<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>2016 legislative session – NMPolitics.net</title> <atom:link href="https://nmpolitics.net/index/tag/2016-legislative-session/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index</link> <description>The real story</description> <lastBuildDate>Tue, 28 Feb 2017 16:25:54 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <item> <title>Legislature resists efforts to rein in payday loans</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2017/02/legislature-resists-efforts-to-rein-in-payday-loans/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 27 Feb 2017 15:09:52 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[News and Analysis]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2016 legislative session]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Money in politics]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Poverty]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=297369</guid> <description><![CDATA[Since 2010, at least 11 bills that would have capped interest rates on storefront lenders have met quiet deaths without ever making it out of their initial committees.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_297372" class="wp-caption module image alignnone" style="max-width: 771px;"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-297372" src="http://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/4188893_web_022417LoansXGR_163_CMYK-771x514.jpeg?x36058" alt="Debbie Rodella" width="771" height="514" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/4188893_web_022417LoansXGR_163_CMYK-771x514.jpeg 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/4188893_web_022417LoansXGR_163_CMYK-336x224.jpeg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/4188893_web_022417LoansXGR_163_CMYK-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/4188893_web_022417LoansXGR_163_CMYK.jpeg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Luis Sánchez Saturno / The New Mexican</p><p class="wp-caption-text">Democratic Rep. Debbie Rodella of Española, chairwoman of the House Business and Industry Committee, listens to a lobbyist speak in support of House Bill 347 during the committee’s meeting Friday. The committee unanimously advanced the measure, which would limit interest rates on most small loans to 175 percent, though its prospects in the Senate could be dim, with only three weeks left in the session and pressing budget matters still ahead.</p></div> <p>In a Roundhouse meeting room packed with lobbyists and a few consumer protection advocates, the House Business and Industry Committee <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_690320003"><span class="aQJ">on Friday</span></span> quietly tabled a bill that would have capped the annual percentage rates for payday loans and other small loans at 36 percent. The 11-member panel didn’t vote on the matter. The committee’s chairwoman, Debbie Rodella, D-Española, simply asked her members if anyone objected. No one did.</p> <p>It was an unceremonious end to a proposal that consumer protection advocates have pushed for years, trying to rein in an industry they say preys on the poor with annual percentage rates that can climb as high as 9,000 percent. And no one, not even the bill’s sponsor, who was not present, seemed surprised. And they shouldn’t have been.</p> <p>Since 2010, at least 11 bills that would have capped interest rates on storefront lenders have met quiet deaths without ever making it out of their initial committees. They were among 32 bills related to regulating the storefront lending industry that were killed in that period. While 15 other states, including Arizona, New York and Pennsylvania, have imposed such caps or banned payday lending altogether, lawmakers in New Mexico, which has among the most permissive small-loan lending laws, have been staunchly resistant.</p> <aside class="module align-left half type-aside"> <h3>About this article</h3> <p>This article comes from <a href="http://www.santafenewmexican.com/" target="_blank">The Santa Fe New Mexican</a>. NMPolitics.net is paying for the rights to publish articles about the 2017 legislative session from the newspaper. Help us cover the cost by <a href="http://nmpolitics.net/index/donate/" target="_blank">making a donation to NMPolitics.net</a>.</p> </aside> <p>The storefront lending industry has rewarded them in kind, pumping more than $866,000 into campaign coffers since 2010. And while most of that money has gone to Republicans, the killing of payday lending bills has been a decidedly bipartisan enterprise, according to a New Mexican analysis of committee votes and campaign finance records over that period.</p> <p><a href="https://nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?Chamber=H&LegType=B&LegNo=26&year=17" target="_blank">House Bill 26</a> was at least the third such bill to die in Rodella’s committee in the last seven years, a period in which she received $18,200 in donations from payday lending companies and industry lobby groups. A more frequent graveyard for small-loan bills was the Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee, chaired by former Democratic Sen. Phil Griego, D-San Jose. At least nine bills died there between 2010 and 2015, a period in which he received $18,400 before he abruptly resigned in 2015 amid an ethics scandal.</p> <p>This inaction is a shame, said Steve Fischmann, a former state senator from Las Cruces (2009-12) who is co-chairman of the New Mexico Fair Lending Coalition, a group that has fought for interest rate limits.</p> <p>“There’s so many things we do that are designed to loot poor people,” he said. “For me, [getting rid of the high interest rates] is an opportunity to change policy to stop looting the poor.”</p> <p>Rodella’s committee <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_690320004"><span class="aQJ">on Friday</span></span> unanimously advanced another bill, <a href="https://nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?Chamber=H&LegType=B&LegNo=347&year=17" target="_blank">House Bill 347</a>, that would limit interest rates on most small loans to 175 percent, though its prospects in the Senate could be dim, with only three weeks left in the session and pressing budget matters still ahead.</p> <p>Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque, who sponsored HB 26, wasn’t even present when her bill was tabled. She was presenting an unrelated bill in another committee. But she wasn’t shocked at what happened. Having heard the committee discuss her bill as well as HB 347 earlier in the week, she said <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_690320005"><span class="aQJ">Friday</span></span> that it was obvious she didn’t have the votes to get her legislation out of the committee.<img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-297379" src="http://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/4188893_Screen-Shot-2017-02-25-at-6.34.44-PM-771x612.png?x36058" alt="" width="771" height="612" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/4188893_Screen-Shot-2017-02-25-at-6.34.44-PM-771x612.png 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/4188893_Screen-Shot-2017-02-25-at-6.34.44-PM-336x267.png 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/4188893_Screen-Shot-2017-02-25-at-6.34.44-PM-768x610.png 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/4188893_Screen-Shot-2017-02-25-at-6.34.44-PM-1170x929.png 1170w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/4188893_Screen-Shot-2017-02-25-at-6.34.44-PM.png 1245w" sizes="(max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" /></p> <h3>A lack of movement</h3> <p>Since 2010, only three bills related to the industry have passed in the New Mexico Legislature. One was a nonbinding memorial, and the other two had virtually no impact on limiting the snowballing debt many of the people who turn to these loans, often in desperation, find themselves facing.</p> <p>One of those bills exempted lenders charging an annual percentage rate below 175 percent from having to file yearly reports to the state Regulation and Licensing Department.</p> <p>The last truly significant legislation to pass the Legislature and be signed by a governor was in 2007, when then Gov. Bill Richardson signed into law a measure that capped fees on loans to $15.50 per $100, restricted total loans by a consumer and prohibited immediate loan rollovers, in which a consumer could take out a new loan to pay off a previous loan. But, as those from both sides testified during a committee meeting last week, that bill was riddled with loopholes.<span id="more-297369"></span></p> <p>One company that found a way around those restrictions was FastBucks Holding Corp., a Dallas-based lender with a half-dozen stores around New Mexico at the time. FastBucks began offering new installment loans with effective annual percentage rates of 520 percent to 650 percent, according to testimony in a lawsuit brought in 2009 by then-state Attorney General Gary King.</p> <p>Then-state District Judge Michael Vigil, in a 2012 ruling on the case, found the company designed the new loans to circumvent the 2007 regulations. “They dramatically increased their use of installment loan products and decreased the use of payday loans,” Vigil wrote in the decision.</p> <p>FastBucks “took advantage of borrowers’ lack of knowledge, ability, experience or capacity to a grossly unfair degree by deliberately steering borrowers into loans that subjected them to higher interest rates that kept them locked into recurring cycles of debt,” Vigil wrote.</p> <p>One customer, the judge noted, incurred $4,680 in debt for a $934 installment loan.</p> <p>Another state judge last year ordered FastBucks to pay $32 million to New Mexico consumers in restitution resulting from the 2012 decision.</p> <h3>Industry largess</h3> <p>Despite the lawsuit, King was among the biggest recipients of industry donations over that period, receiving $30,000 for his 2010 re-election campaign, though none of that was from FastBucks.