Gov. Susana Martinez
Clearly New Mexico’s Tracy Dingmann has obtained some interesting documents related to the governor’s “Small Business-Friendly Task Force” and has some revealing posts about them.
In the first of two posts from last week, Dingmann wrote that the task force has been meeting in secret and its membership is “dominated by long-time lobbyists for large corporations, including big dairy, which contributed thousands of dollars to Martinez’s campaign; and the oil, gas and natural gas industry from in and outside the state, which gave her hundreds of thousands.”
From the post:
“The companies represented by lobbyists on the ‘small business’ task force include oil and gas producers and distributors from Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona and Colorado; copper, gold and uranium mining companies from Arizona; a payday loan company based in Georgia and a giant tobacco company from North Carolina.”
Dingmann questions whether the selections match up with Martinez’s rhetoric, and point to quotes in which Martinez says government needs to make sure that “the people are being represented.” Dingmann argues that “‘the people’ were left out of finding what happened” in the task force’s meetings because, as the documents she obtained through a records request reveal, the task force has been meeting in secret.
That’s not illegal, but Dingmann questions whether it matches with Martinez’s public promise to be transparent.
Trying to eliminate regulations
In a second posting, Dingmann digs into documents that “show (task force) members were never inclined to keep any of the regulations – in fact, they are focused on devising tactics the Martinez administration can use to eliminate each one.”
Dingmann highlights one “mid-point report” that includes this statement about the task force’s goal:
“The goal is to provide the Governor and/or agencies cover when repealing or revising a rule or regulation thus avoiding litigation if possible.
“The final report to the Governor will include a road map of short and long-term tactics and strategies, including the use of executive orders and legislative strategies. Each troublesome regulation identified will be accompanied by a recommendation on the best way to remove their negative impacts (sic).”
Dingmann’s posts are worth a read. Find them on Clearly New Mexico’s home page.