State failing on campaign finance disclosure
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N.M. one of 14 to receive an F in report; lawmakers again to consider reforms
1/23/2008 - 1/24/08
If you want to find out how much money a candidate in New Mexico has received from a certain company, forget it.If you want to know how much campaign cash a state official has raised in the past six months or so, too bad. You'll have to wait until May.
Those are among the reasons New Mexico once again has received a failing grade in a national study of finance-disclosure laws.
And while the state Legislature once again will consider fixing weak laws regarding transparency in political campaigns, it's not clear whether the lawmakers are any more inclined to pass such reforms this year than they've been in the past.
The weaknesses of the current laws are outlined in "Grading State Disclosure 2007," a report published in October. New Mexico was one of 14 states to get an overall grade of F.
"New Mexico's disclosure law ranks among the worst in the nation," Kim Alexander, founder and director of the California Voter Foundation, said Tuesday. Hers is one of the groups, along with the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and the Center for Governmental Studies, that participated in the study.
"Unlike 43 other states, New Mexico's law does not require disclosure of independent expenditures," Alexander said, referring to outside groups that buy advertisements and do mailings on behalf of candidates but aren't formally associated with the candidate's campaign.
The study also criticized the state for failing to require contributors to list their employers and for having weak requirements on disclosing loans. Alexander also noted that in nonelection years, New Mexico requires candidates to file only one report, even though fundraising activity goes on all year. "The majority of states require at least two disclosure reports be filed in nonelection years," she said. "New Mexico could improve its disclosure law by requiring more frequent reporting in nonelection years."
The only area that received a high mark from the disclosure project in recent years is the state's mandatory electronic reporting. Ironically, the Legislature passed a bill last year to make such reporting optional, but Gov. Bill Richardson vetoed it.
Eric Witt, one of Richardson's legislative liaisons, said Tuesday that tightening campaign disclosure requirements is one of the governor's top priorities in the area of ethics.
Only one bill has been introduced that addresses the issue — Senate Bill 307, sponsored by Republican Whip Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces, which would increase the number and frequency of required campaign finance reports.
Rawson's measure would increase the number of reporting periods in an off-year from one to four. "Quarterly reports are easy to remember," he said. Having quarterly reports in off-years is part of a model bill of the disclosure project.
Rawson's bill also deals with the problem of big contributions coming in during the final days of a campaign. Under SB 307, during the last days of a primary or general election, any contribution over $250 would have to be reported within 24 hours.
Matt Brix, former executive director of New Mexico Common Cause, who served on the state's last two ethics task forces, said SB 307 is slightly different from the task forces' recommendations.
For instance, those recommendations didn't address the issue of large last-minute contributions, Brix said. "But I think it's a great idea."
Republicans often have a hard time moving legislation through the Democratic-controlled Legislature. But Rawson's bill has bipartisan support. Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, said she's signed on to the bill.
Lt. Gov. Diane Denish said Wednesday she believes Rawson's bill has a good chance of passing the Senate. "We need more frequent reporting of campaign finances," she said in an interview. "Reporting once a year (in off-years) just isn't enough because we're raising money throughout the year."
The study specifically lambasted the secretary of state's Web site for being hard to use for accessing campaign finance reports. The site is ranked 45th out of 50 states. "Despite the move to electronic filing in 2006, more timely access to disclosure records online has not followed," the report says.
This has been frustrating for state lawmakers as well. "All the disclosure in the world is no good if you can't access it," Feldman said in an interview this week. "Campaign finances are not posted in a timely fashion. Campaigns aren't finite. I'd like to see a real-time reporting system. A searchable database, that is the main thing," she said.
House Majority Leader Kenny Martinez, D-Grants, said Wednesday he is carrying legislation to give the secretary of state about $176,000 to improve the campaign finance disclosure section of the Web site. "We felt that was the most important thing we can do in a 30-day session," he said.
While New Mexico always gets an F in the disclosure project study, another Western state usually tops the list. Washington received an A in the 2007 study. Basically, its laws have everything New Mexico's doesn't.
"Washington requires candidates to report detailed information about contributors giving over $25, including occupation and employer data for those donating over $100," the report says. "Last-minute contributions must be reported prior to Election Day. Campaign expenditure disclosure is also strong, with candidates required to report detailed information about vendors, subvendors and accrued expenses. "Independent expenditures are disclosed, and those made in the 21 days leading up to an election must be reported within 24 hours."
But like New Mexico's, the Washington Web site that allows the public to access the reports was criticized for problems with user friendliness. However, Washington got a C grade in this category, where New Mexico earned an F.
Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.
ON THE WEB
- Grading State Disclosure: http://campaigndisclosure.org/gradingstate/nm.html