</p> <p>FastBucks has given at least $131,850 to New Mexico candidates since 2010, according to The New Mexican’s analysis of campaign finance records, including $24,050 in the 2016 election. Only the Consumer Lending Alliance, a Florida-based industry group, has given more, with $235,200 in donations since 2010.</p> <p>Other big-spending, small-loan contributors include Ace Cash Express, which has contributed $115,725 since 2010; the Consumer Installation Loan Association ($50,533); Axcess Financial Services ($44,975); Western Shamrock, an oil company also licensed to make small loans ($39,900); the New Mexico Independent Finance Association ($35,450); Check Into Cash ($27,000); Checkmate ($22,750); and QC Holdings ($22,600).</p> <p>The politician who by far received the most from the industry is Gov. Susana Martinez, who has taken in $64,700 since 2010. About a third of that came from the Texas-based Ace Cash Express in 2012.</p> <p>Next was Lt. Gov. John Sanchez, who has received $37,500, while the Republican Campaign Committee of New Mexico got $33,400.</p> <p>Other major recipients of small-loan industry contributions include House Minority Leader Nate Gentry ($29,700); former Rep. Janice Arnold Jones, R-Albuquerque ($29,400); Rep. Patty Lundstrom, D-Gallup, who has carried industry-friendly legislation for years ($25,275); a conservative PAC, New Mexico Turn Around, which was active in 2010 ($25,000); and former House Minority Whip Dan Foley, R-Roswell ($19,250). They were followed in donations by Griego, Rodella and current Attorney General Hector Balderas, who has received $16,400.</p> <p>Balderas has supported a 36 percent interest cap, though nobody from his staff appeared at the committee hearings last week.</p> <p>Lundstrom and Rodella — along with Republicans Yvette Herrell of Alamogordo and Jane Powdrell-Culbert of Corrales — are co-sponsors of the industry-backed HB 347, which would, in effect, set maximum interest rates of 175 percent.</p> <p>How did Lundstrom get involved in the issue?</p> <p>“The city of Gallup has more small-loan lenders than any other community in the state of New Mexico, per capita,” she said in an interview last week. “And I don’t think that’s by coincidence. I think that’s because we’re a border community with the biggest Indian reservation in the country.”</p> <p>Leaders of the Native American Voters Alliance have been some of the leading advocates this year in testifying against Lundstrom’s bill, saying high-interest loans have had a negative effect on Native communities.</p> <p>Lundstrom, who sponsored the 2007 bill aimed at payday loans, consistently has opposed lower caps on interest rates. “Because these are businesses, they have to at least be able to make some profit,” she said. “You make it too low, they go out of business, and I think that leads people to start using internet lending or underground-type lending. … There’s no way we can regulate it, no way we can include any type of consumer protection. So, if the industry’s going to be here, I want it to be regulated,” she said, while still allowing businesses to profit.</p> <p>A total of nine bills have been introduced this year that pertain to high-interest loans. HB 347 appears to have the best chance of passing, according to lawmakers and lobbyists following the bills. HB 26, with the 36 percent cap, was the first to die.</p> <p>A companion bill in the Senate introduced by Sen. Bill Soules, D-Las Cruces, has yet to be heard. It also would cap interest rates at 36 percent.</p> <p>While some lawmakers, including Rodella and Herrell, called the 175 percent cap in HB 347 a good compromise, consumer advocates say it’s still too high.</p> <p>“I cannot and I will not support anything that’s in the triple digits,” Roybal Caballero said after <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_690320006"><span class="aQJ">Friday’s</span></span> meeting.</p> <p>According to a fiscal impact report accompanying the bills, a 2013 national survey by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. found that nearly 30 percent of New Mexico households reported using one or more “alternative financial services” such as nonbank money orders, nonbank check cashing, nonbank remittances, payday loans, pawn shop loans, rent-to-own loans and refund-anticipation loans.</p> <p>Households that reported using one or more of these tended to be Hispanic, 25 to 34 years of age, employed, disabled and “unbanked.” Most users were not homeowners, lacked a high school degree and reported family income of less than $15,000 a year.</p> <p>A report by the state Financial Institutions Division said interest rates for storefront loans vary wildly in New Mexico, and many are astronomical. Car title loans can go up to 456.3 percent, while unsecured installment loans can have interest rates of more than 900 percent. Secured installment loans can have interest rates amounting to nearly 5,000 percent, while “refund anticipation” loans sometimes soar to 9,000 percent.</p> <hr /> <p><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-297382" src="http://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/4188893_Screen-Shot-2017-02-25-at-6.33.08-PM-copy-771x1104.png?x36058" alt="" width="771" height="1104" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/4188893_Screen-Shot-2017-02-25-at-6.33.08-PM-copy.png 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/4188893_Screen-Shot-2017-02-25-at-6.33.08-PM-copy-336x481.png 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/4188893_Screen-Shot-2017-02-25-at-6.33.08-PM-copy-768x1100.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" /></p> <hr /> <h3>Relationships and reluctance</h3> <p>Fischmann said money isn’t the only reason legislators have been reluctant to reform the industry. Relationships with lobbyists also play a role.</p> <p>“A lot of it is relationships,” Fischmann said. “Relationships are so established, legislators tend to do what the lobbyists tell them to do, and they lose track of what the citizens want. It’s just human nature. [Lobbyists] are just people you see all the time.”</p> <p>Nancy King, a lobbyist for the Consumer Lending Alliance, disputes that notion.</p> <p>“It has not been a case of these high-powered lobbyists coming in and killing these bills,” King told The New Mexican. “They’ve failed because nobody has come up with a low-interest product for high-risk customers.”</p> <p>“There is a need for these types of loans, the $300, $500, $600 loans,” she added. “People who can’t get bank loans and who don’t have credit cards need them for emergencies.”</p> <p>She said she recently talked to a man who needed money to have his mother’s remains cremated and a woman who needed funds to travel to Arizona, where her son had been in a car wreck. The solution for both, King said, was a car title loan.</p> <p>King said it’s easy for advocates to find terrible stories about those who have had bad experiences with storefront lenders — those who ended up paying thousands of dollars on loans that started out as a few hundred dollars because they kept borrowing more to pay the original loan.</p> <p>“But there are thousands of examples of people who didn’t have these bad experiences, who were helped by having access to these small loans,” she said.</p> <p>Advocates for lower rates tell a different story, saying the high loan rates are hurting consumers and keeping families in poverty.</p> <p>“Out in the real world, when you even suggest a 36 percent rate cap to most people, they gasp in horror at how high that is,” said Lynn Canning of the Santa Fe Neighborhood Law Center. The 175 percent compromise, she said, falls far short.</p> <p>“We still need to continue to move that cap down to a place that really will protect consumers and is not based on a business model that really hurts our families,” Canning said.</p> <p>“Where is the political will of our Democrats?” Roybal Caballero asked. “Do we really want to get people out of poverty? Do we really want to rid them of vulnerability to exploitation?”</p> <p>Or, she asked, “Do we want to continue to contribute to the coffers of the few at the sacrifice of the many?”</p> <p><em>Contact Steve Terrell at (505) 986-3037 or <a href="mailto:sterrell@sfnewmexican.com">sterrell@sfnewmexican.com</a>. Read his political blog at <a href="http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/blogs/politics" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/blogs/politics&source=gmail&ust=1488292473797000&usg=AFQjCNE5YC48uM0ddtyYD72Pq0V7jqXQ5g">santafenewmexican.com/<wbr />news/blogs/politics</a>.</em></p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>A state government too big to cut</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2017/02/a-state-government-too-big-to-cut/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Swickard, Ph.D.]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 24 Feb 2017 18:07:42 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Guest columns]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Swickard Columns]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2016 legislative session]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Budget]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=294567</guid> <description><![CDATA[If New Mexico had enemies who wanted to harm the state, what would they do differently in the Legislature? Nothing.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>COMMENTARY:</strong> It’s amazing watching the New Mexico Legislature. They want to name the green chile cheeseburger as New Mexico’s burger. But they are ignoring that Texas is about to get New Mexico’s crop water in court, so the only green chile available for burgers may come from Colorado.</p> <div id="attachment_119613" class="wp-caption module image alignleft" style="max-width: 336px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-119613" src="http://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Swickard-Michael-336x356.jpg?x36058" alt="Michael Swickard" width="336" height="356" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Swickard-Michael-336x356.