The Senate has just approved a bill that would limit gifts to candidates and public officials in
Though both chambers have approved the limits on gifts, they passed different bills, and slight differences will have to be reconciled before either goes to Gov. Bill Richardson for a signature.
Senate Bill 931, sponsored by John Grubesic, D-Santa Fe, would prohibit public officials and candidates for state and local offices from accepting gifts with value of more than $100 during legislative sessions and $250 during the rest of the year. It would also prohibit lobbyists from giving gifts whose combined value total more than $1,000 to any state official or candidate for state office each year.
It was approved on a vote of 25-15.
The bill’s companion, House Bill 819, sponsored by Rep. Gail Chasey, D-Albuquerque, passed the House last month on a vote of 64-0 and is currently awaiting a hearing in a Senate committee.
I’ll have an update with more details and quotes soon.
Update, 3:45 p.m.
The vote was a bit of a surprise after a number of senators spoke in opposition to the bill and only three, including Grubesic, defended it.
The bill, as it was approved, was amended to allow local governments to adopt more stringent limits. It was also amended to exempt food from those items subject to the limits.
That amendment was proposed by Sen. Gay Kernan, R-Hobbs.
“I think it’s going to be very difficult to determine how to deal with this food issue,” she said. “… I just think food should be excluded.”
Grubesic took the amendment as friendly, and Senators unanimously accepted it.
In arguing against the bill, a number of senators complained about not being able to accept or having to more closely track gifts.
In opposing the bill, Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces, inquired about the value of a mug that was on Grubesic’s desk and was given to him. He said such gifts are hard to track.
“As a recipient of a gift, you really don’t know the value,” Rawson said. “I don’t want to tell somebody, ‘No, I don’t want your trinket.’ It puts us in an awkward spot.”
Sen. Shannon Robinson, D-Albuquerque, opposed the bill. He said at a meeting with a delegation from the Colorado Legislature, he was shocked to see that state’s lawmakers track every cost of a meal because of requirements in their state.
“That’s what’s going to start happening here,” Robinson said. “When we go to international countries, this is going to be a humiliation. … The country of
“All we’re doing is we’re saying that when you run for office in
Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, said Robinson was wrong. He pointed out that, under the bill, “a gift from the country of
“If you are in your official capacity and you take a gift… all you have to do is give that gift to the State of
The bill, McSorley said, allows lawmakers to accept “small gifts that aren’t going to influence our votes,” such as mugs, and also allows a method for accepting large gifts and then giving them to the state, “so then there’s no humiliation.”
Rawson said the solution to ethical problems doesn’t lie in placing such restrictions.
“If we elect ethical people then we don’t have to try to put ethical standards on them,” Rawson said.
Those who voted for limits on gifts
Rod Adair
Ben Altamirano
Sue Wilson Beffort
Mark Boitano
Pete Campos
Joseph Carraro
Dede Feldman
Mary Jane Garcia
John Grubesic
Linda Lopez
Richard Martinez
Cisco McSorley
Gerald Ortiz y Pino
William Payne
John Pinto
Lidio Rainaldi
Nancy Rodriguez
John Ryan
Bernadette Sanchez
Michael Sanchez
John Arthur Smith
Diane Snyder
James Taylor
David Ulibarri
Those who voted against limits on gifts
Carlos Cisneros
Dianna Duran
Stuart Ingle
Timothy Jennings
Gay Kernan
Steve Komadina
Carroll Leavell
Lynda Lovejoy
Steven Neville
Mary Kay Papen
Leonard Lee Rawson
Shannon Robinson
William Sharer
Those who were absent
Cynthia Nava
Phil Griego