State business leaders want more campaign disclosure
Poll finds cynical views on politics
At least some pressure to make political contributions and the notion that money can buy special access to state politicians are widely held perceptions among New Mexico business leaders, according to a poll released today.
The poll also showed that the ethical behavior of elected state officials over the past 20 years is a “somewhat serious” or “very serious” issue for four out of five business leaders surveyed. The poll was commissioned by the Washington, D.C.-based Committee for Eco- nomic Development and conducted by Research & Polling Inc. of Albuquerque.
Eighty-five percent of the 307 business leaders interviewed for the poll — 94 percent of Democrats and 82 percent of Republicans — believe voters would have more confidence in the integrity of the campaign finance system if some of the reform measures currently before the state Legislature were adopted.
Three-quarters of business leaders say they somewhat support or strongly support creation of an independent ethics commission to establish and enforce rules regarding the ethical behavior of state officials. The ethics commission proposal cleared its first committee on Wednesday and began moving through the House.
“There is a lot of cynicism out there,” Committee for Economic Development executive vice president Michael Petro told the Journal. “What we’re trying to show is there are also a lot of people who care about the system. There’s a ray of hope here.”
The perceptions of business leaders in New Mexico vary little from those expressed by business leaders in comparable polls conducted in other states and nationwide, Petro said.
“The main common thread is around transparency,” he said. “We did a national poll of business leaders in 2013 and the numbers were similar. The bottom line is that most people in the business community think that transparency and
disclosure are a no-brainer.”
Petro described the Committee for Economic Development as a nonpartisan business group with 175 members nationwide. Founded in 1942, it has been active on issues such as sustaining economic growth, education reform and, since 2000, campaign finance reform.
The business leaders surveyed in New Mexico were selected from major privatesector employers and the boards of 11 chambers of commerce around the state, as well as economic development groups, according to Research & Polling.
Almost 60 percent were Republicans, 22 percent were Democrats and most of the rest self-identified as independents. Nearly 60 percent of those surveyed were with companies with less than 50 employees. A quarter of the business leaders were women.
In a joint news release, the committee and Research & Polling said the highlights of the poll were responses to questions about the influence of political donors and lobbyists in the political arena and the economic advantages of making campaign contributions:
87 percent believe political donors have more influence than average voters.
68 percent said companies gain some economic advantage in the marketplace by spending on political campaigns.
59 percent said New Mexico’s elected officials are more responsive to lobbyists than voters.
“There’s some pretty compelling stuff (in the findings),” said Brian Sanderoff, president of Research & Polling. “You know business people are frustrated.”
Referring to the perception that political donors gain economic advantages, Petro said, “While those numbers were not off the charts, they were pretty solid. I thought that was eye-opening.”
The business leaders were interviewed by phone between Feb. 2 and Feb. 18. Since the poll was directed at a target audience, it did not produce the kind of margin of error that a poll based on a random sampling does.