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Swickard-Michael.jpg 451w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Courtesy photo</p><p class="wp-caption-text">Michael Swickard</p></div> <p>And that’s not all. The Legislature was called into session primarily to deal with a large amount of money missing from the budget. The first thing said by some leaders in the House and Senate was that New Mexico government is too big to cut. Too many New Mexicans have been hired to fire any of them.</p> <p>They got that from the banking crisis of 2008. It worked for the bankers then and seems to be working now. Thanksgiving will be awful if some of the state worker cousins gets laid off and others do not.</p> <p>Since state government cannot be cut, taxes must be raised. That is exactly what the citizens do not want. But the next election is many months away and many of the leaders in the Legislature didn’t have an opponent in this last election so the citizens have no control.</p> <p>Making it worse is the betrayal in the Legislature. Years ago Gov. Bill Richardson, who spent every second running for president of the United States, had a plan to make New Mexico better and get lots of press while doing it. The food and medicine tax was abated, while that amount of money was made up for by raising fees.</p> <p>He was celebrated for his plan — which almost got him to Washington, but for a few details. New Mexico was out the money for his run at the presidency but no one seems to care. Anyway, that Richardson plan compensated by increasing fees for the loss of revenue from the tax on food and medicine.</p> <p>The rank-and-file New Mexicans paid the same amount of money out of the family budget each month, but people who were struggling daily would struggle less. Fast forward to today, where, since the Legislature cannot cut the too-big-to-cut state government, some are proposing going back to taxing food and medicine — but the fees are going to be raised also.<span id="more-294567"></span></p> <p>To make us feel better, if that is possible, the Legislature is not putting all of the taxes back on food and medicine. But the counties were supposed to be held harmless by Richardson’s taking the taxes off food and medicine. The Legislature was supposed to make up the loss of taxes. Then the Legislature decided to not do that, but let counties raise that money themselves in taxes. Already then taxes doubled, since the fees were raised.</p> <p>The revenue was neutral when taxes were taken off food and medicine and fees to the state were raised. Counties then raised the taxes since the Legislature would not share any of that extra state money from fees. Now some are proposing bringing back taxes on food and medicine while raising the state fees even more. Essentially, the citizens get taken three times.</p> <p>And what the Legislature this session was supposed to do was fix the economy and find a way to deal with the loss of so much water in the Texas lawsuit. Without water for crops there isn’t going to be green chile, onions, alfalfa and pecans. There will be plenty of pecan firewood for sale.</p> <p>These things will make the state much less attractive for businesses. Taxes going up and minimum wage going up. You know the minimum wage is price-fixing. It’s fixing the price of labor. Politicians don’t care.</p> <p>What’s the tipping point in New Mexico? The edge where many businesses and citizens leave? When enough leave, the budget crisis gets worse. Can’t cut the state government because it is too big to cut. If New Mexico had enemies who wanted to harm the state, what would they do differently in the Legislature? Nothing.</p> <p>We will find out what green chile cheeseburgers made with Colorado green chile taste like since the Legislature is doing nothing to replace the water lost to Texas. At least the green chile isn’t coming from New York City.</p> <p><em>Michael Swickard is a former radio talk show host and has been a columnist for 30 years in a number of New Mexico newspapers. Swickard’s new novel, Hideaway Hills, is now available <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1530820103/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_kMzexb10ADZ18" target="_blank">at Amazon.com</a>.</em></p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Santa Fe archbishop backs controversial plan to fund early education</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2017/01/santa-fe-archbishop-backs-controversial-plan-to-fund-early-education/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 18 Jan 2017 23:12:33 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[News and Analysis]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2016 legislative session]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Children]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=274129</guid> <description><![CDATA[Wester appealed to legislators during the annual prayer breakfast to support spending money from the $15 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund on early childhood programs.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Santa Fe Catholic Archbishop John C. Wester, providing an example that being on the right side of a political party is one thing but staying on the right side of the Lord can be another, urged state lawmakers <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1564135670"><span class="aQJ">Wednesday</span></span> to support a controversial proposal for funding early childhood education.</p> <div id="attachment_275467" class="wp-caption module image alignleft" style="max-width: 336px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-275467" src="http://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Wester-John-C-2-336x329.jpg?x36058" alt="Santa Fe Archbishop John C. Wester" width="336" height="329" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Wester-John-C-2-336x329.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Wester-John-C-2-60x60.jpg 60w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Wester-John-C-2-32x32.jpg 32w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Wester-John-C-2-64x64.jpg 64w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Wester-John-C-2.jpg 543w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">New Mexican file photo</p><p class="wp-caption-text">Santa Fe Archbishop John C. Wester</p></div> <p>Wester appealed to legislators during the annual prayer breakfast to back a constitutional amendment that would allow the state to use 1.5 percent of investment revenues each year from the state’s $15 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund.</p> <p>This plan would provide an estimated $140 million annually for early childhood education, defined as applying to children from the prenatal stage to age 5.</p> <p>The archbishop said using the fund for early childhood education would boost the quality of life for young people in a state with one of the highest rates of child poverty.</p> <p>“We see the high crime rate, the poverty rate, the violence, the addictions — these things are all directly connected to early childhood,” Wester said.</p> <p>But Republicans and some Democrats have long opposed using the land grant endowment for early childhood education. The fund was established by Congress when New Mexico became a state and is intended to provide a steady stream of revenue for public schools.</p> <p>Wester, though, discounted reports that say using a share of the fund would cast into uncertainty its ability to provide a reliable source of revenue for public. He said the fund has already survived two “doomsday” scenarios — a decline in the stock market as well as the shriveling of oil and gas production.</p> <p>Wester said spending the money on early childhood education would not only give young New Mexicans a better start but create an estimated 4,000 jobs.</p> <aside class="module align-left half type-aside"> <h3>About this article</h3> <p>This article comes from <a href="http://www.santafenewmexican.com/" target="_blank">The Santa Fe New Mexican</a>. NMPolitics.net is paying for the rights to publish articles about the 2017 legislative session from the newspaper. Help us cover the cost by <a href="http://nmpolitics.net/index/donate/" target="_blank">making a donation to NMPolitics.net</a>.</p> </aside> <p>“It’s a good thing Facebook will bring 50 jobs,” Wester said of the social media company’s plans to build a data center near Los Lunas, a deal Republican Gov. Susana Martinez has touted. “Four thousand is a lot better.”</p> <p>Tapping the fund for a new purpose would require approval from Congress and would require state legislators to ask voters to approve an amendment to the New Mexico Constitution.</p> <p>A few dozen legislators from both parties attended the prayer breakfast at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The annual event is a platform for the state’s Catholic leaders to weigh in on the issues of the session and even bluntly challenge New Mexico’s top public officials on their stands.</p> <p>Clergy <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1564135671"><span class="aQJ">on Wednesday</span></span> also appealed for lawmakers to oppose reinstating the gross receipts tax on groceries, a proposal legislators have mulled as part of a broader package of tax reform.</p> <p>The Very Rev. Richard A. Catanach, vicar general for the Diocese of Las Cruces, said the tax system needs reform but should not place a greater burden on the state’s poorest residents, who spend an outsize share of their income on basic necessities such as food.</p> <p>“New Mexico is poor, and revenue is needed to care for her citizens,” Catanach said. “Tax reform is needed so that those least able to afford paying taxes do not end up paying it on something such as food that they literally cannot live without.”