Guv signs contribution-limits, reporting bills

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As expected, Gov. Bill Richardson signed bills today that will enact campaign contribution limits and require more frequent filing of campaign finance reports. The contribution-limit bill is Senate Bill 116, sponsored by Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque. It will limit contributions to non-statewide candidates for office — including legislative candidates — to $2,300 per election from any entity except a political committee, which could give a maximum of $5,000 to non-statewide candidates. It will limit contributions to statewide candidates for office, political action committees and political parties to $5,000 per election from individuals and groups. There are two elections — a primary and a general — in each election cycle. Continue Reading

Guv might put Cruces reps. in tough spot on TIDDs

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Gov. Bill Richardson is considering serving up a TIDD combo plate to lawmakers in a special session later this year, and that could put some House members from Las Cruces in a tough spot. Two very different proposals to use the controversial tax increment development district financing to fund projects died in the legislative session that just ended. One would have provided up to $7.25 million to fund redevelopment of Las Cruces’ downtown by committing a percentage of gross receipts tax revenue collected in the area to repay bonds. It’s a project that’s a local-government effort. The second, a proposal to provide $408 million for the massive SunCal development on Albuquerque’s west side, is a developer-driven project to build an entirely new development. Continue Reading

Marking this site’s third anniversary

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A couple of weeks ago, March 20 passed with me failing to recognize that it was the third anniversary of this site. Let me remedy that now. Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics — which I more commonly refer to these days as nmpolitics.net — has stayed strong through three years that have been among the most tumultuous in the history of the news business. I’m proud of that, but also remain humbled at the support the site has received ever since my wife and I decided to go with this crazy dream to quit newspapers and head down this road more than three years ago. What turbulent times these have been. Continue Reading

Richardson to sign ethics-reform bills

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Gov. Bill Richardson plans to hold a news conference on Thursday to “take action on several ethics reform bills,” according to a news release from his office. The release didn’t specify which bills Richardson will sign, and two staffers didn’t respond to an e-mail about the news conference, but sources said Richardson plans to sign bills that will enact campaign contribution limits and require more frequent campaign reporting. The contribution-limit bill is Senate Bill 116, sponsored by Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque. It will limit contributions to non-statewide candidates for office — including legislative candidates — to $2,300 per election from any entity except a political committee, which could give a maximum of $5,000 to non-statewide candidates. It will limit contributions to statewide candidates for office, political action committees and political parties to $5,000 per election from individuals and groups. Continue Reading

SunCal TIDD ad blitz cost $232K

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Westland Development spent a little more than $232,000 on a statewide advertising campaign that was part of its failed attempt to convince the New Mexico Legislature to approve a controversial method of public financing for its Albuquerque development. The advertising expenditures to promote the SunCal tax increment development district (TIDD) proposal were revealed in a report filed on Tuesday with the Secretary of State’s office. The biggest expense: $55,000 to Comcast Cable for television ads. The smallest: $320.06 for an ad on this site. Westland blanketed the state in billboards, TV, radio and internet ads and mailers. Continue Reading

Guv: ‘Very little public interest’ in open-meetings bill

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Gov. Bill Richardson’s office says there has been “very little public interest” beyond that shown by the media in a bill that would open conference committees and many other legislative meetings to the public. The comment from Deputy Chief of Staff Gilbert Gallegos came today in response to a recent column in which I questioned the motive behind Richardson’s backpedaling on a previous pledge to sign the bill. Richardson now says he doesn’t know whether he will sign it. I wrote that it may take “a great deal of public pressure” to convince the governor to sign the bill. “By the way, the governor told me to let you know that if you really think a ‘great deal of public pressure’ is needed for him to sign the bill, this bill is in real trouble,” Gallegos wrote in an e-mail. Continue Reading

