Fund used by governor to face audits

Next person to hold office will face regular reviews of money used toward ‘obligations of the office’

Public money that New Mexico’s governor spends on parties or the official residence no longer will be exempt from audits, though the reform will not begin until the next chief executive takes office.

Gov. Susana Martinez on Thursday signed a bill that will end an old provision in state law expressly exempting from audit what is known as the contingency fund — tens of thousands of dollars provided each year for “purposes connected with obligations of the office.”

“The people of New Mexico deserve to know how the governor is spending taxpayer money,” Martinez wrote in a message to lawmakers.

The new law, Senate Bill 52, takes effect Jan. 1, the same day Martinez’s successor will be sworn in. Martinez, a Republican, has spent money from the contingency fund since 2011 without

audits. Kept in a separate bank account, the money comes with few restrictions as long as it is spent in connection with the duties of the governor. And it has been a source of controversy for years.

Former Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson was known for using the fund to pay for parties, receptions and dinners. He hosted dignitaries as well as stars, everyone from George Clooney to conservative Fox News host Sean Hannity and rocker Ted Nugent at the governor’s residence north of downtown Santa Fe.

Martinez, who campaigned on fiscal prudence, has kept a lower profile. On Thursday, Martinez wrote that she cut the fund by about 20 percent and has filed general spending reports more regularly than Richardson.

But Martinez’s use of the contingency fund also has stirred controversy.

She hosted a party at a Santa Fe hotel in 2015 that generated headlines nationally for its rowdiness and damaged Martinez’s reputation for supporting law and order.

Martinez’s party drew complaints about noise and about beer bottles being thrown from a fourth-floor balcony.

Then the governor, whose speech was slurred, phoned dispatchers in an attempt to get Santa Fe police to stand down.

That episode highlighted that the public does not get a complete accounting of how the money is spent. Regular reports the Martinez administration has filed break down spending by category — food and beverage, supplies for the governor’s mansion, subscriptions such as internet service and miscellaneous expenses.

The New Mexican asked a spokeswoman for the governor to provide her latest report on

Kept in a separate bank account, the money comes with few restrictions.

contingency fund spending and was referred to a spokeswoman for the Department of Finance and Administration. The newspaper received no reply Thursday.

Since the 2015 party, a few lawmakers have proposed scrapping the exemption of the fund from audit and ensuring it is subject to the state’s open records law.

Sen. Sander Rue, R-Albuquerque, who sponsored the latest version of the legislation, said auditing the fund is “a matter of principle.”

The bill signed Thursday will create a state account for the contingency money. It will require the governor to make monthly reports to the state and the Legislature itemizing expenditures.

It also requires that unspent and unencumbered money revert to the general fund rather than the Governor’s Office.

A Senate committee amended the bill to ensure it would not take effect until after Martinez left office.

Rue, who has clashed with Martinez, accepted the change. He said his bill was not aimed at any particular governor.

“This isn’t a ‘gotcha,’ ” Rue said during the legislative session that ended in mid-February. “Nobody should have a slush fund funded by the taxpayers of New Mexico.”

The bill cleared both chambers of the Legislature without opposition.