<span id="more-274129"></span></p> <p>Clergy also appealed for lawmakers to oppose abortion, the death penalty and any laws that would allow for physician-assisted suicide.</p> <p>And, after a heated election season often characterized by personal attack ads, Wester urged lawmakers to respect one another.</p> <p>“When people are attacked personally or put people down, that viciousness has no place in democracy,” Wester said.</p> <p><em>Contact Andrew Oxford at (505) 986-3093 or <a href="mailto:aoxford@sfnewmexican.com">aoxford@sfnewmexican.com</a>. Follow him on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/@andrewboxford" target="_blank">@andrewboxford</a>.</em></p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Readers upset about governor’s proposal to cut employee take-home pay</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2017/01/readers-upset-about-governors-proposal-to-cut-employee-take-home-pay/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2017 17:48:07 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[News and Analysis]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2016 legislative session]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Budget]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Susana Martinez]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=270169</guid> <description><![CDATA[Martinez's proposal would cut state contributions to employee pensions, which would effectively reduce take-home pay for state workers and teachers.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Many NMPolitics.net readers are upset about Gov. Susana Martinez’s <a href="http://nmpolitics.net/index/2017/01/governor-seeks-more-cuts-including-reduced-employee-take-home-pay/" target="_blank">proposal</a> to balance the budget in part by cutting state contributions to employee pensions — which would effectively reduce take-home pay for tens of thousands of state workers and teachers.</p> <div id="attachment_60345" class="wp-caption module image alignleft" style="max-width: 336px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-60345" src="http://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Martinez-Susana-336x196.jpg?x36058" alt="Susana Martinez" width="336" height="196" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Martinez-Susana-336x196.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Martinez-Susana.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Heath Haussamen / NMPolitics.net</p><p class="wp-caption-text">Gov. Susana Martinez</p></div> <p>Martinez continues to oppose tax increases to help balance the budget. <a href="http://www.nmdfa.state.nm.us/uploads/files/SBD/FY18/FISCAL%20YEAR%202018%20EXECUTIVE%20BUDGET%20RECOMMENDATION.pdf" target="_blank">Her proposal</a> would increase employee contributions to their retirement plans — and reduce the state’s contributions — by 3.5 percent.</p> <p>Martinez asserted that the cuts are necessary now because the Legislature <a href="http://nmpolitics.net/index/2017/01/sen-smith-says-martinezs-proposal-to-cut-take-home-pay-wont-happen/" target="_blank">“avoided making tough choices”</a> during a special session last fall — and to avoid furloughs.</p> <p>But if <a href="http://nmpolitics.net/index/2017/01/governor-seeks-more-cuts-including-reduced-employee-take-home-pay/" target="_blank">discussions</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nmpolitics/posts/1190923097610079" target="_blank">NMPolitics.net facilitated</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/haussamen/posts/10101338459234251?pnref=story" target="_blank">on Facebook</a> are any indication, people are up in arms about her proposal. Retired state employee William Henry Mee of Santa Fe, for example, wrote about the sinking financial value of state jobs in New Mexico.</p> <p>“You cannot run an organization any more into the ground than our governor has,” he wrote. “But then maybe that is the motive.”</p> <p>Ona Porter, the president and CEO of the nonprofit Prosperity Works, asked whether people are tired of “this ‘cut-our-way-to-health’ nonsense.”</p> <p>“Close the tax loopholes and get those who are profiting off of our hard work and resources to pay their fair share so we can appropriately invest in our families, kids and our future,” Porter wrote.</p> <p>Shannon Marrs of Albuquerque wrote that she is a “hardworking teacher and mother that is already living paycheck to paycheck.”</p> <p>“A decrease in take-home pay would be harmful to my family,” she wrote.</p> <p>Rachel Minnaar, a teaching assistant (TA) in Albuquerque, shared similar sentiments.<span id="more-270169"></span></p> <p>“TAs get next to nothing and most have second or even third jobs,” she wrote. “We can’t afford to lower wages unless we want to put people out on the streets or make them completely reliant on social programs and welfare.”</p> <p>Not all disagreed with Martinez. Stephen Barr of Monument wrote, “Hate to defend her, but it is about time a politician found a way to produce a budget that covered costs without increasing taxes.”</p> <p>“Like most other businesses in the state, when times are tough, reductions have to be made,” he said.</p> <p>Edwina Hewett of Mountainair questioned why government employees are a protected class.</p> <p>“Everyone else lives in the real world, and if you have money shortfalls you drop things to keep your lights on and bills paid,” she wrote. “Our state government should be no different.”</p> <p>And Greg Graves of Dexter pointed out, “If taxes are raised I have less take home pay. Where is the outrage?”</p> <p>But the vast majority of commenters slammed the governor. Among them was David Barr of Truth or Consequences.</p> <p>“I am a Republican and I have no respect for her,” Barr wrote. “We should start cuts with her paycheck.”</p> <p>Carter Bundy, the political and legislative director for the employee union <a href="http://www.afscme.org/" target="_blank">AFSCME</a> in New Mexico, called the governor’s proposal “a tax increase for 50,000 or more N.M. families.”</p> <p>“And only aimed primarily at those making $50,000/year or less,” he wrote. “And the money? It goes to protect tax loopholes for Wall Street players and out-of-state corporations. Really a pretty clear choice she’s presenting to legislators and the public.”</p> <p>Hortencia Benavidez of Pojoaque is among those who is upset.</p> <p>“I work for the schools. I already make nothing,” Benavidez wrote. “The retirement is the only reason I stay.”</p> <p>Democratic lawmakers appear likely to fight <a href="http://nmpolitics.net/index/2017/01/sen-smith-says-martinezs-proposal-to-cut-take-home-pay-wont-happen/" target="_blank">against Martinez’s proposal</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Barred from fundraising during session, some forget to disable web donations</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2016/10/barred-from-fundraising-during-session-some-forget-to-disable-web-donations/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 06 Oct 2016 02:17:23 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[News and Analysis]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2016 Election]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2016 legislative session]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=194151</guid> <description><![CDATA[Ken Ortiz, spokesman for Secretary of State Brad Winter, said his office had received letters of complaint from both political parties regarding improper fundraising.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_56542" class="wp-caption module image alignnone" style="max-width: 771px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-56542" src="http://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-771x504.jpg?x36058" alt="A statue outside the Roundhouse in Santa Fe." width="771" height="504" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-771x504.jpg 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-336x220.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-768x502.jpg 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-1170x764.jpg 1170w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse.jpg 1500w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Heath Haussamen / NMPolitics.net</p><p class="wp-caption-text">A statue outside the Roundhouse in Santa Fe.</p></div> <p>A Democratic state senator and a Democratic candidate for the Senate admitted <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1442028566"><span class="aQJ">Wednesday</span></span> that they didn’t immediately disable fundraising mechanisms on their websites during the special session, when legislative candidates are barred from soliciting money.</p> <p>Both acknowledged soon after the state Republican Party filed an ethics complaint against them that active fundraising links had remained on their websites for several days.</p> <p>“We messed up. We made an error, and as soon as we saw that we took it down,” Sen. Bill Soules, D-Las Cruces, said in a phone interview. He said he did not receive any online contributions during the prohibited fundraising period.</p> <aside class="module align-left half type-aside"> <h3>About this article</h3> <p>This article comes from <a href="http://www.santafenewmexican.com/" target="_blank">The Santa Fe New Mexican</a>. NMPolitics.net is paying for the rights to publish articles about the 2016 special legislative session from the newspaper. Help us cover the cost by <a href="http://nmpolitics.net/index/donate/" target="_blank">making a donation to NMPolitics.net</a>.</p> </aside> <p>Greg Frazier, a candidate in Albuquerque Senate District 21, admitted to a technical violation. He said he had instructed a surrogate to remove a “donate” link from his website before Gov. Susana Martinez called the special session last Thursday. Frazier said the surrogate removed the “donate” link from the top of his webpage before the governor’s proclamation, but the link then reappeared on the bottom of the page.