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Real News For Real New Mexicans.
The Chile Wire with A. Baldonado. Right. Hello. Welcome to The Chili Wire, real news for real New Mexicans.
Abe Baldonado:We have our first episode today, and I am delighted to introduce Jodi Hendricks of New Mexico Family Action Movement. Jodi, thank you for joining us today on our first Chili Wire podcast episode. So thank you for joining us.
Jodi Hendricks:My pleasure. Thanks so much for having me.
Abe Baldonado:My pleasure. And Jody, real quick, I have to ask this because we are the Chili Wire, red or green?
Jodi Hendricks:Christmas.
Abe Baldonado:Love it. But there's no wrong answer on the Chili Wire. We love red. We love green. We loved Christmas.
Abe Baldonado:Jody, just would love for our viewers to know who you are, who New Mexico Family Action Movement is. And then I'm sure we'll have plenty of more questions once we finish that up. I'd love for you to introduce yourself to our guests.
Jodi Hendricks:Jotie I am Jodi Hendricks, and I am the Executive Director for New Mexico Family Action Movement. And I was born and raised here in New Mexico. I went away to college and then I got married and I brought my husband back and we are growing our family. I have four children. And I am a Zumba instructor for fun because you know, we gotta have some fun in there.
Jodi Hendricks:Right? Absolutely. I'm an author, a speaker, and a licensed mental health counselor.
Abe Baldonado:Wow.
Jodi Hendricks:So we we really focus at New Mexico Family Action Movement on advocating for our biblical values in policy, but also in educating and training churches to empower them to be able to stand firm on their biblical values when it comes to engaging in their civic duties. So we have a lot of work cut out for us here in New Mexico, but absolutely love being able to do something that has such an eternal value and impact for people in the things that matter most to them, their values, their principles that they want to raise their families on. And we want to support them in that.
Abe Baldonado:That is terrific. And Jodi, I think of today being Valentine's Day, day of love. We love our families. And so thank you for all that you do. Talking about our families, we know right now we're in the midst of the legislature.
Abe Baldonado:I know you've been busy and between Zumba classes and writing books, I don't know what you do for your free time, but I know you spent some time in Santa Fe as of late. We're about halfway through. Things are moving, but there are a lot of family issues happening right now in the New Mexico Roundhouse. Would love to just pick your brain and see, you know, what are some things that you're seeing and what you're hearing? And I think a lot of times our families across New Mexico aren't aware of the things that are happening in Santa Fe.
Abe Baldonado:And I think this is a good opportunity for you to fill us in on some big pieces of legislation that are moving through, but would love to pick your thoughts on what you've seen so far.
Jodi Hendricks:Wow. Well, it's been a doozy. Will say that there's been a lot happening at the Capitol. And I always want to tell people, you know, there for all the bad things we hear that's going through Santa Fe and the things that we're trying to fight against, there are so many good things happening as well. We have so many good pieces of policy that we're working on, trying to do things to help protect families incentivize life.
Jodi Hendricks:I mean, you name it. So we have some legislators who are really carrying some great bills that are positive. For instance, we had John Block who's carrying the Protection of Minors from Harmful Materials So that is a really great bill that's all about protecting our kids online, protecting them from websites with illicit content that they don't need to see. It's so sad to see the statistics of the children that are accidentally exposed to pornographic material online. And this bill is meant to put safeguards in place to protect our kids.
Jodi Hendricks:And so that one we're waiting. It made it through its first committee to the point of needing some amendments. And so they're giving Representative Block the opportunity to make those amendments, add in some more specific things that needed to be addressed, and then they'll bring it back to hopefully be able to move that one forward. So that's a really good example of a good bill we are working to protect our kids.
Abe Baldonado:And Jody, on that note, I think I remember paying attention to that bill through the webcast. And it's unfortunate they didn't pass because, you know, to many of us, it's common sense. But to many of those legislators and also some of the folks who spoke in opposition to the bill, I think was very surprising. I know there was a bookstore owner who said, Hey, this isn't good for my business, ultimately. And we're thinking, Hey, what do you mean?
