{"id":268002,"date":"2017-01-10T12:10:09","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T19:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=268002"},"modified":"2017-01-10T20:30:21","modified_gmt":"2017-01-11T03:30:21","slug":"lawmakers-ok-an-ethics-commission-or-face-a-ferocious-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2017\/01\/lawmakers-ok-an-ethics-commission-or-face-a-ferocious-backlash\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers: OK an ethics commission or face a ferocious backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMENTARY:\u00a0<\/strong>Let this column serve as a warning to state legislators as we start a 60-day session on Jan. 17: Republicans in the U.S. House are still stinging from the backlash against their unscheduled, secret vote to restructure the independent agency that polices their behavior. To avoid a similar firestorm of criticism, state lawmakers must approve legislation to create an independent ethics commission this year.<\/p>\n

\"Heath

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

In case you missed it, U.S. House Republicans voted in secret last week to move the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) under a committee of lawmakers, bar the agency from investigating anonymous tips, and keep some of its work secret.<\/p>\n

The New York Times said the changes would \u201ceffectively kill\u201d<\/a> OCE by taking away\u00a0its “power and independence.”<\/p>\n

With Democrats, activists, journalists and the public up in arms, Republican lawmakers scrapped the proposed changes. The office retains independence and power, for now.<\/p>\n

Democrats and Republicans have complained about OCE in the past<\/a>. U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., says Republicans were trying to reform, not gut, the agency<\/a>. Pearce may have a valid viewpoint, but with their secrecy, he and his colleagues earned skepticism \u2013 and the criticism the nation heaped on them.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, at the state capitol last year, the proposal to create an independent commission to set standards for ethical conduct in government and police violations died for the umpteenth time\u00a0<\/a>in the Senate Rules Committee. Some committee members said they needed more time to iron out details.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf 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,\u201d I wrote in February 2016<\/a>. \u201cThis is an attempt to make it look like they\u2019re trying to create a commission while they actually stand in its way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Angelica Rubio, who joins the Legislature as a freshman representative this year, was also critical. The fact that \u201cnearly 50 bills to curb corruption have been introduced in the past decade without avail\u201d is one reason people have given up trying to influence their government, she wrote<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n

Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto, D-Albuquerque and a member of the Rules Committee, pushed back<\/a>, saying the committee had a duty to be thoughtful and intentional.<\/p>\n

But there was good reason for skepticism. Too many reforms \u2013 like our state\u2019s weak, flawed ban on gifts to lawmakers \u2013 have been smokescreens. Our Legislature has sometimes created things to pacify the public that don\u2019t actually do what lawmakers say they do.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m tired of inaction and fed up with fake action.<\/p>\n

Ivey-Soto on Monday introduced new ethics commission legislation<\/a>. The 86-page bill<\/a> is complicated. It needs public debate and scrutiny. Without endorsing it, I\u2019ll give Ivey-Soto kudos for putting forth a substantive proposal.<\/p>\n

Eight-five percent of registered voters in New Mexico want an independent ethics commission, a Common Cause New Mexico poll<\/a> found. Most participants in New Mexico First\u2019s recent focus groups support creating a commission<\/a> to address concerns about ethical problems in government.<\/p>\n

On a bipartisan vote, the N.M. House approved legislation<\/a> in 2016 to let New Mexicans vote on creating an ethics commission. A year later, senators who wanted more time have gotten it. In the upcoming session there is no room for excuses.<\/p>\n

If lawmakers don\u2019t get this done, they should expect a ferocious backlash like the one U.S. House Republicans experienced last week.<\/p>\n

Heath Haussamen<\/a> is NMPolitics.net\u2019s editor and publisher.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senators who wanted more time have gotten it. In the upcoming session there is no room for excuses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55852,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,10],"tags":[3329,109,107,706],"class_list":["post-268002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-haussamen-columns","tag-2017-legislative-session","tag-ethics-reform","tag-roundhouse","tag-transparency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268002","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=268002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268002\/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=268002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}