</p> <p>“We turned it off in one spot but it was missed in another spot,” Frazier said. Like Soules, he said it was a mistake and that he did not receive any contributions during that time.</p> <p>Republicans also filed a complaint against Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto, D-<wbr />Albuquerque, who says he did nothing wrong. Ivey-Soto said he disabled the fundraising link on his webpage before the special session began.</p> <p>Speaking by phone <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1442028567"><span class="aQJ">Wednesday</span></span>, Ivey-Soto said he removed from his website any possibility to contribute money to his campaign in anticipation that the governor would call the special session. He said it is not a violation of the Campaign Reporting Act for lawmakers or candidates to maintain a fundraising button or link as long as it does not allow visitors to actually contribute money.</p> <p>The state Democratic Party has filed a complaint of its own against Rep. Nora Espinoza, R-Roswell, who is running for secretary of state, saying she also maintained a “donate” option on her website after the session was called.</p> <p>Espinoza’s campaign manager, former state Sen. Rod Adair, said <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1442028568"><span class="aQJ">Wednesday</span></span> that the donation button on Espinoza’s website was disabled before the session started. He provided an affidavit from the technician who did the work. The affidavit identifies the technician as Espinoza’s colleague, state Rep. Kelly Fajardo, R-Belen. Fajardo said complaining Democrats relied on an “old link” that they had saved from an email or a solicitation made before the ban on fundraising for the special session.<span id="more-194151"></span></p> <p>One possible issue in the complaints is a provision of the Campaign Reporting Act that prohibits legislators or public employees from soliciting contributions during either a regular legislative session or after the governor’s proclamation calling a special session.</p> <p>Ivey-Soto said the back-and-forth complaints are “gotcha” politics in an election cycle and distract from the purpose of the special session. Martinez called the session Sept. 29 to address a budget deficit of $220 million from the fiscal year that ended in June and a projected deficit expected to reach $430 million in the current budget year. Martinez also added a package of crime-and-punishment bills to the agenda.</p> <p>In Ivey-Soto’s case, the Republicans’ complaint stems from the fact that his website still has a “donate” listing, though it only leads to a link that says, “The page you were looking for is not found.”</p> <p>A random search <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1442028569"><span class="aQJ">Wednesday</span></span> of some 20 other websites of lawmakers from both parties revealed a handful who still had “donate” or “contribute” links, including Rep. Monica Youngblood, R-Albuquerque, and Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe. But as with Ivey-Soto’s webpage, those links led to pages that no longer exist or to a message that says the candidate is not currently accepting contributions.</p> <p>Viki Harrison, executive director of the campaign watchdog group Common Cause New Mexico, said a “donate” or “contribute” link in and of itself is not a cause for concern, as long as it does not give people the chance to give money during the prohibited period.</p> <p>“I am so happy that when you click on those links they go nowhere — to a dead page,” she said <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1442028570"><span class="aQJ">Wednesday</span></span>. “I don’t think there is a problem there.”</p> <p>She said little has been done to update the Campaign Reporting Act in the past 20 years and that lawmakers need to look at the issue of websites in an age of advancing technology.</p> <p>Ken Ortiz, spokesman for Secretary of State Brad Winter, said his office had received letters of complaint from both political parties regarding improper fundraising. He said the office will evaluate each complaint.</p> <p>“There are a lot of possible issues,” Ortiz said. “Is the website still active where you can contribute? Has it been disabled? There are some that say ‘donate’ but when you click to donate nothing happens because the page is dead.”</p> <p>Soules said he thinks legislators may have to remove donation pages from their websites to avoid any conflict with the Campaign Reporting Act.</p> <p><em>Contact Robert Nott at 505-986-3021 or <a href="mailto:rnott@sfnewmexican.com" target="_blank">rnott@sfnewmexican.com</a>.</em></p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Transparency becomes ‘the first casualty’ of session, some say</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2016/09/transparency-becomes-the-first-casualty-of-session-some-say/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 01 Oct 2016 03:53:46 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[News and Analysis]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2016 legislative session]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Transparency]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=191618</guid> <description><![CDATA[House Democrats accused the Republican leadership of keeping the public in the dark on legislation being considered.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_191620" class="wp-caption module image alignnone" style="max-width: 771px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-191620" src="http://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/McCamley-Bill-771x538.jpg?x36058" alt="Bill McCamley" width="771" height="538" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/McCamley-Bill-771x538.jpg 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/McCamley-Bill-336x235.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/McCamley-Bill-768x536.jpg 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/McCamley-Bill-1170x817.jpg 1170w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Luis Sánchez Saturno / The Santa Fe New Mexican</p><p class="wp-caption-text">State Rep. Bill McCamley, D-Las Cruces, voiced his concern that the crime bills were not online for his constituents to see shortly before the House adjourned during the first day of the special legislative session on Friday.</p></div> <p>Against a backdrop of political tensions in a rare election-year special session of the state Legislature, House Democrats accused the Republican leadership of keeping the public in the dark on legislation being considered.</p> <p>House Democratic Leader Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, complained <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_423433959"><span class="aQJ">Friday</span></span> afternoon that no bills — specifically the controversial crime bills backed by Gov. Susana Martinez — had been posted online by that time, and that the public wasn’t properly informed about a House committee hearing on those bills.</p> <p>“There has been no notice to the public online,” Egolf said. “There has been no notice to the public, period, that those bills are going to be considered today. … As of right now, no one in the public has access to the death penalty reinstatement legislation, and that is pretty outrageous.”</p> <aside class="module align-left half type-aside"> <h3>About this article</h3> <p>This article comes from <a href="http://www.santafenewmexican.com/" target="_blank">The Santa Fe New Mexican</a>. NMPolitics.net is paying for the rights to publish articles about the 2016 special legislative session from the newspaper. Help us cover the cost by <a href="http://nmpolitics.net/index/donate/" target="_blank">making a donation to NMPolitics.net</a>.</p> </aside> <p>Even before the session began <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_423433960"><span class="aQJ">Friday</span></span>, political sniping had begun. Advance New Mexico Now, a political action committee associated with Martinez, began running ads touting her crime bills, saying “liberal politicians” have been soft on crime. House Democrats held a news conference two hours before session started in which Egolf and others said those crime bills were nothing but a “distraction” for political purposes.</p> <p>Representatives of government watchdog groups said issues of transparency go beyond partisan politics.</p> <p>“We are sorry to hear that openness is the first casualty of the session,” Susan Boe, executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, told <em>The New Mexican </em><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_423433961"><span class="aQJ">on Friday</span></span>.</p> <p>“It seems deliberately deceitful to the public,” Heather Ferguson, legislative director of Common Cause New Mexico, said in an interview. “They could easily have posted these crime bills days ago.”</p> <p>On the House floor, Rep. Bill McCamley, D-Las Cruces, said his constituents were being cheated by the delay in online postings about bills and committee hearings. “The bishop actually lives in my district,” he said, referring to Las Cruces Bishop Oscar Cantú. New Mexico’s Catholic bishops were some of the leading advocates who pushed for the repeal of capital punishment.</p> <p>Scheduling a committee meeting only a half-hour after the floor session ended did not give the public enough time to review the crime bills, McCamley said. “My constituents should have a right to be able to examine these,” he said.</p> <p>The 21-page death penalty bill, <a href="https://nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?chamber=H&legType=B&legNo=7&year=16s" target="_blank">House Bill 7</a>, finally appeared on the Legislature’s website sometime after <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_423433962"><span class="aQJ">2:30 p.m.</span></span> <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_423433963"><span class="aQJ">Friday</span></span>.