Abe Baldonado:We're protecting minors from harmful material. And, you know, it it even doesn't go as far as some other states does. It still was very I'm not going to say lenient, but it didn't definitely get as strict as some of other pieces of legislation that we've seen throughout the country. But it seemed like a common sense bill that would protect minors. And, you know, I know I have a feeling amendments were used on purpose to kill the bill without anyone having to take a vote on it.
Abe Baldonado:I think a lot of the folks on that committee maybe didn't want to have that on their record that they voted no against the bill that protects minors. Amendments were used not to bring it back. But, you know, just how do we get families more involved to to say, hey, no, you need to pass this? How do we put pressure on our legislators to get involved and say, I want you to protect my child. I want you to protect my grandchildren from these harmful materials that are on the web.
Abe Baldonado:And it's not just pornographic information. There's also other dark Internet spaces that are out there as well.
Jodi Hendricks:Right. Yeah. No, I'm glad you asked that because I think so often families will disconnect from the legislative process and what's happening because they don't know the power that they have. They don't know what to do. And so one of the things that we do at Family Action Movement is making it possible for families to interact with their legislators.
Jodi Hendricks:So we send out action alerts on all of these bills, whether they're good bills that we need to pass or bad bills that we need to stop. We explain the bill so that families can understand what that bill will do and how it affects their family. And then we give them the opportunity to send an email to their legislator. Now we've prewritten an email because some people are like, wouldn't know what to say. I don't even know where to start.
Jodi Hendricks:Don't worry, we've done that for you. However, I always encourage people, it goes so much further when you make a personal message. So you have the opportunity in those action links to be able to personalize that message. Even cooler, I don't know if you've tried this, Abe, if you haven't, you should. There's a video option on our calls to action.
Abe Baldonado:That is awesome.
Jodi Hendricks:Yes. So you can actually click the little video icon, you put in your name and your information so that the representatives know who it's coming from. And then you click record right there in the action. You don't have to go anywhere else. You don't have to record a video separately.
Jodi Hendricks:Right there in the link. You click to record selfie style and you tell your story. So for instance, I can do a video on that on this particular bill we were talking about and say, Hey, look, I am a mother of four children here in New Mexico. And I am concerned because of the statistics that show my kids might accidentally be exposed to something that they don't want to see, that I as their parent don't want to see nor believe is good for them. Therefore, I am urging you, I'm begging you to pass this bill for my kid's sake.
Jodi Hendricks:Right? There we go. There's a video, they now have a face with the name and they see my personal story. And all you do is hit send.
Abe Baldonado:That that is amazing. And I think about, you know, bumping into that constituent in a grocery store and, you know, putting a face to the name, I think it really gives that personal touch. You know, I think it also brings some sort of accountability saying, hey, I was the one who emailed you a video of myself opposing or supporting a bill. And now you have to see me in a grocery store. And now you know that either I voted for it or I didn't.
Abe Baldonado:But I think that is terrific that you all offer that service. I want to talk about something that happened yesterday in House Consumers and Public Affairs. We had House Bill 185, Protection of Women's Sports. Again, another common sense bill. For a long time, advocated for Title IX.
Abe Baldonado:It was a great change to what we see in high schools, girls having their own sports. Now we've seen that transgender males can now participate in these girls' sports. I think there was some really deep emotional testimony yesterday about the consequences of that happening. And I think representative Dow, representative Rod Montoya, representative Jones did an amazing job explaining to the committee why this was such a great piece of legislation and why it need to go through, not only for what's happening in New Mexico with sports here, but what's happening across the country with the movement and also the president's executive order. I know you were there yesterday at the forefront.
Abe Baldonado:You organized many people to speak, on behalf of this bill to support it. 84% of New Mexicans on both sides of the aisle believe that boys shouldn't be competing in male sports. Yeah. Yesterday, that committee ignored that statistic and voted to table this bill. And these numbers are from age groups 18 through 24.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. Which is staggering. Would love to get your thoughts on that.
