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Thursday, April 02, 2009
Common Cause NM Urges Gov. Richardson to Sign Open Conference Committees Bill
Take Action: Please call Gov. Richardson ASAP at (505) 476-2200 and urge him to sign Rep. Cervantes' Open Conference Committees bill, HB 393, as he promised to do last week. The Governor has until April 10th to sign the bill. The legislation passed the House 66-0 vote and the Senate 33-8.
From Common Cause NM: Today, Governor Bill Richardson continued his long history of support for reforming New Mexico’s ethics laws by signing a landmark campaign contribution limits bill into law. In doing so, the governor joined New Mexico with 45 other states in the country in restricting the influence of large monetary donations on the political process. Common Cause New Mexico commends Governor Richardson for his leadership on ethics reform in New Mexico and urges him to sign the other major reform bill to pass the state legislature this year, HB 393, which would open legislative conference committees to the public.
“Although the governor has raised valid concerns about HB 393, and to some extent Common Cause shares those concerns, we believe it’s still a very good bill,” says Steven Robert Allen, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico. “We hope the governor will continue his long-time support for openness in state government by signing this important legislation.”
Common Cause New Mexico -- along with other good government groups such as the League of Women Voters of New Mexico and the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government -- has advocated for many years to open these powerful committees to the public. As with campaign contribution limits, the vast majority of other states instituted this reform long ago. Common Cause is optimistic that the governor will continue his support for this crucial reform by signing HB 393 into law before the April 10 deadline.
Note: Gov. Richardson has said he doesn't think the public cares about the issue of open conference committees. Only you can prove him wrong. If you support increased transparency and accountability in the Legislature, please call the Governor now at (505) 476-2200 and request that he sign HB 393.
For more background, see my previous posts on this issue and and here>.
April 2, 2009 at 12:25 PM in Ethics & Campaign Reform, NM Legislature 2009 | Permalink
