[LWVNM Action] New Mexico Deserves a paid legislature

[Jane Asche]

Elisa, I am so amazed to get this email from you. You must be feeling 
better. I am working night and day on electoral work.  I hope to get by 
and see you next week. Jan Thompson said that she has been over to see 
you a number of times as well as Rev. Rod Thompson and Rev. Nancy 
Anderson. Hope it has been helpful to have good professional nursing 
care to help with showering and getting dressed and ready for each day.

I think about you each morning and say a prayer to the great spirit of 
life for happiness and good care.

Love,

Jane Asche😘

On 9/16/2026 4:20 PM, Richard Mason via Action wrote:
> My View Richard Mason – Santa Fe New Mexican
> New Mexico deserves a salaried Legislature
>
> September 12, 2026
>
> As a longtime advocate at the New Mexico Legislature, I urge New 
> Mexico voters to vote yes on Constitutional Amendment 4: legislative 
> salaries.
>
> In my 22 years as a volunteer advocate, I have had ongoing interaction 
> with New Mexico legislators and have come to appreciate that being a 
> New Mexico legislator involves far more than participating in the 
> 30-day and 60-day sessions. Here is what else it involves.
>
> Attending interim committees: Starting in May or June of each year, 
> the legislators have to attend interim committee meetings. Usually, 
> four meetings for each committee and each legislator is assigned at 
> least two committees. They are held at various locations throughout 
> the state. That time commitment is even greater for those legislators 
> who are members of the interim Legislative Finance Committee or the 
> interim Legislative Education Study Committee.
>
> Then there is time spent on capital outlay. Each legislator gets 
> capital outlay money to allocate to government entities in their 
> districts for projects. Legislators have to meet with local and county 
> governments to identify and prioritize needs. They also provide 
> oversight to be sure the outlay project is being properly implemented;
> government results and opportunity money (GRO)— in the last seven 
> years, each legislator gets money for special smaller projects. This 
> money needs to go through a government entity but can be directed 
> towards community groups. The legislator needs to meet with groups to 
> identify and prioritize needs:
>
> Serving constituents — meeting with constituents, answering 
> questionnaires, doing community forums and helping constituents on 
> issues; developing legislation — working with Legislative Council 
> Service and community members to draft legislation.
>
> Furthermore, providing legislative salaries would broaden the number 
> of people who could run for office. Given the workload noted above, it 
> is difficult for people to run for the Legislature who are not 
> retired, do not have a job that allows them flexibility or who has an 
> employer that allows them considerable time off. The latter factor 
> also could lead to conflict of interest.
>
> For all those reasons I urge voters to vote “yes” on Constitutional 
> Amendment 4 in the fall election.
>
> /Richard Mason is a volunteer advocate for health care reform, good 
> government and fair taxation./
>
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-- 
Jane A. Asche, Ed.D., Email: janeasche at comcast.net, Cell: 575-649-8154
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