Jodi Hendricks:Oh, man. It was really, it was heartbreaking yesterday to watch that committee. Just everything that happened in that committee was just outrageous. I did believe that our representatives did such a beautiful job at portraying the message of the bill. The reason for the bill is safety, protection, fairness in our women's sports.
Jodi Hendricks:It's not banning, it's a protection. It's not excluding anyone. It's just making proper guidelines to make sure that our athletes are safe and have opportunity for titles and to have actual chances in their competitions rather than being put up against someone who's biologically different than they are. Know, so it just comes down to that and to watch the committee yesterday, they just completely ignored the truth of what we know is happening. That these biologically male athletes are competing against biological female athletes in an all female sport, and they're taking the titles, and they're the ones causing injuries to our Yet, female they would not hear that.
Jodi Hendricks:They would not see that. They did not care to protect women. And so one of the things representative Dow said many times that I just absolutely loved, you don't have to be anti anyone to be pro woman. Yet four women on that committee voted, basically voted against women. They chose to table the bill, which of course is what they do to kill it.
Jodi Hendricks:And so they didn't even have the courage to stand up and vote no. Know, they wanna get up on their pedestal and say they want to protect transgender women. But what they were saying was, we don't have the courage to say no to this bill because we don't want to look like we're not standing for women, but really we're not standing for women.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. And I think you put it perfectly, Jodi. And, you know, I think from what I heard with a lot of the comments was this was a bill of hate and it was not a bill of hate. It was a bill of compassion, of love, of empathy. And I think I can't remember her name, but the guest speaker that they brought in, the NCAA volleyball player who talked about her grade three concussion that she received, which really messed with her, not only just physically, but emotionally, when she was competing a male counterpart in girls volleyball.
Abe Baldonado:And, you know, she said the, you know, yeah, could I have gotten a concussion from another girl who hit the ball? Absolutely. But that day was different. There was a different velocity to that volleyball that made contact with my head. And I thought that was an amazing story about why this bill was so imperative to get through the roundhouse.
Jodi Hendricks:Yes. Peyton's story, Peyton Her story is is just it's so heartbreaking what she had to go through, but it's I'm so proud of her for standing up because it is true. The long lasting repercussions of her injury that came from a biological male spiking a volleyball in her face. It's proven, you know, those biological differences that male athletes have more strength, they have more endurance, They are able to do things much more fiercely than women do. And therefore that spike came down much more fiercely than any spike, any other volleyball has ever encountered in this volleyball player has ever encountered in this type of situation.
Jodi Hendricks:And so, yeah, it was a very real situation in which it was simply because of the biological male competing. And like Peyton said yesterday several times, this didn't have to happen. And that's what's so heartbreaking. She didn't consent to play against someone like this. This did not have to happen.
Jodi Hendricks:Yet she has lasting repercussions still two years later, she's still trying to heal from that head injury, that traumatic brain injury from a spike.
Abe Baldonado:Well, I'll tell you, I'm so glad that Payton's on our team to advocate. I can't imagine what she went through with that situation. But the fact that she came to New Mexico to tell her story just sends a beautiful message about her advocacy and what legacy she's trying to create, along with Riley Gaines, who has also done so. Think the work that they've done, I think one of the best pictures we saw were all the girls surrounded by President Trump that showed, hey, you're protecting us and we thank you for that. Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:About consent, did House Bill 185 also provide consent for girls to agree to have boys not be in girls locker rooms?
Jodi Hendricks:So that particular bill focused just on
Abe Baldonado:Just on, okay.
Jodi Hendricks:We do have a separate bill. So we decided, trying to be strategic, we're going to separate these issues. And so we had the sports bill yesterday, which just simply sports and participating in girls sports, whereas we have a separate bill that is being introduced that is specifically to protect women's spaces.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. And a recent poll came out that 94% of New Mexicans agree boys should not be in girls' locker rooms. So hopefully, the legislature will listen to that staggering number
Jodi Hendricks:Yes.
