Just to Say Thank You
On June 8, note cards with the Lutheran Advocacy Ministry logo will be available for all who would like to write a note of thanks to their state legislators for the extraordinary effort they make on our behalf each year.
New Mexico is the last state to have a citizens’ legislature—one in which the senators and representatives fulfill their elective service as volunteers. Although they receive a modest per diem during sessions, they do not earn a salary as most other legislators do across the United States. What a challenge it must be for New Mexico legislators to earn their livelihood in jobs back home while also taking time off to attend legislative sessions in Santa Fe each winter. And they do year-round work for us as interim legislative committees meet across the state.
Images come to my mind when I think about how hard our legislators work. At a recent Bishop’s Luncheon, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-NM was honoring a state representative for her work on health care. When someone apologized for not giving her time to finish her lunch before calling her to the podium, she laughed good-naturedly, pointed to pieces of lettuce on her salad fork, and said, “This is more lunch than I’ve had in weeks.”
These public servants are truly amazing as they rush from early morning committee hearings to floor sessions and then to more committee hearings, sometimes stretching into the late evening hours and even the weekends. In between, they take in constituents’ concerns on a staggering array of issues.
Now, in this interim time, a handwritten note on an LAM-NM card is a way we can just say thank you.
Judy Messal