{"id":5241,"date":"2015-03-10T08:48:34","date_gmt":"2015-03-10T15:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/?p=5241"},"modified":"2020-06-02T10:25:29","modified_gmt":"2020-06-02T17:25:29","slug":"2015-legislature-lobbyist-disclosure-bill-moves-to-nm-senate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/2015-legislature-lobbyist-disclosure-bill-moves-to-nm-senate\/","title":{"rendered":"2015 Legislature: Lobbyist Disclosure Bill Moves to NM Senate"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Credit:<\/a>

www.taxcredits.net (via Flickr Creative Commons)<\/p><\/div>\n

Stripped-down lobbying disclosure goes to Senate
\nBy Gwyneth Doland
\nNew Mexico in Depth<\/span><\/p>\n

After stalling in committee last month<\/a>, a bill requiring more transparency from lobbyists cruised through the state House on Saturday after hitting only one last speed bump.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, state Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard<\/a>, D-Los Alamos, failed to add back in requirements stripped out of the original proposal.<\/p>\n

But with just two weeks left in the session, supporters of more transparency for lobbyists say even a stripped-down bill is an important first step.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to give up a good bill in search of a perfect bill,\u201d Common Cause<\/a> Executive Director Viki Harrison said Monday.<\/p>\n

As written, the bill would give the public more information, such as what issues lobbyists are working on, and put it online in a format that makes it easier to search and download.
\n\u201cMost legislators know who most lobbyists are and what issues they\u2019re lobbying for but sometimes we don\u2019t know,\u201d said Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez<\/a>, D-Belen. \u201cThe more information, the better transparency\u2014and it\u2019s great for the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill (HB 155<\/a>) was tabled by the House Regulatory and Public Affairs committee in February, then reworked and moved forward. By the time it got to the House floor the requirement that lobbyists reveal how much money they make or exactly how much money they\u2019re spending and on whom was gone.<\/p>\n

They were among the elements of the proposal that were deemed too onerous for those seeking to influence government.<\/p>\n

Although few lobbyists spoke out in committee meetings, several said in private conversations that they thought it was unfair to force them to divulge how much (or how little) they earned.<\/p>\n

Sponsor Rep. Jeff Steinborn<\/a>, D-Las Cruces, told the People Power and Democracy Project then that his goal was to give the public more information about the relationship between lobbyists and government.<\/p>\n

“Right now citizens don\u2019t know anything and have no basis for understanding the influence of the army of lobbyists here,” he said.<\/p>\n

As New Mexico in Depth has reported, there\u2019s a lot of money involved. Individual lobbyists spent at least $1.6 million on lawmakers between 2011 through 2014, and 36 nonprofit and faith groups, trade associations, oil companies, unions and businesses spent more than $379,000, NMID\u2019s analysis<\/a> of lobbyist spending showed.<\/p>\n

To listen to an audio version that ran on NMID’s media partner KUNM, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n