Abe Baldonado:About how people are filling in. That was also age group eight to twenty four. Yeah. So, I mean, these are new voters. Yes.
Abe Baldonado:And so I think our legislature should really pay attention to this that, hey, these are young voters who care about these issues. They're engaging on them and they believe that, hey, we oppose this.
Jodi Hendricks:Yes. Well, and I think it's interesting because that age group, 18 to 24, are the ones that people who are pushing the progressive ideology, they think that they're representing this group, this specific age group, 18 to 24. They think this is who we're fighting for. And of course, then some of our teenagers, younger kids, our minors, but yet that age group is the one with the highest percentage that says, No, boys don't belong in girls' locker No matter how they identify, biologically, if you have male parts, you don't belong in female spaces.
Abe Baldonado:And you would think they would look at national election results. I mean, President Trump outgained in the 18 to 24 year old range. And because these issues were important to ignore, that just shows that they're completely disconnected from what's happening. Jody, I want to give you a moment to talk about some of the proactive measures that I know you have been working on. House Bill two thirty four, the Born Alive bill, also House Bill two thirty six notice for medication abortions.
Abe Baldonado:I think these are great bills. I think a lot of families don't know about them, and I think a lot of women don't know that even abortions can be reversed. And so would love to hear about, you know, the work that you've done and are currently doing around these bills to make sure that they get I mean, these to me seem like common sense bills. But does our legislature see it that way?
Jodi Hendricks:There's shouldn't be, but I'm always surprised at some of the arguments they bring about on some of these bills that we feel is just common sense. It just it needs to happen. Yet they will fight it. You know, for instance, this Born Alive bill, it is something that is so necessary. This idea that if an infant is born alive, they are required, the health care providers are required to give lifesaving care.
Jodi Hendricks:You would think that that's a no brainer. But because it will end up somehow affecting the abortion industry, they're going to fight against it. So how would it affect the abortion industry? Bottom line, in abortion clinics, there are instances where babies are born alive from an abortion, from a botched abortion, really. When that infant is born alive, there is no life saving care provided.
Abe Baldonado:Wow.
Jodi Hendricks:So the fact that there's this whole gray area where there is a possibility of an infant being born alive at a location such as this, then this law mandates that they have to be able to provide lifesaving care to that baby. And that if there's no life saving care offered to that baby, no matter the gestational age, if that baby is alive, it's considered viable. Therefore, is a legal person requires life saving care. That's all this bill will do. But because it could somehow affect our abortion clinics by maybe, possibly, creating a little bit more accountability for them, maybe providing the opportunity to save an infant who is born alive, somehow these legislators will fight against it.
Jodi Hendricks:But that doesn't mean we stop fighting. Right. Because I think everyone can agree, whether you agree with abortion or not, that if a baby is born alive, it needs to be taken care of.
Abe Baldonado:Yes.
Jodi Hendricks:And that's what this bill does.
Abe Baldonado:That's amazing. And, you know, with that, the legislature and the Republicans have done a great job with legislation, the baby box initiative. I mean, there there are options. And I know there's a great adoption bill right now that Representative Dow has introduced about tax incentives for adoption. Making it easier to adopt, but also making it more affordable for families to adopt.
Abe Baldonado:So progress is being made. I think a lot of times people just don't know that these things happening. Yeah. So I think that's great work. I definitely want to pick your brain for just a little bit on the reversal of abortion.
Abe Baldonado:A lot of women don't know about this. And I know we've had conversations where oftentimes it's intentional that they don't share that this can be reversed, but would love for you to just elaborate a little bit more on that.
Jodi Hendricks:Yeah, absolutely. So really what this bill, the House Bill two thirty six, comes down to is informed consent. We believe every mother matters.
Abe Baldonado:Yes.