Wall Street’s paper highlights DC’s staff bonuses

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Did you know that it’s fairly common for members of Congress to give their staffers bonuses, courtesy of your tax dollars? It’s true. The Wall Street Journal is reporting on it today in an article that definitely has a tone. The article points out that, “while Congress has been flaying companies for giving out bonuses while on the government dole,” more than 200 House members of both parties gave bonuses totaling $9.1 million to more than 2,000 staffers last year. If my math is correct, that’s an average of roughly $4,500 per staffer. Continue Reading

Las Cruces Sun-News eliminates more jobs

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Parent company is moving the newspaper’s copy desk to the El Paso Times in May Apparently, three layoffs and weeklong, unpaid furloughs for all employees weren’t enough. The company that owns the Las Cruces Sun-News now plans to move the newspaper’s copy desk to the El Paso Times in Texas, eliminating two jobs in the process. The move, announced to Sun-News employees on Tuesday, is the latest sign of the struggles the newspaper industry faces in New Mexico and across the country. The first Sun-News layoffs came earlier this month, and the company-wide furloughs were designed to make ends meet in the first quarter for the Denver-based MediaNews Group, which is the owner or majority stakeholder in nine New Mexico papers, including the Sun-News. It’s also the majority stakeholder in the El Paso paper. Continue Reading

Agency takes issue with attack on investment

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Foundation’s report wrongly characterizes $9 million investment as a loan, State Investment Council spokesman says A spokesman for the State Investment Council (SIC) takes issue with a libertarian-leaning foundation’s report trashing a $9 million investment made in a company whose use of the cash didn’t work out as planned. The most egregious inaccuracy in the Rio Grande Foundation’s report about the $9 million investment in Earthstone International is that it repeatedly characterizes the investment as a loan, said SIC spokesman Charles Wollmann. He provided a copy of a 2004 news release to back up the assertion that this was an investment. There’s a big difference between an investment and a loan, he said. The latter has to be repaid, while the first gives the state a stake in the company and is never expected to be repaid. Continue Reading

Guv signs housing authority overhaul bill

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Gov. Bill Richardson signed today a bill that will reform the state’s scandal-plagued affordable housing system. There was no ceremony to celebrate the signing of Senate Bill 20, sponsored by Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces. It was listed in a news release along with a number of other bills the governor signed today. Among the reforms in the bill are the consolidation of the seven regional authorities into three, the designation of an oversight agency to oversee regional operations, the strengthening of conflict-of-interest language, the permanent elimination of the authorities’ ability to issue bonds and the requirement that transactions of over $100,000 be reviewed and approved by the mortgage finance authority. That builds on reforms approved in 2007 that included temporarily stripping the housing authorities’ bonding authority and giving the Department of Finance and Administration and state treasurer roles in administering the agencies’ finances. Continue Reading

Big loan for Santa Teresa plant went elsewhere

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The Rio Grande Foundation has published a report detailing $9 million the state loaned to a company that said it planned to create 200 jobs by building a new plant in southern Doña Ana County but has instead “exported jobs to Mexico.” “Not one dime” of the loan has been repaid, the foundation’s investigative journalist, Jim Scarantino, writes on the foundation’s blog, New Mexico Liberty. Oh, and you probably guessed this already, but the company’s founder is a big-time Democrat who has given money to Gov. Bill Richardson and others. Some details: According to Scarantino’s report, Andrew Ungerleider’s Earthstone International secured the loan from the State Investment Council (SIC) at the urging of Richardson. Ungerleider pledged at the time to use the money to locate a facility for Earthstone — which uses recycled glass to make an abrasive compound for cleaning and sanding — in Santa Teresa. Earthstone also planned to open a research and development facility in Las Cruces. Continue Reading