<span id="more-191618"></span></p> <p>House Republican Leader Nate Gentry of Albuquerque said his office sent out a news release <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_423433964"><span class="aQJ">Thursday</span></span> evening, not long after Martinez released her official proclamation announcing the special session.</p> <p>“I have every confidence the press release was distributed to major media markets in Doña Ana County,” Gentry told McCamley.</p> <p>After Democrats complained that they hadn’t seen the bills until <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_423433965"><span class="aQJ">Friday</span></span> morning, Gentry said, “You have, and you voted on them.” Two of the three crime bills were considered in the regular session earlier this year.</p> <p>These are <a href="https://nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?chamber=H&legType=B&legNo=5&year=16s" target="_blank">House Bill 5</a>, which would add crimes to the state’s “three strikes” law, making more offenders eligible for a life sentence, and <a href="https://nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?chamber=H&legType=B&legNo=6&year=16s" target="_blank">House Bill 6</a>, which would make intentional abuse of a child resulting in death punishable by life in prison — which in New Mexico is 30 years — no matter the age of the victim. Currently the maximum sentence if the child is under 12 is 30 years, but for a child 12-17 years old it’s 18 years in prison.</p> <p>Egolf objected when House Speaker Don Tripp, R-Socorro, announced that the Legislative Council — which is made up of House and Senate leaders — would be meeting in his office immediately after the floor session. Egolf said there was no public notice for the meeting, and that it should be held in a larger space to accommodate the public.</p> <p>Tripp responded by canceling the meeting.</p> <p>Afterward, John Yaeger of the Legislative Council Service told<em> The New Mexican</em> that there were just a few routine housekeeping items that would have been discussed at the meeting. “We can do that later,” he said.</p> <p>Boe said the Foundation for Open Government “recognizes that in special sessions, lawmakers operate on a fast track. However, the fact that a special session is being held is not a surprise. Both the governor and lawmakers knew a special session was needed to deal with the budget shortfalls. Yet it seems the session was announced at the last minute with no contingency plans in place once lawmakers arrived in Santa Fe.”</p> <p>Her group has been calling since midsummer for more openness in budget negotiations among legislative leaders. “Now is not the time to shut the public out of the process,” Boe said.</p> <p><em>Contact Steve Terrell at 505-986-3037 or <a href="mailto:sterrell@sfnewmexican.com" target="_blank">sterrell@sfnewmexican.com</a>. Read his political blog at <a href="http://tinyurl.com/roundhouseroundup" target="_blank">tinyurl.com/roundhouseroundup</a>.</em></p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Apparently, things won’t change in NM</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2016/04/apparently-things-wont-change-in-nm/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 01 Apr 2016 16:28:37 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Guest columns]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2016 legislative session]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ethics reform]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Transparency]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=140876</guid> <description><![CDATA[Because we won't change the system, hundreds of millions of dollars will be squandered every year and taxes will be raised and the permanent funded will be raided to cover the losses.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>COMMENTARY:</strong> Raise taxes, raid the permanent fund, or …</p> <p>… end waste, fraud and abuse, at once and for all?</p> <div id="attachment_116565" class="wp-caption module image alignleft" style="max-width: 336px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-116565" src="http://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/MacQuigg-Ched-336x275.jpg?x36058" alt="Ched MacQuigg" width="336" height="275" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/MacQuigg-Ched-336x275.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/MacQuigg-Ched-768x629.jpg 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/MacQuigg-Ched-771x632.jpg 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/MacQuigg-Ched-1170x958.jpg 1170w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/MacQuigg-Ched.jpg 1437w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Mark Bralley</p><p class="wp-caption-text">Ched MacQuigg</p></div> <p>Offered those three choices for generating a few hundred million dollars, why would anyone consider either of the first two?</p> <p>When N.M. Attorney General Hector Balderas was the state auditor, he complained that the auditor’s office hadn’t the resources to do the job the way it needed to be done.</p> <p>Like all agencies of government charged with providing oversight over the wielding of power and the spending of billions of dollars, his was underfunded.</p> <p>One could quibble about the actual numbers I suppose, but the bottom line is that an enormous amount of money is being lost every year through waste, fraud and abuse. And further, that that loss is absolutely preventable.</p> <p>It could be made impossibly difficult to hide public corruption and incompetence. It could be, but it isn’t. It never has been, and looks like it never will be.</p> <p>In the weeks since the Legislature ended without ending the culture of corruption and incompetence in state government, a number of people have lamented the lack of transparency in state government. They seem all to realize that the lack of transparency is the root of all evil.<span id="more-140876"></span></p> <p>None, unless I missed it, proposed a workable solution. Not one of them has proposed anything different from the way it has been done always — hope that legislators will finally do what they have not only never done, but have never shown any real inclination to do ever.</p> <p>For the most part, it has been all talk no action. The handful of victories, webcasting and a few others, could not have been conceded more begrudgingly. It’s easy to understand why politicians and public servants don’t want to change the rules of the game; they like the rules the way they are; they’re winning.</p> <p>Much harder to understand is why we put up with it. Why we won’t try something different for a change?</p> <p>I invite anyone to take issue with any of the following few fundamental suppositions:</p> <ul> <li>The terms of public service are the prerogative of the people, not of their servants.</li> <li>It is possible to write the statutory and constitutional reform necessary to end the culture of corruption and incompetence at once and for all.</li> <li>It is possible to write standards of conduct and competence high enough to protect the people’s power and resources from the relentless waste, fraud and abuse.</li> <li>It is possible to create honest-to-God accountability, to hold politicians and public servants accountable to those standards, even the most powerful, even against their will.</li> </ul> <p>A new set of rules could be written between now and the election of the entire Legislature. Candidates could be held accountable for their willingness to play by the people’s rules.</p> <p>FOG, Common Cause, and a few others have been called out. They haven’t shown the least interest in creating real reform through rules change. Apparently, things will stay the same. Hundreds of millions of dollars will be squandered every year and taxes will be raised and the permanent funded will be raided to cover the losses.</p> <p><em>Ched MacQuigg is a retired shop teacher and <a href="http://ched-macquigg.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blogger</a>. He has been a longtime advocate of honest accountability to meaningful standards of conduct for politicians and public servants — in particular for the leadership of the Albuquerque Public Schools.</em></p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>A dubious bet on college and economic development</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2016/03/a-dubious-bet-on-college-and-economic-development/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 25 Mar 2016 15:39:11 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Guest columns]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2016 legislative session]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Children]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category> <category><![CDATA[NMSU]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <category><![CDATA[UNM]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=138637</guid> <description><![CDATA[Sending more of New Mexico’s high-school graduates off to college, while providing insufficient employment opportunities for them after graduation, is profoundly unwise policy.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_56542" class="wp-caption module image alignnone" style="max-width: 771px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-56542" src="http://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-771x504.jpg?x36058" alt="A statue outside the Roundhouse in Santa Fe." width="771" height="504" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-771x504.jpg 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-336x220.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-768x502.jpg 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-1170x764.jpg 1170w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse.jpg 1500w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Heath Haussamen / NMPolitics.net</p><p class="wp-caption-text">Sending more of New Mexico’s high-school graduates off to college, while providing insufficient employment opportunities for them after graduation, is profoundly unwise policy, Dowd Muska argues.