{"id":4182,"date":"2009-01-28T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-01-28T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/01\/should-an-ethics-panel-have-subpoena-power\/"},"modified":"2009-01-28T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-01-28T16:00:00","slug":"should-an-ethics-panel-have-subpoena-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/01\/should-an-ethics-panel-have-subpoena-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Should an ethics panel have subpoena power?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Supporters of creating a state ethics commission want it to have that critical investigatory tool, but some fear the legislation may not have a chance at approval unless that authority is instead given to the attorney general.<\/span><\/p>\n

Can a state ethics commission be truly independent if it has to ask the attorney general for help when it wants to conduct an investigation?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the question public officials and activists are grappling with as they try to find a way to gain approval of the creation of such a commission from a Legislature that is skeptical of the proposal.<\/p>\n

At least 36 states have ethics commissions that have subpoena power, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures<\/a>. But proposals to create an independent, nonpartisan ethics commission in New Mexico have fallen short in recent years despite the support of the governor and other political leaders. Under the proposal, such a commission would have the authority to investigate alleged ethical violations in all branches of government \u2013 such as the pay-to-play allegations currently dogging the Richardson administration — and forward its findings to prosecutors. It would also have a duty to develop ethical standards and educate public officials about them.<\/p>\n

Of the three ethics commission bills introduced in the Legislature so far this year, the one attracting the most attention is Senate Bill 140<\/a>, sponsored by Dede Feldman<\/a>, D-Albuquerque. It is part of the official slate of ethics reform proposals being pushed by Attorney General Gary King<\/a>. Instead of giving subpoena power to the commission, the bill would allow the commission to \u201crequest that the attorney general issue subpoenas as necessary to require the attendance of witnesses and the production of accounts, books, papers, records and other documents relevant to an investigation conducted by the commission.\u201d<\/p>\n

The questions<\/span><\/p>\n

But how can a commission be independent if it needs permission to do its work? Is the attempt to ensure the commission remains nonpartisan futile if the body is dependent on an elected and partisan official for help?<\/p>\n

And, perhaps most glaring, what happens if the commission receives a complaint about the attorney general and there\u2019s no mechanism in state law to allow the commission to use its most critical investigatory tool except asking for help from the AG?<\/p>\n

Those are all good questions, said Steven Robert Allen, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico<\/a>. He\u2019s among a group of ethics commission supporters who are meeting with Feldman today to discuss whether to push the bill as written or try to amend it to give the commission its own subpoena power. Allen said he views putting the subpoena power in the AG\u2019s hands as \u201cproblematic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo we want this to be an independent ethics commission or a sort of branch of the AG\u2019s office?\u201d Allen asked.<\/p>\n

\u2018We did not have sufficient votes\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

In a statement released by his office, King said he knows requiring the commission to ask the AG for a subpoena isn\u2019t ideal, but he pointed out that the House passed the commission bill in 2008 only after amending it to take subpoena power away from the commission and put it in the hands of the AG. The Senate didn\u2019t pass the bill at all. Commission critics in the Legislature have argued that their branch of government doesn\u2019t need an ethics commission and said they fear such a commission would be controlled by the governor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not have sufficient votes in the Legislature (in 2008) to give subpoena authority to the commission,\u201d King said. \u201cTherefore, we thought the best approach (this year) was to leverage the authority the AG has already to have subpoenas issued.\u201d<\/p>\n

King said he expects to have discussions during committee meetings this session \u201cto see if we have support to give the commission this power. If we have enough votes, we will insert it in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feldman was a member of the 2006 ethics reform task force convened by Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a>. She remembers hearing testimony from David Freel, executive director of the Ohio Ethics Commission, who said giving such a commission subpoena power is critical to its independence and ability to carry out its duties. <\/span>Feldman said she would prefer creating a commission that has subpoena power, but she hasn\u2019t heard all the arguments for and against that and she admits that giving the commission subpoena power makes it a powerful organization, \u201cso we do have to be very mindful of the importance of that decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

A starting point<\/span><\/p>\n

Commissions that have subpoena power tend to wield great influence. In Ohio, then-Gov. Bob Taft pleaded no contest in 2005 to charges that he broke ethics law<\/a> by failing to report gifts, and he was fined $4,000. His plea followed an investigation by Freel and the state\u2019s ethics commission, which has subpoena power. The results of the commission\u2019s probe were forwarded to prosecutors, who then filed charges against Taft.<\/p>\n

Feldman said she views the bill she has introduced as a starting point, and she\u2019s looking forward to discussing the issue today with Allen and others.<\/p>\n

Allen said he hopes Feldman\u2019s bill is amended to give the commission subpoena power, and he doesn\u2019t yet know whether Common Cause will support the legislation if that doesn\u2019t happen. He also said his concern has nothing to do with King, a former Common Cause board member of whom Allen said he is a \u201cfan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about a structural issue, and who knows what sort of AG we\u2019ll end up with in the future,\u201d Allen said.<\/p>\n

The other ethics commission bills that have been introduced are House Bill 151<\/a>, a mirror of Feldman\u2019s bill sponsored by Al Park<\/a>, D-Albuquerque, and Senate Bill 139<\/a>, sponsored by Pete Campos<\/a>, D-Las Vegas. Unlike the other bills, Campos\u2019 legislation gives the commission subpoena power. But it has another provision Allen said is \u201cproblematic.\u201d The bill doesn\u2019t give the House and Senate minority leaders the authority to appoint members to the commission like the Feldman and Park bills do.<\/p>\n

In the Feldman and Park bills, authority to appoint people to the 10-member commission would be given to the governor (four appointees), Supreme Court chief justice (two), Senate president pro tem (one), Senate minority leader (one), House speaker (one), and House minority leader (one), with political balance required among the appointments. Instead of giving appointment power to the House and Senate minority leaders, Campos\u2019 bill requires that appointments from the Senate president pro tem (two) and House speaker (two) be made \u201cwith the advice and consent\u201d of their chamber\u2019s minority leader.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Supporters of creating a state ethics commission want it to have that critical investigatory tool, but some fear the legislation may not have a chance at approval unless that authority is instead given to the attorney general. Can a state ethics commission be truly independent if it has to ask the attorney general for help […]<\/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-4182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4182","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=4182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4182\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}