Jodi Hendricks:And every mother deserves the opportunity to have all of the information in front of her when making such a big decision. So the fact that when a woman is given a medication abortion, there is a window of opportunity in which that can be reversed. So this bill requires that women who are given the option of a medication abortion are also given the information that clearly notes this can be reversed. This is how it's reversed. This is where you get what you need to reverse it.
Jodi Hendricks:And this is the window of time that you have to be able to reverse it. So really it's informed consent. Yeah. Why not let these mothers make their decisions with all of the information? And so that is the basic of this bill is just making sure that our women have the information in front of them.
Abe Baldonado:And we love our mothers. It's Valentine's Day. We love our mothers.
Jodi Hendricks:We love our mamas.
Abe Baldonado:Today, a bill that really caught my eye was heard in Senate education, Senate Bill two fifty eight by Senator Angel Charlie, human sexuality education. You know, this to me is a consequential bill because of the positions it's going to put our teachers in, but also the compromise of, you know, really not compromise, but putting our families in a tough position, you know, having to opt out of this and maybe not knowing what's going to be taught at school. But ideally, what this bill does is it starts teaching sexuality to our children in middle school and high school. And we know that these should be family discussions, not conversations with strangers or teachers. I mean, we shouldn't put our teachers in that as a former educator.
Abe Baldonado:You know, I can tell you that I think we put teachers in an uncomfortable position with this. But, you know, the sponsor of the bill said, I'd rather have a stranger talk to my child about sexuality than me as a parent. And I'm like, I don't think that speaks volumes for most parents across New Mexico. And it's unfortunate because I think a lot of parents right now don't know about this piece of legislation.
Jodi Hendricks:Yes. Yeah. Well, I think, you know, when we talk about this bill, it's really important to understand a couple of differences. So, we have sexual education in school. Okay, your typical sexual education where they're informing about the facts, very objective.
Jodi Hendricks:The difference that this bill brings is that it is human sexuality. It is comprehensive human sexuality education. So this goes far beyond the objective facts of sexual education, and it now encompasses ideology. It now encompasses all of the different gender possibilities, all of the different relationships that you could find yourself in with all of the different gender possibilities. I mean, it opens up this whole world.
Jodi Hendricks:Know, sexual education it's a careful subject as it is. Parents have to decide if they want someone else teaching that in their health class or they want to teach it to their kids. But when you open up and you create this comprehensive sexuality education, Now it goes far beyond into realms where there are many many families in New Mexico do not agree
Abe Baldonado:Yeah.
Jodi Hendricks:With the ideology and therefore want to teach their children in a way that aligns with their values. And I'm sorry, parents have the right to do that. They're kids.
Abe Baldonado:Well, and I think you just hit the nail on the head that, you know, we're starting to put teachers to teach ideology and that's not what education is. You know, our education system is to teach kids how to think, think for themselves, gain skills that they need to be successful in life and careers, instead, you know, they're telling them what to think. Yes. And also what we've seen, and I know you've had stories about people feeling shunned because maybe they don't agree with some of those ideologies because of the family values that they have. So I think this bill really puts people in a tough position, not only students, but families, parents, and educators.
Jodi Hendricks:Yes. And we're really working. I mean, we would love to stop the bill, but really the biggest thing that we are hoping to achieve if it continues to go through legislation, which, you know, we assume that it will in our current legislature. However, what we would like is we're really pushing for an amendment for a required opt in so that this isn't automatic for kids and that, Oh, there's an opt out parents. Opt outs are so hard because parents half the time don't even know what's happening.
Jodi Hendricks:They don't know how to opt out. There's so many obstacles to jump through whenever you're trying to opt out. And so what we want is an opt in. And so that parents can specifically sign off to say, Yes, I want my child in this. Or, No, I do not give permission.
Jodi Hendricks:And therefore their kids won't accidentally end up in class one day when this is the topic of conversation. Rather, they've had the opportunity as the parent to express their rights as the parent to say, No, my child cannot be a part of that.
