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Open conference committees are good after all!

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Smith’s about-face on conference committees thwarts the speaker’s shenanigans and shows the importance of opening the meetings to the publicI didn’t think I’d have an example until next session that I could use in a column about why the New Mexico Legislature was right to open conference committees to the public. But a bullying move by House Speaker Ben Lujan and an about-face by a state senator who has vehemently opposed opening conference committees in the past gave me the ammunition to write that column today. So, without further ado, here’s a perfect example of why it was so important that the Legislature approve a bill last week that opens conference committees and most other legislative meetings to the public. A stinky proposal The story begins with House Bill 820, sponsored by Lujan. Officially, the bill would have allowed bigger cities and counties in the state to issue bonds to finance private projects. Continue Reading

GRIPgate, housing scandal tops in nonscientific poll

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Two scandals earned the most votes in last weeks’ non-scientific poll asking which current scandal is most likely to result in criminal charges. Of 196 voters, 82, or 42 percent, picked GRIPgate, the grand jury probe of allegations of pay-to-play in the Richardson administration, while 71 voters, or 36 percent, picked the housing authority scandal that includes the default on $5 million in state-owned bonds. Meanwhile, 24 voters, or 12 percent, picked the misuse of federal funds by the administration of former Secretary of State Vigil-Giron and 19, or 10 percent, picked the probe of the U.S. attorney scandal, which includes Domenici’s call to Iglesias. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Public confrontation colors end of session

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The talk among the state’s politicos is of a very public confrontation between House Speaker Ben Lujan and Senate Finance Chairman John Arthur Smith that occurred moments after the legislative session ended earlier today. In fact, the confrontation on the Senate floor was so public that it was witnessed by a number of other lawmakers and recorded by two journalists who were interviewing Smith when Lujan arrived. Want to know more? Click here to read about it from the New Mexico Independent and here from The Santa Fe New Mexican’s Kate Nash. If profanity offends you, you might not want to click on the links. Continue Reading

More disclosure from investment firms OK’d

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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. Continue Reading

Clock strikes noon; session is over

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The regular session of the 2009 New Mexico Legislature is now over. Various politicos are getting ready to have news conferences to talk about the session. And it’s time to begin sorting out some things that happened in the chaos of the final couple of hours. Which is what I’ll be doing. I may have more news and analysis today, or it might be tomorrow. Continue Reading

Conference committee to be open to the public

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This article has been updated.The New Mexico Legislature is about to hold a conference committee meeting that is open to the public. Yes, really. Though a bill approved earlier this week that would require open conference committees hasn’t been acted on by the governor and, even if it had been, wouldn’t take effect for months, lawmakers are voluntarily opening to the public a conference committee that’s about to be held on Senate Bill 584, sponsored by Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque. “It might be a historical event,” Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, said moments ago in announcing the open meeting on the Senate floor. Smith has always opposed opening conference committees to the public in the past. Continue Reading

E-mail records request bill goes to guv

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This article has been updated.A bill that would require government agencies in New Mexico to accept requests for public records via e-mail and fax has been approved by the Legislature and sent to the governor for action. But it’s not House Bill 598, sponsored by Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, which is the bill I’ve written about in the past. The bill awaiting action by the governor is House Bill 534, sponsored by Eleanor Chavez, D-Albuquerque. Chavez’s bill, as approved by the Legislature, is simple. It would require that government agencies accept requests for public records via e-mail and fax. Continue Reading

Contribution limits bill goes to the governor

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This article has been updated.With Senate concurrence this morning to House changes to the bill, the Legislature has approved the implementation of campaign contribution limits beginning with the 2010 election cycle. Assuming the governor signs the bill, New Mexico will become the 46th state to enact some type of limits. Gov. Bill Richardson has pushed the proposal for years and called for its approval earlier in the session. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment following this morning’s Senate vote. There was little discussion in the Senate this morning when Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, explained the changes made by the House to Senate Bill 116, sponsored by Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque. Continue Reading

House OKs campaign contribution limits

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The House approved this morning a proposal to limit campaign contributions for the first time in New Mexico. The Senate has already approved the proposal, but minor changes the House made to Senate Bill 116, sponsored by Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque — including its effective date — mean the bill must go back to the Senate for concurrence before it can head to the governor for a signature. The Senate is scheduled to convene at 8:30 a.m. and the session ends at noon. The 49-17 House vote in favor of the bill followed more than two hours of debate in the early hours of the final morning of the session. Several attempts to amend the bill on the House floor failed, but minor amendments had already been made in House committees. Continue Reading

House debating contribution limits right now

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This article has been updated for clarity.The House is currently debating a bill that would limit campaign contributions for the first time in New Mexico. You can listen here and join the New Mexico Independent’s liveblog by clicking here. The bill is Senate Bill 116, sponsored by Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque. It has passed the Senate but was amended in two House committees, so it must go back to the Senate for concurrence if it passes the House. The session ends at noon, and the proposal is controversial, so there’s no certainty it would move through the Senate again before time expires on the session. Continue Reading

One SunCal TIDD bill fails; future uncertain

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This article has been updated for clarity.A proposal to provide a controversial method of public financing for an Albuquerque development failed twice on tie votes in the House tonight despite a huge lobbying effort. The first 33-33 tie vote that left Senate Bill 249 dead on the floor shocked both supporters and opponents of the tax increment development district (TIDD) proposal. When a motion to reconsider was brought up moments later and also failed on a 33-33 vote (with some members changing their votes), jaws dropped even further. Only one motion to reconsider is allowed, so the bill, which would provide some $408 million for the west-side SunCal development, is effectively dead. But that doesn’t mean the SunCal TIDD is dead. Continue Reading

Pushing the darkness to the fringes

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The New Mexico Legislature makes a quantum leap forward with webcasting and open conference committees In 2006, the Legislature intentionally didn’t appropriate $75 million for water-rights settlements. House Speaker Ben Lujan didn’t like that, so he quietly slipped the funding into the capital outlay bill when no one was watching. Exactly when in the process Lujan did that has never been entirely clear, but this much is apparent: The speaker took advantage of his power and a system that allowed such acts to go undetected to bypass the legislative process and make himself the sole decider of how to spend $75 million in taxpayer money. Fortunately, the governor vetoed the funding, but the point remains this: The system should have been set up so that Lujan, D-Nambé, could never abuse his authority in such an egregious manner. The Legislature has taken two important steps toward increasing transparency and changing its own culture this session — steps that will make it more difficult for Lujan or any other ethically challenged lawmaker to abuse power in that manner in the future. Continue Reading

Changing how New Mexico does business

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By Sen. Michael Sanchez Our life experiences shape who we are and what we believe. As for myself, I was born and raised in the small farming community of Belen. My siblings Raymond, Regina, Gloria and I came from a tight-knit family and, like most kids at a young age, our parents, Gil and Priscilla, seemed larger than life. They worked hard as the owners of a bakery and restaurant and dedicated their lives to our family and our community. They taught us strong New Mexican values, instilling a deep sense of what was right and wrong, and never taught us to hate anyone. Continue Reading

Citizens ready, able and willing to shoot back

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© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. In recent weeks and often in the last few decades we have seen the “shooting fish in a barrel” syndrome. Someone walks into a school or church intent upon killing people. The killer picks the situation knowing the victims in these places are unarmed. Later, the police put the victims in body bags while the media speculates on the motive of the shooter. Surprisingly, no one ever asks, “Why were the victims unable to protect themselves — why was the killer the only person armed?” The police have guns but they are not at the scene in time. Continue Reading