I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
State Sen. Dede Feldman says a vote on a bill to require disclosure of gifts from pharmaceutical companies to doctors will be a test of the Senate’s receptiveness to some reform bills that would increase transparency.
Senate Bill 99, sponsored by the Albuquerque Democrat, would require such disclosures in reports to the attorney general’s office, which would post them in an online database available to the public. Feldman said the measure “aims to shine a light on any conflicts of interest and, thus, increase the quality of prescribing and lower prescription drug costs.”
The bill is on the Senate’s calendar, and a vote could come today.
Feldman also said the vote on the bill “may be a sign of the Senate’s receptiveness to future bills containing disclosure requirements for state contractors, open conference committees and additional campaign reporting for candidates.”
That’s one of a handful of news items related to ethics reform, which has been a hot topic in the New Mexico Legislature.
Over the weekend, the House unanimously approved House Bill 394, the Whistleblower Protection Act, which would allow government employees to sue their employers if they are retaliated against for reporting corruption, testifying about problems in public or refusing to participate in illegal activity. The bill is sponsored by state Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, and is part of a package of ethics-reform proposals being pushed by Attorney General Gary King.
And the Senate Rules Committee will meet this morning to consider a number of ethics reform proposals. In addition to those that the committee has discussed during its last few meetings, the committee has several bills that propose various forms of an ethics commission on today’s agenda.
Don’t expect the committee to actually get to the ethics commission discussion today, but it should happen this week. The committee should wrap up discussion on some other reform proposals today and vote on them.
Today’s meeting of the rules committee, which is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m., won’t be webcast by the New Mexico Independent as the last three meetings have been.
