Campaign spending bill passes in House

Contributions would be subject to disclosure

SANTA FE — “Dark-money” groups that spend to influence New Mexico elections would face new disclosure requirements under a bipartisan proposal that won House approval late Monday.

The bill is close to reaching Gov. Susana Martinez for her consideration.

The state Senate passed the measure last month, but it will have to go back to that chamber for approval of amendments adopted by the House.

Rep. James Smith, R-Sandia Park, said most states already have enacted similar disclosure requirements — after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which cleared the way for unlimited spending by some political action committees.

Smith — who co-sponsored the bill with Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe — said the public deserves to know who’s donating to independent groups that flood the airwaves with advertisements during election season.

“This is just sunlight on who’s making donations,” Smith said.

Some of his Republican colleagues said the bill went too far. They said the disclosure requirements would discourage people from exercising their First Amendment rights.

Rep. Dennis Roch, R-Logan, said that, as an example, a teacher’s boss might retaliate against the teacher if he or she donated to a group that opposed increased funding for school districts.

“We’re providing information that people can use against us,” said Roch, an educator himself. “This is a pathway to ‘thought crime’ accusations. I promise you that’s what it is.”

Under the current system, independent groups that spend on elections — but for whom electioneering isn’t a primary purpose — don’t have to disclose where they’re getting their money and what they’re using it for.

This category includes nonprofit groups, unions and business associations. Some do provide voluntary reports.

Senate Bill 96 proposes that when independent spending climbs above a certain threshold near an election, the group would have to report the spending and the source of donations used to make it.

The bill would also raise the limit on donations to candidates — to $5,000 for each primary and general election cycle, with some exceptions. That’s twice what legislative candidates can now accept and a small decrease from the $5,400 limit to statewide candidates.

The proposal won approval on a 41-24 vote, drawing most of its support from Democrats but also picking up some backing by Republicans.

The bill passed the Senate by an even wider margin: 36-6.

The proposal is also aimed at modernizing New Mexico’s campaign rules to make them easier to understand and to remove parts that have been struck down in court, supporters say.