An activist group whose aim is to get young people involved in politics is attacking a bill working its way through the House as a proposal that would benefit only “the corporations and the sleazebag lobbyists, whose single goal is to consolidate wealth and power for their rich friends.”
House Bill 685, sponsored by Rep. Dan Silva, D-Albuquerque, is a lengthy bill titled the Administrative Accountability Act. The bill would create uniform requirements for rulemaking, adjudication and inspection performed by state agencies, according to the fiscal impact report, but it’s a few of the particulars that have the League of Young Voters upset.
• The bill would require agencies to divulge names of people who report violations by companies the agencies regulate, unless prohibited by law. That, according to the bill’s fiscal impact report, “could have a deleterious affect on the health, safety and welfare of New Mexicans since potential whistleblowers may be deterred from coming forward because of fear of retaliation. This type of provision is not found in other state, federal or model administrative procedure acts.”
• It would limit agencies’ ability to make rules and charge fees to only those areas where the Legislature has specifically granted such authority, which, according to the fiscal impact report, “could greatly reduce an agency’s ability to act” because some agencies have been given “very specific rulemaking” while others have been given only general authority. For example, the bill could give a company grounds to challenge every rule of the Energy and Natural Resources Department, which regulates the oil and gas industry.
• It would require agencies to follow specific requirements while conducting inspections that, according to the fiscal impact report, “could limit the ability of agencies to conduct effective inspections to protect the health, safety and welfare of New Mexicans.”
The bill is largely modeled after legislation drafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a controversial group that aims to affect policy on the state legislative level. Many watchdog groups say the council is nothing more than a front for Corporate America.
Common Cause in Washington calls it “one of the best-funded and most prolific industry front groups” and says it uses “shady tactics” to advance special-interest legislation.
The bill has been pushed in
The ties to the controversial council have the League of Young Voters upset. The group is running radio ads in the
“Silva’s bill makes it OK for corporations to endanger employees, pollute our air and water and ignore health standards in New Mexico,” the radio ad states.
Silva has not returned a message I left Monday at his office.
Several state agencies complained about the bill, and their comments are included in the fiscal impact report. For example, the Environment Department said its role in pollution prevention would be “severely undermined and protection of human health and the environment put at risk” because of the additional responsibilities required by the bill, unless additional staffers are also added to the budget.
The bill would also limit the department’s “ability to meet legislatively mandated performance and accountability measures to prevent pollution, and (to) conduct compliance and enforcement actions,” the report states.
The League of Young Voters’ goals this session, according to its Web site, are to enact ethics reform proposals and defeat the Administrative Accountability Act.
With the act, “ALEC is trying to deregulate New Mexico’s environmental laws, making it easier for big business to sidestep the checks and balances system,” the league’s Web site states, adding that the bill “will not only devastate the state’s ability to regulate environmental standards, but also makes it extremely hard for whistleblowers to step forward.”
The bill was approved earlier this month on a vote of 10-0 by the House Business and Industry Committee. It now goes to the Taxation and Revenue Committee before it can be considered by the full House.