{"id":1824,"date":"2007-06-07T10:18:00","date_gmt":"2007-06-07T16:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/06\/king-says-lawmakers-trip-to-netherlands-is-ok\/"},"modified":"2007-06-07T10:18:00","modified_gmt":"2007-06-07T16:18:00","slug":"king-says-lawmakers-trip-to-netherlands-is-ok","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/06\/king-says-lawmakers-trip-to-netherlands-is-ok\/","title":{"rendered":"King says lawmakers’ trip to Netherlands is OK"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The state\u2019s new law limiting gifts to public officials doesn\u2019t prohibit two lawmakers from traveling to the Netherlands<\/st1:country-region> on a lobbyist\u2019s dime to learn about a uranium enrichment plant similar to one being constructed in Southeast New Mexico<\/st1:place>, the attorney general says. <\/p>\n

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

The new act, which takes effect next Friday, prohibits public officials and candidates for state and local offices from accepting gifts with a value of more than $100 during legislative sessions and $250 the rest of the year. It also prohibits lobbyists from giving gifts whose combined value total more than $1,000 to any official or candidate each year.<\/p>\n

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

Reps. William Gray<\/a> of Artesia and Shirley Tyler<\/a> of Lovington, both Republicans, asked Attorney General Gary King<\/a> for an opinion on whether the trip would be prohibited under the new law.<\/p>\n

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

King responded Wednesday<\/a>, and said an exemption for an educational program that is related to the lawmakers\u2019 duties applies in this instance.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cIt is our understanding that LES, a registered lobbyist, is providing a gift to you by paying for your travel, food, and lodging,\u201d King\u2019s opinion states. \u201cBased on our examination of the relevant New Mexico constitutional, statutory and case law authorities, and on the information available to us at this time, we conclude that the Gift Act is applicable and permits LES to pay for your trip as long as the payment constitutes reasonable expenses paid for a bona fide educational program that is directly related to your official duties as a legislator.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI very much appreciate that the legislators contacted us before leaving on this trip,\u201d King said in a news release. \u201cI believe that our office and state officials who are subject to this new ethics law can work together to assure New Mexicans that their tax dollars are being spent appropriately.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

King also made sure Tyler and Gray are aware of the provisions of the law that spell out what reasonable expenses apply to their trip and other limitations in the law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The state\u2019s new law limiting gifts to public officials doesn\u2019t prohibit two lawmakers from traveling to the Netherlands on a lobbyist\u2019s dime to learn about a uranium enrichment plant similar to one being constructed in Southeast New Mexico, the attorney general says. The new act, which takes effect next Friday, prohibits public officials and candidates […]<\/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-1824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1824","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=1824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1824\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}