{"id":5192,"date":"2015-03-05T14:51:05","date_gmt":"2015-03-05T21:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/?p=5192"},"modified":"2020-06-02T10:25:30","modified_gmt":"2020-06-02T17:25:30","slug":"legislature-2015-whistleblower-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/legislature-2015-whistleblower-protection\/","title":{"rendered":"Legislature 2015: Whistleblower Protection"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Credit:<\/a>

Credit: Mr TinDC (via Flickr Creative Commons)<\/p><\/div>\n

By: Gwyneth Doland<\/p>\n

New Mexico\u2019s\u00a0Whistleblower Protection Act<\/a>\u00a0went into effect in 2010 and since then the state says it has had to spend a lot more money dealing with lawsuits allowed by the law. A bill sponsored by Rep. Larry Larra\u00f1aga, R-Albuquerque,\u00a0(HB 532<\/a>) would address that by making it harder to make a whistleblower claim.<\/p>\n

Under current law, public employees who face retaliation for exposing corruption can sue the state for double back pay. State Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces sponsored the original measure when he was in the state House.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to make sure that we don\u2019t have corruption in state government,” Cervantes said Wednesday. “The way that we learn about corruption is from the people coming forward and feeling comfortable and safe that in doing so they won\u2019t be retaliated against.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to an\u00a0official analysis<\/a>\u00a0of the bill, state agencies \u201cface significant fiscal challenges in compensating for the [law\u2019s] damages provision permitting an award of double back wages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Costs related to defending against lawsuits have gone up 65 percent, according to the General Services Division, from an average of\u00a0$ 7,569,753 to\u00a0$11,514,885.<\/p>\n

But a representative of a public employees union says the changes would also make it harder to expose corruption by making the law toothless.<\/p>\n

The bill was scheduled to receive a hearing before\u00a0the House Judiciary Committee this week.<\/p>\n

The specific changes, listed in the analysis, include:<\/p>\n