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.
For nearly two weeks, the New Mexico Independent has webcast the Senate Rules Committee’s ethics hearings — sometimes with the video assistance of Mark Bralley — and substantive ethics reform discussions took place during each webcast.
But on Monday, NMI was unable to do it. Without a camera in the room, the committee did not discuss ethics reform.
NMI was back today. KUNM’s Jim Williams was also present and recording the meeting. So there was hope that something would happen.
“Is it a coincidence that (Monday’s) was the one Rules meeting during the past couple weeks in which the webcast camera crew from the New Mexico Independent wasn’t present?” wrote Steve Allen, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico, in an e-mail to supporters. “Hard to say. Today, though, I’m happy to note that the NMI webcast of Senate Rules resumes along with a live blog of the proceedings.”
But it didn’t appear to make a difference. No ethics bills were discussed today. The committee spent more time discussing antelope during a confirmation hearing for a Game and Fish official than anything else.
“I thought the cameras might help today. No such luck,” Allen wrote on NMI’s live blog of the committee meeting.
There was a promise today that ethics bills would move quickly in the coming days. State Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque, and the Senate Rules Committee chairwoman, said the committee is still drafting a committee substitute bill that would propose banning or requiring the disclosure of campaign contributions from state contractors. The bill should be ready for consideration on Friday.
She also promised to begin discussion on the proposal to create a state ethics commission “first thing” Friday, but said working out disagreements and drafting a committee substitute bill that combines several existing bills related to that controversial proposal will “take a little more time.”
And Lopez said a committee substitute bill related to enacting campaign contribution limits will be ready for the committee to consider next week.
There was some skepticism about those promises on NMI’s live blog.
“Seeing is believing,” wrote Barbara Wold, who runs the blog Democracy for New Mexico.
Friday’s meeting is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m.
