Cash behind TIDD ad blitz should be public now

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This article has been updated.You may have noticed the new SunCal banner ad that appeared at the top of my site on Thursday. It reminded me that, in the midst of my trip to Santa Fe earlier this week, I forgot to write about a weekend article in the Albuquerque Journal focusing on the money behind the TIDD battle in Santa Fe. The article highlighted the fact that SunCal has blanketed the state in billboards, TV, radio and internet ads and mailers; flooded the Roundhouse with a team of high-powered lobbyists; and handed out campaign contributions to a number of lawmakers. What do they want? The approval of a controversial method of financing for their development that commits a percentage of future gross-receipts tax revenue to repay them for their costs. Continue Reading

Lyons caught off guard by expansion of audit

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The expansion earlier this week of a special audit that will now look for wrongdoing in the New Mexico Land Office caught officials in that office off guard, they claim. Because of that, they’re questioning the motives behind the action. “We were completely surprised,” said Kristin Haase, spokeswoman for the land office. “… we are puzzled by the auditor’s decision and curious about his motivation.” That’s because, Haase claimed, State Auditor Hector Balderas had already notified the land office that the special audit was completed and was “clean.” Balderas announced the expansion of the special audit on Wednesday. What started as a review of policies and procedures that govern the sale, exchange and leasing of trust lands is now an investigation into whether there has been any wrongdoing in the office’s dealings related to state trust land. Continue Reading

Committee hears one ethics bill, kills it

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The Senate Rules Committee considered one ethics-reform bill today, and it sent that bill to the trash. Senate Bill 258, sponsored by Tim Keller, D-Albuquerque, would have banned all campaign contributions to statewide elected officials from state contractors or prospective contractors. It was tabled on a vote of 3-2, with several members of the committee absent. Voting in favor of tabling the bill — and effectively killing it — were Dianna Duran, R-Tularosa, Minority Leader Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, and President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, D-Roswell. Those voting against the motion to table the bill were Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, and Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe. Continue Reading

State auditor reviewing Meyners’ housing audits

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Balderas’ office is examining why the audits didn’t find the widespread problems that crippled most of the housing authority system State Auditor Hector Balderas says his office is conducting a review of why several independent audits of the state’s affordable housing system turned up none of the widespread problems that led to its scandalous and nearly total collapse in 2006. As I reported earlier this week, the five audits, completed by the firm Meyners + Company, didn’t flag any of the major problems that preceded the Albuquerque-based Region III Housing Authority’s default on $5 million in bonds it owed the state. The state auditor and State Investment Council have both since released damning reports about the operations of the housing authorities during the time Meyners was conducting its audits. Balderas said in a statement released by his office on Thursday that the housing authority special audits conducted by his office “revealed the startling extent to which bond money was misspent and the public trust was compromised.” “Certainly, I am concerned about the accuracy and transparency of the financial reporting on the regional housing authorities in the years previous to my administration,” he said. Balderas said his office has been conducting an ongoing “quality control review” since May 2008 of the housing authority audits conducted by Meyers. Continue Reading

Committee OKs conference committee bill

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The Senate Public Affairs Committee gave a do-pass recommendation this evening to a bill that would open conference committees and other legislative meetings to the public. The question now: Will the unusual procedural move by Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, that made today’s vote possible be challenged or will the full Senate soon get a chance to vote on the proposal? Senate Bill 737 was approved on a vote of 7-0 this evening. The way the bill is scheduled now, that means it moves to the Senate floor. But it was an unusual move that got the proposal to this point. Continue Reading

Senate OKs campaign contribution limits

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This article has been updated.With near-unanimous support, the New Mexico Senate approved a bill this afternoon that would limit campaign contributions beginning with the 2012 election cycle. On a vote of 40-1, Senate Bill 116 now heads to the House for consideration. It’s the most high-profile piece of ethics legislation to pass the Senate this year. Because of the slow pace at which ethics reform has moved through the Senate, many have accused its leaders of trying to kill reform. “This bill may not be perfect, but I think it’s an incredibly important first step in a direction this state needs to go,” Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said just before the vote. Continue Reading

Senate debating contribution limits right now

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This article has been updated.The Senate is currently taking up its first debate on a major piece of ethics-reform legislation this session. Right now, the Senate is debating campaign contribution limits. It’s a committee substitute for Senate Bill 116, sponsored by Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, and several other related bills. It wasn’t originally on the Senate calendar for today but was added by Majority Leader Michael Sanchez a short while ago, then almost immediately brought up for consideration. Think it has anything to do with Feldman planning to try a procedural move to bypass the Senate Rules Committee on a proposal to open legislative conference committees to the public? Continue Reading

