A bill that would require additional disclosure from investment firms seeking to do business with the state passed the Legislature and is awaiting action from the governor.
House Bill 876, sponsored by Miguel P. Garcia, D-Albuquerque, passed the Senate on a vote of 41-0 in the final moments of the session earlier today. It had already unanimously passed the House.
The bill would require companies seeking contracts with the state that deal with alternative investments — those other than stocks and bonds — to disclose the employment of any third-party marketers they employ to help secure such contracts, including public relations firms and lobbyists.
If the governor signs the bill, the relevant agencies — the State Investment Council, Educational Retirement Board and Public Employees Retirement Association — will be required to pass on those disclosures in reports they make publicly several times a year, and also annually to the appropriate legislative oversight committee.
In light of the pay-to-play allegations dogging the Richardson administration — which, in the federal grand jury investigation and the separate lawsuit brought by Frank Foy, have to do with state investments — the bill seems especially relevant. The disclosure of any additional information about who is helping those firms would seem to make it easier for the public to understand the money involved. Currently, no such disclosures are required in state law.