{"id":4224,"date":"2009-02-09T17:10:00","date_gmt":"2009-02-09T23:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/02\/lawmakers-discuss-housing-authority-scandal\/"},"modified":"2009-02-09T17:10:00","modified_gmt":"2009-02-09T23:10:00","slug":"lawmakers-discuss-housing-authority-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/02\/lawmakers-discuss-housing-authority-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers discuss housing authority scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sen. Mary Kay Papen<\/a> and Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones<\/a> appeared on the television show Report from Santa Fe with Lorene Mills this weekend to discuss the housing authority scandal and a reform bill making its way through the current legislative session.<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 20<\/a>, sponsored by Papen, a Las Cruces Democrat, would expand reforms approved in 2007 to increase oversight and restructure the state\u2019s affordable housing system. Arnold-Jones, an Albuquerque Republican, has been an equal partner in championing the reform, as has Lt. Gov. Diane Denish<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most of the system toppled in 2006 when the Albuquerque-based Region III Housing Authority defaulted on $5 million in bonds it owed the state. Soon thereafter, the State Investment Council<\/a> released a report<\/a> that found widespread misuse of the bond money, which was supposed to be spent on houses. Last month, the state auditor released long-awaited special audits<\/a> that confirmed the problems.<\/p>\n

Papen and Arnold-Jones are pushing the reform bill, but they also spoke with Mills about the case Attorney General Gary King<\/a> is preparing to take before a grand jury related to the housing authority scandal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping that\u2026 will clear up some of the problems that we have in this state — some of the ethics problems that we\u2019ve seen in this state,\u201d Papen told Mills.<\/p>\n

Arnold-Jones also brought up another interesting fact: Region III sold bonds using a French bank, bonds that were misrepresented, so the state is paying arbitrage. CDR Financial Services<\/a>, the company at the center of a federal grand jury investigation into allegations of pay to play in the Richardson administration<\/a>, was the underwriter of those Region III bonds, Arnold-Jones said.<\/p>\n

You can watch the 30-minute interview right here, courtesy of KNME-TV<\/a> in Albuquerque:<\/p>\n