Keep promise to voters, fully fund ethics commission

Lawmakers’ plan undercuts budget by close to 700K

In November 2018, New Mexicans overwhelmingly expressed their support for a constitutional amendment to create a longoverdue, independent state ethics commission. During the ensuing legislative session, lawmakers stepped up and passed legislation that detailed the jurisdictional responsibilities, powers and duties of the new commission, which the governor then signed into law.

Since July 1, 2019, seven commissioners have been appointed, and an executive director and two additional staff have been hired. The commissioners and staff have been working diligently to prepare for the substantive work that now begins in the new year. Rules governing the commission’s procedures have been adopted, office space has been secured on the University of New Mexico campus, and the commission’s website is operational. It can be found at www. sec.state.nm.us.

As the ethics commission begins its work, it is important to remember that its mission is to receive, investigate and adjudicate complaints filed against public officials, public employees, candidates, government contractors, lobbyists and lobbyists’ employers. In other words, the commission will have enforcement and advisory responsibility for approximately 59,000 individuals.

Equally important, the commission will issue advisory opinions on potentially gray areas of ethics laws, prepare a model code of conduct for state agencies, conduct ethics training, and develop recommendations for amendments to existing ethics laws for the consideration of the Legislature and governor. The workload is considerable, and the commission will certainly need appropriate staffing levels and resources.

Which brings us to some good news and bad news. Last week, the executive and legislative budget recommendations for fiscal 2021 — July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021 — were released.

The executive recommendation is the good news: It fully funds the commission’s request for fiscal 2021 at $1,244,000 and includes a $385,000 supplemental appropriation requested

by the commission for the current fiscal year.

The bad news: the legislative recommendation funds the commission for fiscal 2021 at $945,000 and does not include any supplemental funding for the current fiscal year. The supplemental funding will allow the commission to hire needed staff and establish contracts with investigators, hearing officers and trainers. Without supplemental funding, the newly established ethics commission will be crippled during its initial year of operation and is exposed to not being able to do its core job.

We hope that’s not the Legislature’s intent. There is nothing that would erode public trust more than official support of this popular commission but behind-the-scenes efforts to water down the implementation of its important mission — a mission endorsed by the 75% of voters in 2018 to enshrine the commission in the N.M. Constitution.

If properly funded and staffed, the commission will effectively enforce ethics laws and raise the level of professionalism in state government operations. Additionally, the supplemental funding will also help in proactive outreach and training, which is more focused on helping people comply with the law, not just investigations. Please urge legislators, especially those who serve on the House and Senate Finance Committees, to do the right thing and adopt the executive budget recommendations for the ethics commission.