The Plot to Poison the Ethics Reform Well in New Mexico

Ethics reform foes: Sen. Michael Sanchez, Rep. Ken Martinez

Oh, I know. We're all supposed to be thrilled because the NM Senate Rules Committee, Chaired by Sen. Linda Lopez, FINALLY acted yesterday on one of the major ethics and campaign finance reform bills that have been logjammed there for weeks. Hallelujah, the SRC passed its substitute bill for limiting campaign donations by a vote of 7-0 -- even though it won't take affect until 2011 if enacted, and the limits will sunset two years after that. Were they shamed into passing it? You decide. Of course it's still got a long way to go for final passage and time is ticking down on this 60-day Legislative Session, which ends at Noon on March 21. The bill is headed next to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

There have been complaints galore about the slow-as-molasses-in-January pace of the SRC in dealing with key ethics bills. Repeatedly, they've been placed on the Committee's agenda, only to be waylaid by long, drawn-out discussions on other less vital bills and wayward topics like antelope herd management -- and delayed again and again. Even worse, the Committee didn't begin it's work until two weeks into the Session.

The Plot Thickens: In addition to the foot dragging, we've had talk floating around the Roundhouse that the status quo defenders intend to stop any meaningful ethics bills that start moving by rolling them into one omnibus measure and adding in a poison pill provision that would kill the legislation.

The poison pill bill, aimed at stifling the efforts of nonprofits to keep New Mexicans informed about lawmaker voting records and campaign donors, has now been introduced. Just before the deadline for bill filing, Senators Michael Sanchez and Ken Martinez -- long-time ethics reform foes -- tossed the potentially lethal measure into the hopper. Quietly.

Enter the Politician Protection Act of 2009: HB 891, the innocuously named Election Communication Contribution Reporting bill, would require that nonprofits -- not privately owned entities like SunCal or energy companies or health insurance corporations -- refrain from disseminating any information about elected officials or candidates during a ten-month period running from late January through November in election years. I'm not kidding.

Check out this MUST READ, hit-the-nail-on-the-head post on Clearly New Mexico about the bill, which they call the Politician Protection Act of 2009 -- and rightly so.

HB 891 would require nonprofits that engage in so-called “electioneering communications” to report their organizational donors to the Attorney General. Conveniently -- for the foes of transparency and reform -- "electioneering communications" are defined as any advertisement or mailing that simply mentions a candidate (including an incumbent elected official) during the ten-month period specified. Note that regular Legislative Sessions and Special Sessions occur within that time frame.

What would this mean in the real world? The Clearly New Mexico post explains,

If a domestic violence group or a LGBT group or the Catholic Church sends out a mailing to supporters asking them to contact their legislator about a bill – during the legislative session –those groups and the Church will have to disclose to the Attorney General every single one of their donors who give over $5,000. The United States Supreme Court has ruled definitively that disclosure requirements are an infringement of free speech, plain and simple.

But if a SunCal, or a coal company, or any business trying to get a tax break from the state does the same thing at the very same time, they won’t have to report a single thing about their annual finances.

Talk about bad legislation introduced for all the wrong reasons. Again quoting from Clearly New Mexico:

Coming from two smart attorneys like Martinez and Sanchez, this bill could not be more poorly conceived. It is constitutionally defective on its face. It violates the First Amendment Free Speech rights of nonprofits — as upheld by a consistent series of federal court decisions over the last several years.

What's Going On: It should be clear by now to anyone paying attention that the big dollar donors and their allies in the legislative leadership are on the warpath against any meaningful ethics reforms and any attempt to let New Mexicans know what they're doing. After all, such actions might limit the ability of campaign donation recipients and their generous campaign donors to work together to thwart the will of the people in favor of the interests of the inside players. They obviously want to work in the dark as much as possible, freely scooping up dinero and jamming bills through that line the pockets of the financial interests they serve.

How can we stop them from killing ethics reform bills and pushing through the poisonous HB 891? We need to swamp them with calls and emails that let them know we know what they're up to and that we won't allow it.

Take Action NOW to Stop Ethics Reform Foes: It's incredibly important that we contact Rep. Ken Martinez, Sen. Michael Sanchez, Sen. Linda Lopez, our own Representative and Senator, and every other Democrat in the Legislature that hasn't gone on record as supporting ethics reform. Tell them that:

• you won't take no for an answer on meanngful ethics and campaign finance reform;
• you oppose any attempt to muzzle the educational communications of nonprofits;
• you'll work to oust any legislator who votes to water down or defeat reform or enact unconstitutional measures designed to "chill" the free speech of nonprofits.

Tell them in no uncertain terms. Do it now.

Note that HB 891 has been assigned first to the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee. Please contact Committee members and urge them to vote no on this bill. Maybe we can stop this thing before it gains any momentum.

To see our previous posts on this topic, visit our archive.