</p></div> <p><strong>COMMENTARY: </strong>This year marks the 20th anniversary of New Mexico’s <a href="http://www.hed.state.nm.us/students/lotteryscholarship.aspx" target="_blank">Legislative Lottery Scholarship Program</a>.</p> <p>Unfortunately, there isn’t much to celebrate.</p> <div id="attachment_65320" class="wp-caption module image alignleft" style="max-width: 336px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-65320 size-medium" src="http://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Muska-D.-Dowd-336x270.jpg?x36058" alt="D. Dowd Muska" width="336" height="270" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Courtesy photo</p><p class="wp-caption-text">D. Dowd Muska</p></div> <p>A well-intentioned attempt to boost access to higher learning in the Land of Enchantment, the program was crafted by a Democratic legislature and Republican governor. But it suffers from a serious, if seldom-discussed, flaw.</p> <p>Lottery scholarships certainly don’t have a popularity problem. A report by the New Mexico Higher Education Department found that between 2000 and 2014, the number of program recipients doubled. Expenditures, of course, ballooned as well, rising to $66.8 million in the 2014 fiscal year.</p> <p>By law, the New Mexico Lottery Authority is required to set aside 30 percent of monthly gross revenue for scholarships. But solvency has been an issue for years — in 2014, gamblers supplied just 61 percent of the program’s funding. A slumping economy and a decline in “scratcher” sales sent legislators and the authority scrambling for cost savings and new monies. Eligibility was tightened, and the number of semesters covered for a four-year degree fell from eight to seven.</p> <p>Tobacco-settlement revenue has been transferred to the tuition fund, and special appropriations have been made. In 2014, legislators began to divert a portion of the revenue stream from New Mexico’s excise tax on liquor. In the just-completed session, lawmakers required the lottery authority to devote unclaimed-prize cash to scholarships. (<a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legislation.aspx?chamber=S&legtype=B&legno=79&year=16" target="_blank">Governor Martinez vetoed the bill.</a>)</p> <p>A program that once relied on the voluntary contributions of gamblers — no one is forced to play the lottery — is now grabbing dollars any way it can. Lottery scholarships have been allowed to proceed on this unsustainable path because no state-subsidization policy enjoys greater bipartisan support. The bill to use forfeited-prized revenue passed the Senate 35-4 and House of Representatives 66-0.<span id="more-138637"></span></p> <p>Praise from the program’s administrators is effusive. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_G._Frank" target="_blank">Bob Frank, the president of the University of New Mexico</a>, called lottery scholarships “critical to helping New Mexico students graduate so they can contribute to our state’s knowledge-based economy.” Dan Salzwedel, chairman of the <a href="http://www.governor.state.nm.us/Lottery_Authority.aspx" target="_blank">lottery authority’s board</a>, concurs: “Helping young people acquire more knowledge and greater employment opportunities through a college education enriches all of us.”</p> <p>Nice rhetoric. Here are the facts. New Mexico has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation — and<a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/02/11/the-rising-cost-of-not-going-to-college/" target="_blank"> joblessnesses is typically lowest for the college-educated</a>. The Land of Enchantment is stubbornly hostile to real economic-development policies, such as a right-to-work law, tax simplification/relief, and deregulation. With few jobs available, it’s hardly surprising that the millennial generation sees no future for itself in the Land of Enchantment.</p> <p>“New data from The University of New Mexico,” The Santa Fe New Mexican reported last year, “shows for the first time that the largest percentage of those leaving the state are educated professionals with a bachelor’s degree.” The paper’s Bruce Krasnow made the inconvenient observation that many millennials “have gone to a state university tuition-free with a lottery scholarship and <a href="http://www.abqjournal.com/457866/news/tech-president-bemoans-lack-of-jobs.html" target="_blank">then left the state as they saw more opportunity elsewhere</a>.”</p> <p>How many? We don’t know. In an email interview, Harrison Rommel, the Higher Education Department’s Financial Aid Director, wrote that his agency “has not done any long-term longitudinal studies regarding retention in New Mexico after graduation. This would require data agreements with the Department of Workforce Solutions and/or other agencies, and we are not capable of performing that type of analysis at this time.”</p> <p>One would think that after 20 years, the lottery scholarship’s overseers would have requested, and funded, a look at “retention in New Mexico after graduation.” Apparently, pleasing voters and rewarding higher-education personnel matter more than performing a cost-benefit review of a subsidy that spends tens of millions of dollars annually.</p> <p>Sending more of New Mexico’s high-school graduates off to college, while providing insufficient employment opportunities for them after graduation, is profoundly unwise policy. It’s time to provide taxpayers an independent, honest evaluation of the lottery-scholarship program.</p> <p><em>Dowd Muska (<a href="mailto:dmuska@riograndefoundation.org">dmuska@riograndefoundation.org</a>) is research director for New Mexico’s <a href="http://riograndefoundation.org/" target="_blank">Rio Grande Foundation</a>, an independent, nonpartisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility.</em></p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Governor’s vetoes show who she doesn’t stand for</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2016/03/governors-vetoes-show-who-she-doesnt-stand-for/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 21 Mar 2016 16:14:14 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Guest columns]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2016 legislative session]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Susana Martinez]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=137458</guid> <description><![CDATA[Gov. Susana Martinez's vetoes singled out the most vulnerable in our state for harsher treatment than ever before.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>COMMENTARY:</strong> Vetoes handed out by Governor Susana Martinez at the end of the 2016 session of the Legislature were fewer than in years past, but they singled out the most vulnerable in our state for harsher treatment than ever before.</p> <div id="attachment_118552" class="wp-caption module image alignleft" style="max-width: 336px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-118552" src="http://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Sanchez-Michael-336x246.jpg?x36058" alt="Michael Sanchez" width="336" height="246" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Courtesy photo</p><p class="wp-caption-text">Michael Sanchez</p></div> <p>In previous years there might have been dozens of bills that fell under the governor’s veto ax. But this year we are talking about Native Americans in the poorest communities, small farmers in rural communities, the developmentally disabled, non-English speakers, and students from low- and middle-income families who were the target. Let’s look at her vetoes.</p> <p>In Spanish we say, “Dime con quién andas, y te diré quién eres.” Or “Tell me who you walk with, and I’ll tell you who you are.” The reverse of the phrase is instructive as well, “tell me who you do not walk with, and I can tell you who you are.” What kind of legislation drew her ire, and with whom will Gov. Martinez not walk?</p> <p>First and foremost are the residents of Indian Country, especially those on the Navajo Reservation and Zuni Pueblo. Governor line-item vetoes in the capital outlay bill eliminated millions of dollars for projects slated for McKinley and Cibola counties. Vetoed Native American projects, approved unanimously by the Legislature, included such needed items as a backup generator for Zuni Pueblo’s main well, and studies to repair several old and damaged bridges. There was $75,000 to build a senior center for the remote Red Red Navajo Chapter, $30,000 to build a water well in the Baahaali Chapter, and $50,000 for improvements to utility lines in the Red Lake Chapter. The list goes on.</p> <p>Gov. Martinez vetoed more than 20 Native American projects. The individual sums involved were not great, and none of the projects were luxuries. They were part of her package of capital outlay vetoes totaling $8.2 million, or 5 percent of all the infrastructure projects contained in <a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legislation.aspx?Chamber=H&LegType=B&LegNo=219&year=16" target="_blank">HB 219</a>. The governor explained her actions in a critical, <a href="http://nmpolitics.net/index/2016/03/martinez-slams-lawmakers-for-pork-spending-and-killing-reform/" target="_blank">nine-page letter</a> deriding the projects for these impoverished communities as “local pork,” “squandering [of] funds” and “irresponsible.”<span id="more-137458"></span></p> <p>Small and family farmers in rural northern New Mexico were the next group to feel the veto pen. She eliminated 90 percent of the critical funding approved by the Legislature for repairs and improvements to 25 acequias, almost $1 million in total. These projects too were relatively small in cost, but they deliver significant benefits for large numbers of families in proud but struggling communities.