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.
A raft of new commentary and news pieces in New Mexico are indicating some state leaders would prefer a salaried legislature.
One of the more dramatic moments in Thursday night’s gubernatorial debate between Diane Denish and Susana Martinez was when Denish produced a printout of an invitation (pdf) to a fundraiser hosted by a high-powered lobbyist and a former…
Office issues last-minute extension on 5 p.m. deadline; pledging an end to an era of waivers, Herrera will require all candidates to file reports
Lobbyists continued to spend money on lawmakers during the last week of the 2010 legislative session, as shown by the latest 48 hour lobbyist reports. Details after the jump.
After two days of turmoil, over four hours of heated debate and lots of procedural wrangling, the House on Tuesday passed a major piece of ethic legislation. HB 118 would ban campaign contributions from lobbyists and big state contractors from giving money to state-wide candidates and political parties. The bill now has less than 48 hours to try and get through the Senate.
“Today’s setback is huge,” said Rep. Jose Campos, D-Santa Rosa, moments after he asked to delay debate on his election reform bill. After debating House bill 118, which would ban contributions to statewide candidates from lobbyists and some…
Some are straight donations and others are for receptions–but no matter the reason the total amount is $52,276.46. That’s how much lobbyists working the 2010 legislature have spent on lawmakers.
For the third time in about a week, supporters of House Bill 118 tried to move their bill through the House Voters and and Elections Committee. The committee had asked the sponsor of HB 118Rep. Jose Campos, D-Santa Rosa, to…
Halfway through the 2010 Legislative session lobbyists are still spending money trying to sway lawmakers. The Independent showed you this first reports when they were posted last week. During the session registered lobbyists are required to file how much…
During the legislative session lobbyists are required to tell the Secretary of State’s office how much money they spent on lawmakers within 48 hours of parting with the money. Today is the first day the information is available and…
The Roundhouse may be awash in a sea of lobbyists, but good luck finding out who they are or how much they’re spending.
NMI’s Trip Jennings reported in January that there were already 500 lobbyists and 600 lobbyist organizations…
“….former Senator Shannon Robinson. Shannon was Manny Aragon’s chief lieutenant in the days when kickback was king. It was non-profits, you recall, that turned a spotlight on Robinson’s voting record after the last legislative session. And the dinos are determined that no good deed shall go unpunished.”
So begins Coco’s post this week tagging off a Roundhouse Roundup by Santa Fe reporter Steve Terrell. The subject is what she calls a “poison pill” provision that Senate Majority leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, told Roundhouse reporters might be included in a comprehensive ethics bill. Why is it a poison pill? Because, Coco says, it’s simply a punishment measure to keep “pesky non-profits” in line, the very same non-profits who are the primary government watchdogs in New Mexico:
“What a devilishly simple plan. After years of good ethics bills getting killed one after another by the Senate, this is the year that ethics reform really has a chance. So what Sanchez proposes to do is just wrap ‘em all into one big dog bill, then insert a poison pill amendment to punish pesky non-profits. Sticking it to those community organizations who’ve been blowing the whistle on the Senate’s own pay-to-play system of campaign contributions in exchange for special interest legislation.”
“‘We’ the pronoun means: everyone including me.”
So begins the little essay taped up in the hallway outside the Senate Finance Committee, up on the third floor of the Roundhouse. Pointing out the “seriously declining revenues” of the state, the…
New Mexico Secretary of State Mary Herrera just announced that by Thursday the department had registered more than 500 lobbyists and 600 lobbyist organizations for the 2009 Legislative session.
And it expects that more than 1,000 lobbyists will be…
