{"id":1404,"date":"2007-03-13T23:12:00","date_gmt":"2007-03-14T05:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/03\/committee-oks-housing-probe-but-not-restructuring\/"},"modified":"2007-03-13T23:12:00","modified_gmt":"2007-03-14T05:12:00","slug":"committee-oks-housing-probe-but-not-restructuring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/03\/committee-oks-housing-probe-but-not-restructuring\/","title":{"rendered":"Committee OKs housing probe, but not restructuring"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A bill that would fund a widespread investigation into the problems with the state\u2019s regional housing authority system was approved by members of the House Business and Industry Committee this evening, but another bill that would remake the state\u2019s affordable housing system did not receive approval. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

House Bill 1321<\/a>, sponsored by Minority Whip Dan Foley<\/a>, R-Roswell, was approved unanimously after significant changes suggested by committee members were made. It must still be approved by two committees and the House before it can head to the Senate for consideration.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

With 3.5 days left in the session, that\u2019s a rough road.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>On a vote of 6-6, the committee members couldn\u2019t agree to either approve or table Senate Bill 519<\/a>, sponsored by Sen. Mary Kay Papen<\/a>, D-Las Cruces, so it remains in limbo. It\u2019s not likely the committee will consider it again before the end of the session. The committee has already tabled House Bill 997<\/a>, sponsored by Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones<\/a>, R-Albuquerque, so Foley\u2019s is the only bill left alive, unless House members try to blast one of the other bills out of committee and bring it directly to the House floor for consideration.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In addition to funding the investigation, the Papen and Arnold-Jones bills would replace the scandal-plagued authorities with a new system overseen by the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Foley\u2019s bill appropriates $300,000 to fund an investigation by the Legislative Finance Committee<\/a> and State Auditor\u2019s Office<\/a> into widespread mismanagement found last year by the governor\u2019s office and State Investment Council<\/a>. Read the investment council report by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Under Foley\u2019s bill, the LFC would lead the investigation and would have to report to the Legislature and governor by Dec. 15.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we want to do is restore public faith,\u201d Foley said. \u201cWe think we\u2019re moving in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He also told the committee the Papen and Arnold-Jones bills were necessary, saying they would \u201cprovide oversight and accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

All agree probe would find answers<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Several Democrats who voted to table the Papen and Arnold-Jones bills thanked Foley for working with them on the amendments to his bill, and two of them said they hoped it would put an end to what they said was misinformation that may exaggerate the problems and provide information that will reveal the truth.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThis will put an end to the rumors and the speculation,\u201d said Rep. Thomas Garcia<\/a>, D-Ocate.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Committee members asked a series of questions about the oversight that exists under the current housing authority law and were told there isn\u2019t much. They asked about problems with the authority, and were told much remains unknown, which is why additional investigation is needed.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have final numbers. We don\u2019t have an accounting of assets, and I think it\u2019s critical that we get that,\u201d said Rep. Justine Fox-Young<\/a>, R-Albuquerque and a member of the committee.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The attorney general is already conducting an investigation, but the new funding, if it\u2019s approved by the Legislature, would fund full audits of all seven housing authority regions to determine how much money is missing and where it went.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Officials already know that the Region III authority, based in Albuquerque<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>, defaulted last year on $5 million in bonds it owed the state. Those bonds were to be spent on affordable housing projects, but almost $900,000 went to former Region III Director Vincent \u201cSmiley\u201d Gallegos as salary, benefits and a questionable loan.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\n

Four of the seven authorities are at least a year behind on the completion of audits, and many fear the problems might go far beyond the bond money.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Speaker of the House Ben Lujan<\/a>, a close ally of Gallegos, stood in the back of the room tonight for much of the hearing on Foley\u2019s bill after presenting his own memorial. He didn\u2019t speak during the hearing, and didn\u2019t stay for the hearing on Papen\u2019s bill.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Lujan was tenuously tied to the scandal last year when it was reported that one of his top aides, who may not qualify for low-income housing, was living rent-free in a home owned by the Region III authority.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Committee doesn\u2019t approve overhaul of system<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Papen, during the hearing on her bill, said the overhaul was necessary because of the lack of checks that that exist under the current system.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no oversight,\u201d Papen said. \u201cIt was sort of like writing a blank check.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But half of the committee\u2019s members weren\u2019t convinced. With a 6-6 split, the committee couldn\u2019t get a majority to approve the bill or table it.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s obscene that we\u2019re stalling the bill at this late date in the session,\u201d Fox-Young said. \u201cWe are not standing up for the taxpayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

A prior version of this posting incorrectly stated that five of the seven authorities are behind on audits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A bill that would fund a widespread investigation into the problems with the state\u2019s regional housing authority system was approved by members of the House Business and Industry Committee this evening, but another bill that would remake the state\u2019s affordable housing system did not receive approval. House Bill 1321, sponsored by Minority Whip Dan Foley, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1404","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=1404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1404\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}