Fate of open conference committee bill rests with a ‘backpedaling’ governor
You might recall me writing in 2007 about the death of Bob Johnson, then the head of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government (FOG). He was a tireless supporter of opening legislative conference committees to the public who was once berated on the Senate floor by an opponent of opening the meetings.
“Bob Johnson, thou art avenged!” was what The Santa Fe New Mexican’s Steve Terrell wrote on his blog last week after the Legislature, following years and years of debate, approved a bill that would open conference committees and most other legislative meetings to the public.
Then Gov. Bill Richardson announced earlier this week that, despite saying for years that he would sign such a bill, he might not sign the bill the Legislature approved this year. So, referring to his prior statement about Johnson, Terrell slammed on the brakes in a column published today in the newspaper and on his own blog.
But first the context, from Terrell.
“Like I said, Johnson fought hard to open the meetings. And sometimes he got kicked in the teeth for his efforts. During his last session, some senators, in defending secret meetings, bashed Johnson, pointing out that FOG was funded by (gasp) newspapers, using a tone of voice as if they were revealing the organization was a front for the Communist Party or something nefarious,” Terrell’s column states. “As I’ve noted before, lawmakers never do this to lobbyists for drug companies, oil companies or developers.”
“But Johnson might not be completely avenged yet. There’s still an opportunity to kick him in the teeth. And the person in the position to do that is Gov. Bill Richardson,” Terrell wrote.
Terrell pointed out, as I just did earlier in this posting, that Richardson has “for years given lip service to open conference committees.”
But now, the governor is “backpedaling,” Terrell wrote.
Look for that to be one of the milder things the media says about Richardson if he doesn’t sign the bill.