“Tight budget doesn’t dampen this party,” declared a headline in the Sunday edition of the Albuquerque Journal. It was referring to the University of New Mexico’s continued wining and dining of legislators during the budget crunch.
From the article:
“One day after the University of New Mexico was raked over the coals by lawmakers for its spending practices, UNM’s lobbyists threw a $3,100 bash for the legislators at a university museum in Taos.
“Offered up at the August party at the Harwood Museum were 20 cases of beer and two dozen bottles of wine, hauled up from an Albuquerque liquor store.
“UNM’s budget crisis hasn’t stopped its government relations staff from spending thousands on wining and dining lawmakers since January 2010, according to expense reports released through the Inspection of Public Records Act.”
The explanation, from UNM President David Schmidly, is that “alcohol creates a relaxed environment where lobbyists can advocate for the university.” Lawmakers, the Journal quoted him as saying, “have been working the entire day, they’ve had a lot of stress. Sometimes, your best opportunity to talk to them is in a relaxed environment over a bottle of wine, a glass of beer.”
The article is quite revealing. Read it here.