Abe Baldonado:Absolutely. And, you know, I'm curious about that because I think about this as an educator, in versus opt out. One thing I heard today in the committee hearing is ultimately if you opt out of this, your child's not going to receive health education, which is vital because health education is vital. I will tell you, it teaches our kids about hygiene. It teaches them about disease risks, whatever it may be.
Abe Baldonado:And so there is a positive factor to having that course. But now ultimately, we're saying, well, if you don't believe in human sexuality or comprehensive human sexuality, now you're going to miss out on content that could be vital to your health of understanding hygiene, whatever it may be. And so, you know, I'm really conflicted with that because I'm like, why are we putting parents in that position? And as you mentioned, a lot of parents oftentimes don't know what's happening or don't know what they're consenting to or not consenting to. You know, I think about the mom or dad who is a single family who's working multiple jobs that maybe aren't as involved just because they're trying to make ends meet.
Jodi Hendricks:Right. Yeah. Well, and you think about the communication, so let's be realistic. I have a 13 year old boy. Okay.
Jodi Hendricks:Does that kid, but when he was before I brought him home to homeschool, when he was in school, does he know what's going on in his class when his teacher is talking about what's going to be happening in a couple days in health class? No, that kid is checked out and he's somewhere else. All he knows is, Hey, mom, I got this form from school. You have to sign it. Oh, what am I signing?
Jodi Hendricks:I
Abe Baldonado:don't know.
Jodi Hendricks:Okay. Well, what did they tell you? I don't know. Something about health.
Abe Baldonado:I was guilty. I was one of those kids. I think that's probably frustrating
Jodi Hendricks:Because let's be real, that's most of our young teens and this bill starts these kinds of classes in seventh grade. And so these kids are coming home and they're like, Oh, so you have those parents who are doing their best to be engaged with their child, but they think, Oh, okay, this is some kind of just health class. Like it doesn't click for them what this is that they're signing on. Right? And so it's like, oh, okay, sure.
Jodi Hendricks:You need it signed. Now, sometimes, you know, parents, we need to make sure we know what we're signing. We need to be reading into it. If it doesn't make sense or it's not clear on that page, you call the school, you get the details, you're the parent, you have the right. But most parents just think, Oh, okay, this is what I need to do.
Jodi Hendricks:Not realizing what it is they're signing. And so that's why we like the opt in because it requires a little bit more information is given, details are given as far as what is it that my child is going to be exposed to. But you bring up a really good point. It's not going to be one day in class that they're talking about human sexuality. This is their health class.
Jodi Hendricks:There's a whole lot more to it. So if now I want to opt in, opt out, whatever we're able to do, what am I doing to my child's health class experience as far as all the other things they need to learn in health class? Right. Right, this isn't just a one day thing that it's like, Nope, give them a different lesson for the day. That's usually how an opt out would work for some kind of controversial lesson.
Jodi Hendricks:But this is multiple lessons. This is a big chunk that's going to disrupt the flow of our kids' education. And that's not acceptable.
Abe Baldonado:Agreed. And, you know, I think you mentioned something that this bill expands to middle school, to seventh graders.
Jodi Hendricks:Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:You know, to talk about human sexuality with a seventh grader, I think is crazy. Think that's the best adjective that I can come up with because I taught a seventh grade class and, you know, their innocent minds, their minds usually aren't focused on those sort of things. And now you're talking about a very complex issue that should be discussed with family.
Jodi Hendricks:Right.
Abe Baldonado:And now you're having a teacher put in that position to have a conversation with the child at that age. Their minds are still developing. You know, they don't know a whole lot just yet. They're still learning. And so I think that's another aspect now that as we're talking, I started thinking about it and I'm like, why are we talking to seventh graders about this?
Jodi Hendricks:Right. Exactly. Exactly. When you talk, want to come back to the thought of putting teachers in a poor position, right? Being uncomfortable with what they're having to teach.
Jodi Hendricks:The bill does also provide to allow for third party organizations to come in and teach these lessons.
Abe Baldonado:That sounds scary. It does.
