{"id":129572,"date":"2016-02-23T12:27:52","date_gmt":"2016-02-23T19:27:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=129572"},"modified":"2016-02-24T09:30:25","modified_gmt":"2016-02-24T16:30:25","slug":"the-charade-is-over-its-time-to-create-an-ethics-commission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/02\/the-charade-is-over-its-time-to-create-an-ethics-commission\/","title":{"rendered":"The charade is over; it\u2019s time to create an ethics commission"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMENTARY:<\/strong> After a proposal to create a state ethics commission died for the umpteenth time<\/a> in the legislative session that ended last week, some members of the Senate Rules Committee are saying they just need more time to iron out the details.<\/p>\n

\"Heath

Heath Haussamen<\/p><\/div>\n

If this was the first time they\u2019d asked the public to be patient, I might give them the benefit of the doubt. But some members of the Rules Committee \u2013 led by the chair, Albuquerque Democrat Linda Lopez \u2013 have been asking for more time for years.<\/p>\n

This is an attempt to make it look like they\u2019re trying to create a commission while they actually stand in its way.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s evidenced by the fact that Lopez, who sponsored legislation to create an ethics commission in 2009<\/a>, 2010<\/a>, 2011<\/a>, and this year<\/a>, seems thoroughly perplexed about the need for such an agency. At a news conference last week<\/a> she said a commission wouldn\u2019t prevent corruption and \u201cis not going to make anyone more honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creating an agency that sets ethical standards in government and helps police violations is a nationally accepted best practice. Some 42 states<\/a> have ethics commissions. So does New Mexico\u2019s judicial branch. There\u2019s demonstrable evidence<\/a> that our Judicial Standards Commission<\/a> has raised the ethical bar and helped oust judges who shouldn\u2019t have been in office.<\/p>\n

New Mexico has no ethics commission for our executive and legislative branches.<\/p>\n

This year, the legislation with the best chance of becoming law came from Rep. Jim Dines, R-Albuquerque. He proposed a constitutional amendment<\/a> that needed approval from the House and Senate but not the governor. It then would have gone to voters in November. Polling has shown widespread support<\/a> for an independent ethics commission.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Lopez\u2019s bill needed \u2013 and didn\u2019t get \u2013 Gov. Susana Martinez\u2019s permission to be considered in the session that just ended. Martinez has expressed opposition to an ethics commission<\/a> in the past, which is disappointing.<\/p>\n

The House approved Dines\u2019 legislation on a vote of 50-10. But Dines withdrew the bill<\/a> during a hearing in the Senate Rules Committee because its members, led by Daniel Ivey-Soto, D-Albuquerque, appeared\u00a0poised to strip the commission of transparency and make other bad changes.<\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, is afraid of being unfairly accused of wrongdoing<\/a>. He said the Senate \u201ccan govern itself and it has, in my years here, very ethically and very fairly\u201d \u2013 which is simply<\/a> not<\/a> true<\/a>. And Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, said there\u2019s \u201calmost a paranoia<\/a> about an ethics commission being used to embarrass or damage someone with false accusations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some expressed similar fears about webcasting of legislative hearings years ago. Now most accept webcasting. Many even appreciate it.<\/p>\n

Still, I\u2019m willing to consider the senators\u2019 concerns. The Judicial Standards Commission keeps complaints secret while investigating. Only if the agency asks the N.M. Supreme Court to discipline or remove a judge does a complaint become public.<\/p>\n

That commission has succeeded in correcting behavior or helping oust judges whose misconduct included drug use<\/a>, drunk driving<\/a>, and serious<\/a> abuses<\/a> of power<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While I always prefer sunshine, a well-structured ethics commission \u2013 with or without transparency in the investigative phase \u2013 would be an improvement.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a decade since a bipartisan task force recommended creating an ethics commission<\/a>. The Senate Rules Committee\u2019s charade is over. It\u2019s time that New Mexico\u2019s policymakers create such a commission. If they won\u2019t, voters should replace those who stand in the way with new senators who will embrace transparency and accountability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some members of the Senate Rules Committee want to make it look like they\u2019re trying to create an ethics commission while they actually stand in its way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55852,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,16],"tags":[3250,109,107],"class_list":["post-129572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-guest-columns","tag-2016-legislative-session","tag-ethics-reform","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}