If the Senate won’t start webcasting, this guy will…

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Blogger, photographer and videographer Mark Bralley has some insightful observations in a new posting about webcasting on his blog, but there’s also a big piece of news: If the Senate doesn’t start official audio and video webcasting, he’s going to do it for them. In writing about the “poison pill” amendments added to the Senate webcasting proposal this weekend by John Sapien, D-Corrales, Bralley had this to say: “Sapien and those who do not want video webcasting, are going to get it anyway,” he wrote. “The defeat of a reasonable bill will become a full employment act for video webcasting. Next year, instead of attending college classes, I will be lugging my video equipment to the Senate press box and provide webcast coverage of the floor.” That won’t necessarily be something senators will like, as Bralley points out. He makes his own editorial decisions. Continue Reading

Balderas expands audit of State Land Office

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Auditor won’t say what information led his office to consider whether there has been wrongdoing related to the land office’s dealings. Meanwhile, related legislation passes the House. State Auditor Hector Balderas has decided to expand his special audit of the New Mexico Land Office beyond reviewing policies and procedures to also consider whether there has been any wrongdoing in the office’s dealings related to state trust land. “New Mexico has been plagued with recent scandals that have exposed fraud, waste and abuse at every level of government,” Balderas said today in a news release. “We have come across information during our special audit of the land office that compels us to expand the scope.” The news release stated that the auditor had identified “areas of risk” that will be reviewed, including “related-party transactions,” “instances of financial benefit in exchange for land transactions” and “transactions executed between government employees and officials.” “My goal is to determine whether or not there was misappropriation and mismanagement of New Mexico’s trust lands that harms New Mexico taxpayers,” Balderas said in the release. Continue Reading

Feldman leaps over hurdle on conference committees

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Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, will try a procedural move on Thursday to push through legislation that would open conference committees and other legislative meetings to the public. With the proposal languishing in the Senate Rules Committee, Feldman hopes to bring the bill to the Senate floor for a vote by bypassing the Rules Committee and hearing the proposal instead in the Senate Public Affairs Committee, which she chairs, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed. Feldman will make that happen using what is called a “dummy bill” — one that contains no actual legislation but is introduced before the deadline for new bills passes so it can later be replaced with a committee substitute. Feldman’s dummy bill is Senate Bill 737, and it was assigned only to her committee, so if she can convince the committee to accept the substitute bill on Thursday, the legislation will move directly to the Senate floor. There it would have to be scheduled for a vote by Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen and an opponent of open conference committees. Continue Reading

Hyde takes issue with Jennings’ accusation

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The cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Human Services Department (HSD) is taking issue with the Senate president’s assertion that she hasn’t been honest with lawmakers. Sen. Tim Jennings’ Monday accusation was “totally inappropriate” and “a personal attack that should not be tolerated,” Pamela Hyde wrote in a letter she sent to members of the Senate Rules Committee late Tuesday. “I am disappointed in his comments and even more disappointed that he would make such comments without having ever asked to talk with me specifically about his concerns,” she wrote in the letter. It was during a Rules Committee hearing on the confirmation of Taxation and Revenue Secretary Rick Homans that Jennings asserted that the HSD secretary had not been honest with the Legislature. He said, in response to Hyde’s dishonesty, he would begin asking every secretary who came up for confirmation, starting with Homans, for a promise to be honest even if it would cost them their jobs. Continue Reading

Senators propose webcasting compromise

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This article has been updated.Two senators introduced compromise webcasting legislation late Tuesday, keeping alive the hopes that live audio and video of the Senate’s proceedings could become available online before the end of the session. Senate Resolution 4, sponsored by Mark Boitano, R-Albuquerque, and John Sapien, D-Corrales, must pass the Senate Rules Committee before it reaches the Senate floor. Boitano said in an interview he expects that to happen by Friday. The resolution isn’t yet available online, but Boitano said it adopts, with a few tweaks, amendments Sapien proposed to Boitano’s first webcasting resolution, Senate Resolution 3, which led to the legislation being left in limbo on the Senate floor on Saturday. The Rules Committee had already approved SR3, which would have implemented webcasting utilizing three cameras. Continue Reading

An opportunity to change our schools

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By Rep. Larry Larrañaga The Legislature’s ongoing debate about whether the state should adopt a new public school funding formula, and increase taxes to pay for it, has failed to address the most important issue facing New Mexico’s educational system — how to improve accountability and educational results. While there is a fierce lobbying effort underway to enact a $350-million annual tax increase because proponents claim schools need more money, many policymakers and taxpayers are asking a key question that must be answered before any tax increase is approved. The question is, since state funding for education has already increased by 57 percent over the last eight years, have statewide student performance and graduation rates increased significantly? Unfortunately, the answer is no. In turn, I believe most New Mexicans recognize that in order to improve our state’s educational system, more money is not the solution. Continue Reading