OPINION: Special session process needs to be open to public Input

While the political class debates the timing and merits of a special legislative session this fall, my concerns are focused on the process being discussed by New Mexico House and Senate leadership.

Their idea to have predetermined agreements in place before convening rank and file members to rubber stamp legislative solutions should raise red flags with the public, nonprofit stakeholders, journalists and open government advocates.

These groups should unite and demand meaningful public hearings and webcast them online as required during regular sessions.

Statements about saving taxpayers money on an extended session are a red herring. A robust policy discussion always benefits New Mexicans.

We should not be on the outside of closed door meetings and left to speculate on whether corporate donors and special interests are using their influence to shape legislative solutions ahead of public interests.

These lobbyists should also be required to disclose their work, but Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham vetoed Rep. Sarah Silva and Sen. Jeff Steinborn’s Lobbyist Activity Reports bill in April.

The governor’s rejection of House Bill 143 squandered an opportunity to increase transparency and rebuild the public’s confidence and trust in state government.

Kicking the bill down the road to the final year of her tenure was a betrayal.

It stung.

Political leaders like Lujan Grisham should honor their campaign pledges like the vows she made to support open government and make transparency more than just a buzzword during a live broadcast of the 2018 Sunshine Week Candidate Forum I produced in 2018.

After she was elected, I visited with the governor and her senior staff and encouraged them to make open government the framework for her new administration.

My role to hold her accountable for those recorded promises shifted a year later when I woke up choking on blood and gasping for air. As I battled stage 4 laryngeal cancer and eventually lost my ability to speak, the governor’s promises seemed to be forgotten. But they didn’t fade into the ether completely. I’m healthy again and remember her words and urge her to honor the pledges she made seven years ago.

As Lujan Grisham considers her agenda for a possible special session, we should urge her to add the Lobbyists Activity Reports bill to the agenda and get it passed and signed into law this year. Getting it done now will give lawmakers time in January to improve financial disclosure forms they and other elected officials are required to file annually.

At a minimum, Steinborn and Silva should work with the governor to craft legislation to require all political subdivisions’ contract lobbyists to provide clear disclosure of their work since they are ultimately paid by taxpayers and we have a right to know how our money is spent.

The Municipal League and New Mexico Association of Counties should also be required to make their lobbying efforts transparent since city and county membership dues fund their organizations.

Alternatively, New Mexico lawmakers should consider new legislation and prohibit all subdivisions, including school boards, from using taxpayer money to hire professional lobbyists since not all taxpayers’ views are represented.

However it plays out, I no longer identify as a watchdog journalist. I have transitioned. I now identify as a hedgehog journalist, because they never give up even after being stung by a queen bee.