My Career as a Psychic in Shambles

In my story in today's New Mexican about various ethics, corruption and campaign finance reform bills, I mentioned Sen. Peter Wirth's SB547.

I boldly proclaimed the bill, "is showing no signs of life in the Senate Rules Committee — which in the past several years has served as the burial ground for various ethics proposals."

I'll stand by my "burial ground" statement. But it's not true for Wirth's bill. The good senator contacted me to inform me the bill passed out of Senate Rules this morning on a unanimous vote.

I wrote about the bill last week. It goes now to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

UPDATES 1:25 pm: Another bill that my story focused on, Rep. Nate Gentry's HB378, passed the House by a unanimous vote a few minutes ago.

7:15 pm: The link I had to last week's story has been changed. Initially incorrectly linked to an editorial that was based on my story.

Another List With NM Near the Bottom: Campaign Finance Transparency Laws

In today's New Mexican I wrote about a report by The Brennan Center for Justice about how many states -- incluidng this Enchanted Land -- are way behind the times in campaign finance disclosure laws.

"Your disclosure laws have not kept pace with the way modern campaigns are run," Ciara Torres-Spelliscy told me when I talked to her yesterday.

She's referring mainly to "independent expenditures" -- in which giant corporations or unions pour millions into groups with happy-sounding names "Citizens For All Things Good" that, in turn, buy ads saying whatever candidate they oppose  wants to destroy the economy and let bloodthirsty criminals run wild in your children's playgrounds.

Both Torres-Spelliscy and Steve Allen of New Mexico Common Cause told me that independent expenditures have not yet been a major factor in state elections in New Mexico. (We have seen some of that action in Congressional races here, but mostly by well-known, established groups like Club For Growth and Defenders of Wildlife)

But it usually takes New Mexico a little longer to catch up to national trends. Torres-Spelliscy says the Supreme Court's Citizen's United decision last year, which prohibits limits on this kind of spending, almost certainly will accelerate that.

Here's a copy of that Brennan Center report


Transparent Elections after Citizens United

We Weren't Really Serious About Those Campaign Contribution Limits, Were We?

A bill that the Attorney General's Office would "erode and undermine" the campaign contribution limits that went into effect after last year’s election is scheduled to be heard Tuesday by The House Voter & Elections Committee.


House Bill 605, sponsored by Rep. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, would exempt political party caucus committees would from campaign contribution limits established in 2009 by the Legislature.

In a fiscal impact report for the bill, the Attorney General’s Office says the bill would create a loophole by allowing unlimited campaign contributions to be given by political party caucus committees. The AG also said the bill might be unconstitutional because it would favor incumbents.

Currently contributions for legislative races in the state are limited to $2,300 from individuals and $5,000 from political committees in primary elections and the same for general elections.

The bill is opposed by the Otero County Tea Party, which this afternoon sent out a news release about Tuesday's committee hearing and gave the bill a "Brown Recluse Spider" award for being a "poisonous proposal."

The meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. in Room 317.

UPDATE: 10 :05 pm 

Rep. Stewart, in a Tweet directed at me after this was posted said, "you failed to mention my co-sponsor, Minority Leader Tom Taylor. Money is all going under ground. I'm asking bill be tabled."

Well, I didn't mention Taylor because his name doesn't appear on the bill. But she's right -- I should have made clear that the bill has bi-partisan support (and I suspect bi-partisan opposition.)

But the important thing is that she's going to ask for the bill to be tabled. So I suspect that HB605 as we know it is dead.