</p> <p>Imagine, the first acequias in New Mexico were constructed in the mid-Sixteenth century by the newly arrived Spaniards together with Native residents. Many of them are still in use today. They are still economically important for many agricultural villages, because they are key to irrigation and water storage for agriculture. It seems at times like the things we take the most pride in – our acequias, for example, and our traditions and history – are under constant attack by this governor.</p> <p>Students who are the children of families of modest means, yet who dream and strive to reach the middle class themselves, were another target of the veto. Bipartisan legislation to shore up declining revenues of the Lottery Scholarship fund was too much for the governor. That fund enables thousands of students to attend college. <a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legislation.aspx?Chamber=S&LegType=B&LegNo=79&year=16" target="_blank">SB 79</a> would have required unclaimed lottery prizes to be transferred to the scholarship fund, adding up to $3 million more each year for student scholarships.</p> <p>The decline of state lottery sales has reduced funds available for student tuition scholarships, and this measure would have alleviated the shortfall. Now our students and their families will have to pay more in tuition costs in the next school year. Some may not be able to attend college at all as a result.</p> <p>The developmentally disabled and their families were another target of Gov. Martinez when she vetoed modest legislation that would have required the state to publish a brief report at the end of each year. It simply would have identified how many New Mexicans are on a waiting list for crucial services, often ten years or more. <a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legislation.aspx?Chamber=S&LegType=B&LegNo=36&year=16" target="_blank">SB 36</a> was passed in both the Senate and the House without a single dissenting vote, and incurred no cost to the state. The Legislature needed the bill in order to get a full view of the scope of a serious problem and to find budget opportunities to get solutions.</p> <p>For the second time in as many years, the governor vetoed an uncontroversial measure to improve court interpreter services in New Mexico. That veto put into focus her past efforts as a district attorney to keep Spanish-speakers from serving on juries. <a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legislation.aspx?Chamber=S&LegType=B&LegNo=210&year=16" target="_blank">SB 210</a> would have set up a new fund to be administered by the courts for paying court translators and related expenses, but had no fiscal impact on the state.</p> <p>It drew the governor’s veto despite passing without any opposition whatsoever. Unique among all states, the Constitution of New Mexico protects people who speak and read either English or Spanish.</p> <p>Now we know. No anda con nosotros.</p> <p><em><a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legislator_details.aspx?SPONCODE=SSANC" target="_blank">Michael Sanchez</a>, a Democrat from Belen, is the majority leader in the New Mexico Senate.</em></p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Recent legislative session casts shadow on Sunshine Week</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2016/03/recent-legislative-session-casts-shadow-on-sunshine-week/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 14 Mar 2016 14:41:31 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Guest columns]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2016 legislative session]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Budget]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ethics reform]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Transparency]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=135128</guid> <description><![CDATA[When officials resist reforms that would empower citizens with information about our government, we all suffer.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_56542" class="wp-caption module image alignnone" style="max-width: 771px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-56542" src="http://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-771x504.jpg?x36058" alt="A statue outside the Roundhouse in Santa Fe." width="771" height="504" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-771x504.jpg 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-336x220.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-768x502.jpg 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-1170x764.jpg 1170w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse.jpg 1500w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Heath Haussamen / NMPolitics.net</p><p class="wp-caption-text">When officials resist reforms that would empower citizens with information about our government, we all suffer, Gregory P. Williams writes.</p></div> <p><strong>COMMENTARY:</strong> Closed-door budget talks and a failed effort to create a transparent ethics commission largely shaded the recent New Mexico Legislative session from sunlight, but 2016 did see two incremental victories for transparency.</p> <p>Sunshine Week is March 13-19, 2016. The Sunshine Week campaign works nationwide to celebrate transparency and emphasize the value of open government.</p> <div id="attachment_135148" class="wp-caption module image alignleft" style="max-width: 336px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-135148" src="http://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Williams-Greg-336x247.jpg?x36058" alt="Gregory P. Williams" width="336" height="247" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Williams-Greg-336x247.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Williams-Greg.jpg 425w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Courtesy photo</p><p class="wp-caption-text">Gregory P. Williams</p></div> <p>Here at home, the <a href="http://nmfog.org/" target="_blank">New Mexico Foundation for Open Government</a> (FOG) is leading the crusade against secrecy in government and politics. Our primary mission is to educate, advocate and enforce our state’s sunshine laws – the <a href="http://www.nmag.gov/uploads/files/Publications/ComplianceGuides/Inspection%20of%20Public%20Records%20Compliance%20Guide%202015.pdf" target="_blank">Inspection of Public Records Act</a> and the <a href="http://www.nmag.gov/uploads/files/Publications/ComplianceGuides/Open%20Meetings%20Act%20Compliance%20Guide%202015.pdf" target="_blank">Open Meetings Act</a>.</p> <p>FOG routinely encounters reports of elected officials holding secret meetings and citizens being denied access to public documents.</p> <p>FOG often finds that government entities in New Mexico either don’t know their responsibilities under our sunshine laws, attempt to bend the rules, or ignore them. And unfortunately, sometimes that includes our State Legislature.</p> <p>Perhaps no issue was of greater importance in this year’s legislative session than our stripped-down budget. But when the House Finance and Appropriations Committee closed its meetings to hash out details of the budget, the public was locked out. After receiving complaints, FOG <a href="http://nmpolitics.net/index/2016/02/open-government-group-questions-secret-budget-talks/" target="_blank">issued a letter</a> to the House and Senate leadership, but neither chamber responded to our appeals for openness.</p> <p>And even in a year marred by scandals, some lawmakers dug in their heels when faced with a choice between maintaining the status quo or embracing a proposal to create a more transparent, independent ethics commission. The Senate Rules Committee <a href="http://nmpolitics.net/index/2016/02/the-charade-is-over-its-time-to-create-an-ethics-commission/" target="_blank">rejected certain transparency provisions</a> governing the proposed commission, not recognizing that an ethics commission, like any public process, only works when it is conducted in the open.<span id="more-135128"></span></p> <p>But all hope for sunshine is not lost. During the 2016 session, Rep. Jeff Steinborn’s resolution to archive House webcast footage <a href="http://nmpolitics.net/index/2016/02/house-votes-to-archive-its-webcasts-online-beginning-next-year/" target="_blank">was passed</a>. This new practice will increase participation in government by allowing citizens the opportunity to watch House floor and committee meetings at their convenience. It will also ensure that we have a historical record of House proceedings.</p> <p>Additionally, Rep. Jim Smith and Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto successfully sponsored <a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legislation.aspx?Chamber=H&LegType=B&LegNo=105&year=16" target="_blank">HB 105</a> to improve campaign finance and lobbyist reporting on the Secretary of State’s website. The bill requires that data be maintained in a downloadable, searchable and sortable format so that journalists and the public can accurately follow the money. The measure was passed by both the House and Senate unanimously and signed into law by Gov. Martinez.</p> <p>While sunshine wins like these represent real progress, the battle for transparency seems never-ending. Our state has critical problems, and to solve them, our government must function at its highest level — for which openness is essential. When officials resist reforms that would empower citizens with information about our government, we all suffer.</p> <p>So, for the good of our state, FOG encourages every official to hold sunshine high among their priorities.</p> <p><em>Gregory P. Williams is the president of the Board of Directors of FOG and an attorney with Peifer, Hanson & Mullins, P.A.</em></p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> </channel> </rss> <!-- Performance optimized by W3 Total Cache. Learn more: https://www.boldgrid.com/w3-total-cache/ Object Caching 134/215 objects using Disk Served from: nmpolitics.net @ 2025-03-14 21:40:34 by W3 Total Cache -->