrifice for sin, and by his resurrection he conquered evil and Satan and hell. Someday, his victory will be complete, and Satan and evil will be banished forever. The Bible says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work” (1 John 3:8).
