Lobbyists

Legislators would have to wait a year to be lobbyists

Panel OKs “cooling-off” period for lawmakers who become lobbyists

SANTA FE — A proposal to require New Mexico lawmakers to wait at least a year after leaving the Legislature before returning as paid lobbyists passed a key Senate committee Monday, but only after senators reworked the bill to essentially “grandfather” in lawmakers’ current occupations — even if they’re advocacy jobs.

The amendment approved in the Senate Rules Committee would allow legislators to keep their day jobs after leaving the Legislature — as long as they’d had the job for at least two years — even if they fell under the definition of lobbying.

“Simply having served (in the Legislature) wouldn’t disqualify them from the work they were doing,” said Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque.

Several current and former legislators have held jobs at groups that advocate for and against certain legislation, including Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto, D-Albuquerque, who helped craft the amendment and is the executive director of the New Mexico Clerks, a group representing county clerks.

He said the amendment would allow legislators to keep their current jobs but prohibit them from accepting new lobbying work immediately upon leaving the Roundhouse.

“I do think the public doesn’t want (legislators) to cash in on their service,” Ivey-Soto said after Monday’s hearing.

However, backers of the proposal to close a perceived “revolving door” — that of legislating to lobbying — said carving out the exemption amounted to a watering down of the measure.

“We feel it was weakened today, and we hope the exemptions can be narrowed before it reaches the Senate floor,” said Heather Ferguson with Common Cause New Mexico, a group that’s been pushing for “cooling-off” legislation for years.

The measure, House Bill 73, is the latest attempt to enact a cooling-off period for legislators-turned-lobbyists. While most states have such laws, efforts to add New Mexico to the list have been unsuccessful in recent years.

The Senate has traditionally been a quagmire for such bills, as some senators have argued the legislation would deny lawmakers — who do not receive a salary in New Mexico, but do get per diem payments while the Legislature is in session — a valid career path after leaving the Legislature.

But backers of the legislation say the revolving-door practice erodes public trust in government by allowing former legislators to cash in on their expertise and connections with former colleagues.

This year’s bill is sponsored by Reps. Jim Dines, R-Albuquerque; Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces, and Joanne Ferrary, D-Las Cruces. It passed the House 58-2 last month.

The idea is also backed by Gov. Susana Martinez. The Republican governor has banned administration officials from lobbying executive state agencies or the Legislature for two years after leaving their jobs.

After amending the measure Monday, the Senate Rules Committee voted 6-1 to send it on to the Senate Judiciary Committee.