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A MEMORIAL
REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL AND STATE
AGENCIES TO BEGIN THE PROCESS OF CONVERTING THE STATE
STATUTES, RULES AND OTHER DOCUMENTS INTO GENDER-NEUTRAL
LANGUAGE.
WHEREAS, New Mexico has been a leader among the states
in promoting gender equality; and
WHEREAS, the legislature has previously adopted
legislation regarding the use of gender-specific language in
the construction of statutes under Section 12-2A-5 NMSA 1978;
and
WHEREAS, this legislation did not provide explicit
guidance for the drafting of future legislation, but since
May 2002, there has been an increase in the use of
gender-neutral language; and
WHEREAS, the New Mexico supreme court has recently
modified its rules to provide more explicit guidance in the
use of gender-neutral language, and the state bar board of
bar commissioners, at the urging of its committee on women
and the legal profession, unanimously supports changes in
existing statutory language to promote gender equality; and
WHEREAS, other states have empowered their legislative
council service or equivalent agency to act as a revisor of
statutes by reviewing statutes and replacing gender-specific
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language where reasonable and possible;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE
STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico legislative council
be requested to:
A. appoint a code revision committee to determine
the scope and the level of effort needed to develop
procedures for revising the statutes using gender-neutral
language; and
B. work with the committee on women and the legal
profession of the New Mexico state bar to develop legislation
that will clearly guide the drafting of gender-neutral
legislation in the future; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be
transmitted to the New Mexico legislative council, the office
of the governor and the state executive and judicial branch
agencies.