SANTA FE – A proposal to require any business that contracts with New Mexico to supply the names and salary levels of its employees for posting on a state government website is causing a hubbub at the Capitol.
The proposal, which was tacked on as an amendment during Senate debate on Monday, has prompted hand-wringing among business groups and sharp criticism from Gov. Susana Martinez, who said Thursday that she does not support the approach.
However, one of the state’s largest public employee labor unions has stood by the amendment as a fairness issue.
“There comes a point where if they are going to release the names of public employees, why would we stop there?” asked Josh Anderson, political coordinator for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union in New Mexico.
Anderson came up with the idea that Sen. Eric Griego, D-Albuquerque, then successfully amended onto a measure dealing with New Mexico’s fledgling Sunshine Portal, an online database.
In its original form, the bill, SB 30, called for the names, pay levels and job titles of all state employees to be listed on the Sunshine Portal.
The website has already been posting such information since December 2011, under an order from Martinez, but the requirement is not currently in state law.
A Martinez spokesman described the amendment Thursday as a “union-drafted poison pill.” “Poison pill” is a common term for changes that doom a bill to failure.
“She does believe we can have a meaningful discussion about reasonable information that can be added to the Sunshine Portal, but to tell a small business or other private company that because they do business with the state their entire private payroll has to be displayed on the internet is unreasonable and certainly not business-friendly,” Martinez spokesman Scott Darnell said.
Meanwhile, the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce said in its daily legislative newsletter this week the original bill had been “hijacked.”
“It’s an overreach that will set transparency back for years,”the email newsletter stated.
Specifically, the amendment requires posting of the names, salaries and job titles of “every person, corporation or entity with which the state contracts.”
— This article appeared on page A6 of the Albuquerque Journal
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