By N.M. Rep. Gail Chasey
Albuquerque Democrat
The public is right to demand that its elected officials and public servants carry out their duties ethically, lawfully and with integrity, and I believe the Legislature will make thorough ethics reform a top priority at the next session.
New Mexico's ethics laws— the Governmental Conduct Act, the Lobbyist Regulation Act, the Campaign Reporting Act and the Financial Disclosure Act— have not been reviewed in more than a decade. Since then, the public's confidence in its government has been shaken by real and perceived ethical lapses of varying magnitude and at all levels of government.
Our existing laws, while not as bad as the harshest critics would have us believe, should be improved with an eye toward being more effective at deterring unethical behavior, streamlining enforcement and penalizing violators appropriately.
There are several improvements we should make. Our ethics laws should apply uniformly to all elected officials and public employees, whether at the state, city, county, school district or other local government level. Our laws should prohibit what many consider to be unethical conduct, not just that the conduct be disclosed. And the enforcement provisions of our laws should be more focused and strengthened.
The Governmental Conduct Act, for example, applies only to state officials and employees. City and county elected officials and employees are not covered.
The Lobbyist Regulation Act requires lobbyists to register with the state and report how much money they spend on legislators and the governor, but it does not establish limits on what they can give to elected officials or staff.
The Campaign Reporting Act requires that candidates report all the contributions they receive— something that was not always required— but there are no limits on the amount an individual may contribute.
And the Financial Disclosure Act does not require elected and other public officials to report their private financial interests other than in the broadest terms.
The enforcement provisions, while well intentioned, are also flawed. The responsibility of enforcing our laws is divided variously among the Secretary of State's Office, Attorney General's Office and local district attorneys— all of which have other duties and none of which have been given the resources to investigate and prosecute unethical conduct.
I am certain that I am not alone in my commitment to deal thoughtfully with the issue of ethics reform. I sponsored a proposal to study our ethics laws and the possible need for a state ethics commission during the last 30-day session. Although it passed the House of Representatives, it failed to clear the Senate as time expired.
I will be watching closely the work of the ethics reform task force. The task force should examine streamlined enforcement procedures, wider applicability of ethics laws, campaign contribution limits, the need for an ethics commission, a sensible limit on gifts from lobbyists, clear and regular reporting of campaign contributions and a host of other issues.
The need to restore the public's faith and confidence in government is paramount. Without the public's confidence, a democracy falters. The 60-day legislative session that will convene in January 2007 will provide the legislature time to review thoughtfully the work of the task force and to revamp New Mexico's ethics laws in a meaningful manner.
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