Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard Announces Legislative Priorities And Outreach Program

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on January 22, 2015
- 10:04 pm

Dist. 43 Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard

STATE News:

SANTA FE – At the beginning of her second term as representative for House Dist. 43, Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard, D-Los Alamos, Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Sandoval counties, announces new legislative priorities and an outreach program with the start of New Mexico’s 52nd Legislative Session.

The 60-day session convened Tuesday in what will be a historic year as Republicans take the majority in the House for the first time in 60 years. Garcia Richard issued the following statement regarding her top legislative priorities, re-appointment to the House Appropriations committee, and a ground breaking nonpartisan project to engage House Dist. 43 voters on the issues this session:

“I am excited to start my second term as your Representative and look forward to working with House Republicans to continue to tackle the tough issues facing our local businesses and public education system.

One of the main hardships I have heard from students and parents, regarding public education, is the unfair mandatory testing requirements on our children. I believe one of the first steps in addressing our failing public education system is putting more emphasis on teaching rather than testing, which is why I am sponsoring HB 129, a bill that would give parents the option for their children to opt out of various assessments and tests that are currently mandatory.

On top of working to limit testing in New Mexico, I will continue to press the legislature on my bills to limit classroom sizes in our public schools, close the DWI loopholes plaguing our current laws, and work to expand the procurement legislation I passed last year to protect New Mexico’s contractors and small businesses. These legislative priorities, along with funding our state’s domestic violence programs, will be critical and I am excited to once again return to the House Appropriations Committee to ensure their passage.

I am also excited to announce the launch of a new nonpartisan program for voters in House District 43, the Legislative Rapid Response Project. To many times, the views of the voters are left out of the legislative process and the Legislative Rapid Response Project hopes to give voters a true voice on the issues this session.

If you are a registered voter in House Dist. 43, you can sign up online to participate in 1 minute long surveys to tell us how you feel about issues ranging from: Right to Work, Voter ID, Education Reform too name a few. Our goal is to make sure every vote I take is the right vote for the district. I hope you will go online to www.StephanieGarciaRichard.com and click on the Legislative Rapid Response Project image to join this groundbreaking program.