Guv should sign conference committee bill

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There’s no good reason for Richardson to veto the legislation — if the public’s interest is his motive Gov. Bill Richardson has every reason in the world to sign a bill that would open conference committees and many other legislative meetings to the public, and no reason to veto it — if the public’s interest is his motive. If he has ulterior motives — such as using a public-policy proposal he has endorsed for years as a bargaining chip with powerful lawmakers who would like to see it die — that’s a different story. The fact that he is backpedaling on his pledge to sign a bill that would open the meetings to the public now that it’s finally made it to his desk suggests that the second, more sinister motive is the one in Richardson’s head and heart. And that’s a huge disappointment. The issue is simple: Lawmakers have historically closed the doors and hid from the public when they have to convene conference committees — meetings of a handful of House and Senate members appointed to hash out disputes over differences between versions of bills that have passed both chambers. Continue Reading

Obama signs land-protection omnibus bill

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State’s delegation praises legislation that includes a number of new conservation efforts in New MexicoPresident Barack Obama signed an omnibus bill today that would enact a number of new land-preservation measures in New Mexico, including creation of a national monument in the Robledo Mountains in Doña Ana County and a new wilderness area in San Miguel County.In signing the bill, carried in the Senate by Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., Obama called it “among the most important in decades to protect, preserve and pass down our nation’s most treasured landscapes to future generations.” The bill designated an additional 2 million acres across the nation as wilderness — the highest protection allowed under federal law.Included in the bill is Bingaman’s measure to protect fossilized prehistoric trackways in the Robledo Mountains that are 290 million years old. The bill does that by establishing a new, 5,367-acre national monument around the trackways. “Doña Ana County has gained an important national monument that will be protected for generations to come,” Bingaman said in a news release.U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., touted the establishment of the 16,000-acre Sabinoso wilderness area in San Miguel County in his news release. As a former House member, Udall authored the legislation creating that wilderness area.“The Sabinoso Wilderness is the product of years of work by the entire community, including local leaders, sportsmen, land owners and ranchers,” Udall said in a release. “The preservation of this incredible landscape will now remain for the permanent benefit and enjoyment of current and future generations.”House members also praise signing of billMembers of the U.S. House from New Mexico also praised the president’s signing of the bill.“From the Snowy River Cave in Lincoln County to the prehistoric trackways in the Robledo Mountains in Doña Ana, this package of bills provides important protections for some of the natural treasures we have throughout southern New Mexico,” said Rep. Harry Teague, D-N.M.“In the West, we know the value of water and the value of the places where we hunt, fish and recreate with our families,” said Rep. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. “This law will help us maintain these places and the cultures that they support.”“By protecting and enhancing the natural and cultural resources which are integral to the identity of New Mexico and America, this bill ensures the prolonged existence and availability of forest lands and natural resources for future generations,” said Rep. Ben R. Luján, D-N.M. Continue Reading

Can we have an ethics commission now?

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Lujan’s billboard snafu is the latest situation to prove the need for creation of an independent ethics commission Here’s the latest example of a smelly situation involving public officials that probably won’t get the proper investigation it deserves because New Mexico doesn’t have an independent state ethics commission: Did House Speaker Ben Lujan get special treatment when top officials with the state Department of Transportation searched for ways to let him keep an illegal billboard up or at least retroactively legalize it so he could be compensated for its removal? We don’t know. And there’s a good chance we won’t know. That’s because there’s not really an agency in place to investigate such fishy situations, except the attorney general, whose focus is on criminal activity. While lots of unethical behavior is criminal, plenty is not. Continue Reading

AG, auditor engage in a ‘legal food fight’

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In what the Albuquerque Journal characterizes as a “legal food fight,” the state auditor and attorney general are fighting over a subpoena the auditor calls a “hyper-aggressive” fishing expedition by the AG. The backdrop: State-government scandals that are currently consuming headlines and, of course, politics. The Saturday Journal article details what began with an AG probe into complaints about State Auditor Hector Balderas received by a fraud hotline set up by his own office. It’s a probe that apparently has expanded to include a request for a host of documents from the auditor’s office, including all tips sent to the fraud hotline, personnel files and “copies of all electronic communications” including e-mails, text messages, faxes, attachments and embedded files, the Journal article quotes the subpoena as stating. The subpoena was released by the auditor’s office in response to a public records request, along with the auditor’s response to it. Continue Reading