You can make your voice heard by contacting your State Senator or Representative to ask them to support bills for a secure water and climate future or to oppose bills that think needs to be stopped! Write on any issue you care 
about and / or consider some of the bills below. Please remember — by writing a letter, making a phone call or testifying at a committee hearing you can make a difference!
To find an issue at the legislature that you care about, here are some tips. First of all, Find your legislator (click here)! You can search for bills on issues you care about using keywords (click here!) to find more information about what different bills do. Then, contact your legislators using phone, email, or simply dropping a letter or, even better, a hand-written note at the legislators office.
Hot bills for 2016 in the New Mexico Legislature!
Here are some bills you might consider when research what issue to write about:
HB 26/SB 13- Solar Market Development Tax Credit: The bill extends the current 10% tax credit for the installation of solar panels (both photovoltaic and hot water). The bill would result in more solar panel installations and decreased reliance on power generated from coal, nuclear and oil by giving people a financial incentive to install these systems. The tax credit would end/sunset by 2025.
HM 33 – Aqueduct to New Mexico: The memorial (not binding) requests that US Congress fund and federal agencies design and build an aqueduct from the Missouri or Mississippi River to New Mexico.
HB175/SB104 – Renewable Energy Tax Credit Eligibility: The bill adds geothermal energy as a qualified to receive the tax credit and increases the total amount of electricy that can be produced from 2.5 million megawatt hours to up to 3.5 million megawatt hours. The bill would likely encourage the production of more renewable energy.
SB 110 – Revenue for Forest & Watershed Projects: The bill expands the revenue sources to the Forest Land Protection Revolving Fund to include revenue from federal agencies. Without this bill the fund can only receive funding from the sale of confiscated wood and other seized property and the fund can be used only for administration and enforcement of the Forest Conservation Act. The bill will expand the ability of the funds to be used for forest, watershed, and community protection thinning projects.h
HM 31 – Statewide Resiliency Plan: The memorial (not binding) asks the State of New Mexico and the NM Department of Agriculture to create a resiliency plan that increases the ability of farmers and ranchers to produce food and address climate challenges and to develop strategies to support young people who want to stay with or get back into agriculture.
HB 163 – Home Energy & Water Efficiency Tax Credit: The bill provides a one-time “home energy and water efficiency income tax credit” of as much as $4,000 for qualifying improvements to the energy or water efficiency of a person’s primary residence. The bill provides incentive for homeowners to increase energy and water efficiency.
SB 34 / HB 107 – Tax Rate Differential for Certain Oil: The bill extends a 50% reduction in tax to oil removed from existing wells using the technology of injecting carbon dioxide into the well to produce more oil. A potential benefit is the resulting uptake of carbon dioxide into the ground and less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
River Source does not endorse or oppose any of these bills but provides this information to you so you can consider what your position is on them.
You can also find more information about these and other bills by going to:
The New Mexico Legislature Website (their new website!)
Here are some other bills you may find interesting:
SB 76 – Lead in Sale of Recycled Materials
SB 173 – Interstate Mining Compact Act
HB 107 – Reduce Tax Rate for Certain Oil & Gas Wells
HB 111 -Crop Dusting Tanks as Above Ground Storage
SJM 4- Environmental Education Importance
SB 102 – Wastewater System Financing