Jodi Hendricks:That should terrify because every who are they going to be coming in to teach these types of lessons to our kids? They're not going to be organizations that have conservative faith values. They're not going to be organizations that are there to say abstinence is the best way. These are going to be organizations who are promoting this ideology.
Abe Baldonado:They have an agenda.
Jodi Hendricks:Yes. Yes. So it's even scarier when you think of, okay, maybe the teacher is uncomfortable, so they bring in a third party. Now who's teaching your child?
Abe Baldonado:Right. Well, so many things going on at the One other topic I want to talk about is economy based issues that are happening right now. We have paid family medical leave that's moving through the legislature. This bill has been unpopular for many years. That's why it's never made it out of the legislature and up to the governor.
Abe Baldonado:But I know you all at New Mexico Family Action Movement have done a lot of work around this. And, you know, this is the largest tax increase on New Mexicans. And, you know, the progressives will say, hey, this is a contribution, you know, but it's a deduction from your paycheck. And, know, you a lot of the conversation has been, well, a deduction from your paycheck is a tax. And so ultimately, we're taxing you to take twelve weeks off and we're not limiting it to immediate family.
Abe Baldonado:You know, you can ultimately, the way the bill reads right now, you can take off and take care of your roommate, you know, if you wanted to, which sounds not only dangerous to our employers, but to just, you know, our businesses across rural New Mexico who can't afford to hire someone new or maybe don't have the capacity to, you know, hire someone temporarily, but also pay out another employee for those twelve weeks.
Jodi Hendricks:Right. Well, people need to realize how dangerous it can be. You know, everything we do at New Mexico Family Action Movement is focused on how to support the family, how to protect the family and fight for the family. And the reason that we're so against this bill, this paid family medical leave, is because it's bad for families. If it's bad for businesses in New Mexico, it's gonna be bad for families.
Jodi Hendricks:Because what happens when it's bad for business and that business can't afford to keep certain employees on or can't afford the extra taxes and can't afford to hire someone who takes this leave. What happens? They start reducing, they start making cuts. And so people start losing their jobs. Okay, so now it's not just about, well, I have an extra tax coming out of my paycheck.
Jodi Hendricks:Now it's become, I don't have a paycheck.
Abe Baldonado:Right.
Jodi Hendricks:Because I lost my job because my employer couldn't withstand this. And so people need to realize the trickle effect that that has on our families. We even consider our churches, you know, our churches and how they might be affected as far as businesses or as far as their people in their communities and in their congregations being affected by this? How does that affect the ministry of the church? How does that affect the outreach of the church?
Jodi Hendricks:You have to consider all of those details of how bills like this, bills that deal with our economy, how they affect the family to understand how they're truly going to affect New Mexico.
Abe Baldonado:Absolutely. And Jodi, I just want to say, I'm delighted to know that there is a group, there's an individual like yourself that is out there advocating on behalf of families and trying to get families more involved. You know, it takes a whole village. And so just for our guests, if they're interested in getting involved, how can they get involved with New Mexico Family Action Movement?
Jodi Hendricks:Yeah, they can visit our website at nmfam.org. And from there you'll be able to connect with us on socials, you'll be able to join our email list to be able to get all of those action alerts. So everything that's happening in the legislature, we are sending out those alerts so that people know how to use their voice. So the best way to be able to get connected with those is to join our email list from our website. And of course, follow us on social media.
Jodi Hendricks:We have a lot of great videos that we're putting out to help explain what's happening so that you don't have to feel so disconnected from Santa Fe.
Abe Baldonado:That's amazing. Well, Jodi, I want to thank you for joining the ChiliWire for our first episode. And I'm sure this is not the last time we're going to have you on here because I am sure after session, we're going to have to have another conversation about how it ends and what goes through and, you know, looking into next year during another gubernatorial election year.
Jodi Hendricks:Yes.
Abe Baldonado:We'd love to pick your brain on some of the work that you're doing. I just want to thank you from the Chili Wire. And that concludes our podcast for the day. The Chili Wire, real news for real New Mexicans.