ACTION ALERT: NM Campaign Finance Reform

Today's Albuquerque Journal features an op-ed about cleaning up campaign financing laws in New Mexico by Common Cause New Mexico's Executive Director, Steve Robert Allen. Governor Bill Richardson's Ethics Task Force has once again submitted their recommendations to the Legislature for action. As usual, it will be an uphill fight to get anything passed regarding ethics, despite incredibly strong support for reform on the part of citizens. Allen cites the enactment of public financing for statewide elections as the most important of the Task Force recommendations:

For citizens to regain faith in the fairness of New Mexico's political system, it is essential that we cut special interest dollars out of the equation entirely.

The system recommended by the task force would provide full public funding for qualified candidates who agree to strict spending limits and to only accept small contributions from individuals. We have seen this reform work for Public Regulation Commission campaigns. We saw it work on the municipal level during the last City Council race in Albuquerque.

During the 2007 session, the Legislature wisely voted to pass public campaign financing for statewide judicial races. It is time to extend this crucial reform to all statewide offices.

Allen goes on to explain how Gov. Richardson came out publicly and strongly for public financing of elections during his presidential run:

Richardson appears committed to this goal. He recently signed a Common Cause pledge to support congressional public financing. He also wrote a letter to Iowa voters explaining that his goal in New Mexico this year is to expand public financing to more statewide offices. Moreover, in the New Hampshire presidential debate Jan. 5, he expressed his belief that public financing, in the broader sense, is one of the key reforms necessary to begin to heal the deep political wounds of this country.

The Ethics Task Force also recommends creating an independent commission to investigate complaints against public officials and setting campaign contribution limits. It will be telling to see how strongly Richardson pushes for ethics reform this Session, and how legislators will respond in this election year when all members of the state House and Senate must face the voters and answer for their action (or inaction) on this critical issue. We'll be tracking the movement of ethics and campaign finance reform bills throughout the 30-day Legislative Session, which starts tomorrow at Noon.

Take Action Now
To start the ball rolling, please contact your legislators urging their support for public campaign financing. Common Cause New Mexico :

From Common Cause New Mexico:
As you know, an ever-widening stream of corporate and special interest money has corrupted New Mexico politics. Common Cause New Mexico will address this problem head-on during the upcoming legislative session by supporting a proposal for public campaign financing for all statewide races.

We will lobby hard for this crucial reform in the coming weeks, but we need your help. Because this year’s legislative session is only one month long, we need to make sure public campaign financing gets the strong and vocal support it deserves. The system recommended by Governor Richardson's Ethics Reform Task Force would provide public funding for qualified candidates who agree to strict spending limits and to accept only small contributions from individuals.

Thanks for your help in our ongoing effort to clean up New Mexico politics.

Sincerely,
Steven Robert Allen
Executive Director, Common Cause New Mexico

Editor's Note: If you haven't already seen it, check out Common Cause New Mexico's report, , which analyzes how optional public campaign financing worked in Albuquerque's city election this past Fall.

You can also listen to an of Common Cause New Mexico's Director, Steve Robert Allen, about public campaign financing that was conducted by Jim West on KUNM News in December.