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.
The Division of Insurance isn’t the only Public Regulation Commission (PRC) agency being targeted for potential changes.
The Government Restructuring Task Force, a panel researching how to make state government more efficient, has several scenarios before it that could break up the PRC if they became a reality. One would move the Fire Marshall’s office to the New Mexico Homeland Security Department, a proposal that has the support of at least one gubernatorial candidate — Democrat Lt. Gov. Diane Denish.
A Denish spokesman said this week that she “strongly supports” that idea. It’s unclear where her gubernatorial rival, Republican Susana Martinez, stands on the potential change. Her campaign didn’t respond to questions sent by The Independent on several proposals before the government restructuring task force.
PRC commissioners on Thursday weren’t as receptive to the Fire Marshall idea as Denish.
“The fire marshal would probably become a subbureau somewhere else, and would get hardly any attention,” said Public Regulation Commission Chairman David King.
The PRC also holds a 99-year lease on the state fire academy facility in Socorro, noted King and Public Regulation Commissioner Sandy Jones.
Another idea would move PRC transportation division to the state Department of Transportation, said Rep. Luciano “Lucky” Varela, D-Santa Fe, the lawmaker leading the government restructuring task force.
And there’s a suggestion to combine the PRC corporations division with similar licensing at the Secretary of State’s office. Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) are incorporated at the PRC, while the Secretary of State’s office handles Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs).
“It makes sense to combine them, doesn’t it,” said Public Regulation Commission Jason Marks.
That drew a sharp reaction from King, who suggested the Secretary of State’s corporate functions should be moved to the PRC.
“I think SOS’s had a difficult time taking care of elections over the past few years — big deficits,” King said. “I think it would be a real service to bring them (LLP registration) over here.”
But Marks seemed open to transferring some responsibilities elsewhere.
“I think we’d benefit by strategically doing a little bit less,” Marks said. “Everybody likes to protect their turf but if we were to give full attention required for our utility cases and start paying more attention to insurance, as we agree we ought to, where is that going to come from in our attention span?”
