Good Government
Ethics Commission delayed in Senate Committee
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The proposal was delayed Monday, after more than an hour of detailed questioning from state senators concerned that the commission could be used in the service of political warfare.
Good Government
Campaign Finance Open Data Bill Advances
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The public could have a much clearer picture of money in politics if a bill adding open data features to the state’s electronic campaign finance system is successful.
Good Government
NM SOS Could Check Candidates’ Bank Accounts
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The Senate on Monday advanced a bill that would give the Secretary of State’s office the ability to access political candidates’ bank accounts in order to verify the accuracy of their campaign finance reports.
Good Government
More Cost-Benefit Analysis Could Help NM Budget Better
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The state Senate has passed a proposal that would expand program analysis that began with the Pew-MacArthur Results First Initiative.
Good Government
Ethics commission heads to Senate, aka cemetery for ethics reform
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To quote the recently departed oracle — Yogi Berra — is it déjà vu all over again?
A proposal that would ask voters to vote up or down an independent ethics commission cleared the House of Representatives on a 50-10 vote Tuesday night.
It now heads to the New Mexico State Senate, known as the cemetery for ethics reform.
Good Government
Poll: Business Leaders Support Campaign Finance Reform
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Nearly 90 percent of business leaders think all political spending should be made public, according to a poll of 250 business leaders.
Good Government
Tabled: Plan to limit double-dipping by lawmakers
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A proposal that would have prevented state lawmakers with government jobs from getting paid while serving in the Legislature was put on hold Monday by the House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee. Rep. Bill Rehm, R-Bernalillo, said his goal with the bill (HB 39)was to keep the state government from paying people twice. Many of New Mexico’s part-time civilian legislators have days jobs in local government, and although state lawmakers are unpaid for their service, they do receive mileage reimbursement and a per-diem to cover travel expenses. Rehm said allowing public employees to take a salary while serving in Santa Fe would violate the state constitution. Members of the committee took issue with forcing state employees to take time off of work.
Crime
Corruption bill targets officials’ pensions (sort of)
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Public officials convicted of corruption would face stiffer penalties if a bipartisan bill introduced this week is successful. The proposal would tack on an extra year to the basic sentence for public corruption offenses such as embezzlement, soliciting a kickback or accepting a bribe.
Politics
NM’s brick-and-mortar construction funding system is structurally unsound, critics say
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“We have to be careful how we reform the system, but at the same time we need to be doing this a lot better.”
Politics
Gov. Martinez Uses Speech to Encourage Government Reform
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Just two days after former Secretary of State Dianna Duran was released from county jail, Gov. Susana Martinez used a small part of her fifth State of the State address to support government accountability efforts. The nod from the governor came on the same day that good government group Common Cause released the results of a statewide survey showing broad support for ethics and campaign finance reforms. About 85 percent of New Mexicans want the legislature to create an independent ethics commission, according to the poll, conducted in December by Research and Polling, Inc.
But poll numbers don’t offer reform advocates any assurance that their ideas will translate into votes of support or the governor’s signature. Bills that would create some form of ethics commission have languished in Santa Fe for years. In her hour-long address to state lawmakers, Martinez focused on fighting violent crime, improving education and advancing economic development proposals, but she specifically mentioned the need to improve campaign finance reporting and close the revolving door between lawmakers and lobbyists. She called for changes to the state’s much-maligned capital outlay process, saying: “We need to fix the way we spend infrastructure money, because the way projects are funded now leads to unmet regional and state needs, and a string of projects that haven’t been vetted and can’t be completed.” And she said there should be full disclosure by individual lawmakers of the projects they choose to fund with their personal pots of capital outlay money.