Following in the footsteps of her predecessor, Gov. Susana Martinez on Friday vetoed a bill previously vetoed by Bill Richardson.

Senate Bill 187, sponsored by Sen. Tim Keller, D-Albuquerque, and Rep. Paul Bandy, R-Farmington, became the new governor's first veto.

The bill would have required government agencies to share information with a new Program Evaluation Division of the Legislative Finance Committee. Martinez said she agrees with the intent of the legislation but doesn't think the bill has enough protections for confidential information.

The bill had passed both the House and the Senate by unanimous votes.

"This bill gets at the heart of the inherent tension between executive privilege and transparency," Keller said. "Without this bill, accountability and transparency in state spending is very difficult. I hope over the interim the governor, my co-sponsor and I, can work on a resolution for the next session."

Richardson vetoed a similar bill in 2009, which prompted the Senate last year to override the veto. The House didn't go along with that override, killing the action in committee.

Keller said trying to override the veto during next year's session remains an option.

The bill was sparked by the Legislative Finance Committee, which wanted a wide range of information about Medicaid — including costs by companies that administer health care services through contracts with the state. The Human Services Department had refused to hand over the information to the Legislature.

In her executive order, Martinez said, "My administration will work in a cooperative manner to provide any information the Legislature deems necessary to make credible decisions on behalf of our constituents."

But the governor also said, "I am concerned that without the proper safeguards in place, the broad authority given to the Legislative Finance Committee's Program Evaluation Division could compromise confidential information which is housed in executive State agencies and departments.

"While confidential information, like an individual's tax returns or sensitive law enforcement records, would normally be protected when an executive branch agency is responding to public information requests, there is no language in Senate Bill 187 that guarantees this same level of protection after the LFC receives the information from State agencies or departments," Martinez said in the message. "I am also concerned that there are not any penalties for the LFC's potential release of this information."

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.