Despite what he calls its “flaws,” Gov. Bill Richardson signed today a bill that will open conference committees and other legislative meetings to the public.

“I have always maintained that this is a decision that should be made by the Legislature, without involvement by the executive branch,” Richardson said in a news release. “Nevertheless, the Legislature chose this path and I have signed the bill out of respect for its desire to further open the committee process to the public.”

Richardson has said for years that he supported opening conference committees — meetings formed by New Mexico legislative leaders to reconcile differences between versions of bills passed by the state House and Senate. He pledged late in the session to sign House Bill 393, sponsored by Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, if the Legislature passed it, but after the bill was approved, he backpedaled on the pledge, saying “loopholes” in the bill concerned him.

The loophole is that the bill allows the Legislature, by a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers, to override the law and re-close the meetings.

After he backpedaled, Richardson came under heavy pressure to sign the controversial bill, which supporters argued was the best they could get out of a Legislature that has failed for years to approve opening the meetings. Many, including Richardson, have said they preferred that the Legislature open its own meetings with a rule change that didn’t require his signature, rather than a law change that did.

After failing to get a rule change approved by two-thirds of lawmakers, legislators who supported opening the meetings decided several years ago to instead seek a change in the law, because that only requires a simple majority for approval.

In today’s news release, Richardson said he signed the bill “despite the flaws” because “the public wins with an open process.”

In addition to opening conference committees to the public, the bill will open many other currently closed legislative meetings, including executive sessions of House and Senate finance committees. Exempt from having to be open under the bill are investigative or quasi-judicial meetings — such as impeachment proceedings — and political party caucus meetings.