NM capital outlay sunshine is peeking through the clouds

Based on actions taken by lawmakers Monday, the forecast for the First Session of the 55th Legislature includes some rays of transparency shining through the clouds.

A bill that would finally require lawmakers to show their hands on capital outlay projects “Zoomed” through a House committee meeting Monday and is headed for the House floor. House Bill 55 would require the Legislature to publish a list of capital projects approved each year with details on which legislators sponsored what projects, and how much funding they allocated to each one.

It’s amazing New Mexico hasn’t turned on the lights of the annual “Christmas Tree Bill.” From 2000 through 2015, the annual pork-laden bill with something for every lawmaker averaged nearly $300 million a year, with an average of 1,500 individual projects. Yet save for the honorable few lawmakers who publish their own lists, there has never been a systematic identification of which legislator sponsored which item. The secrecy meant there was no accountability for lawmakers who basically asked taxpayers to take out a mortgage to pay for small items that might appeal to a few constituents but didn’t do anything to move the state forward. Many items didn’t last the 10-year term of the financing — things like wrestling mats, grass seed and band uniforms.

Don’t taxpayers deserve to know who is sponsoring the projects their tax dollars are paying for?

Hopefully 2021 will be the year that makes that happen. A similar bill passed the House in 2019 but stalled in the Senate.

The quick start for HB 55 is promising. The bill passed its first and only House committee Monday and is headed to the full chamber for consideration. It has bipartisan support with one Republican and three Democratic co-sponsors. That’s encouraging, because when it comes to government transparency, there should be no political divisions.

“Transparency around government spending increases public trust and makes us more responsive and accountable to our voters,” state Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo, said.

It’s curious the House, which seems to support the transparency in this bill, was the chamber that adopted new rules Monday criticized by transparency advocates because they allow House members to do almost all of their work online. After about 3½ hours of debate, the House along largely partisan lines adopted new rules that go even further than the procedures adopted by the state Senate. The new House rules allow members to participate and vote online from their homes to protect members, staff and families from the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the Senate rules give members the option of participating in-person from the chamber or remotely from elsewhere in the Capitol, such as from their private office.

Legislative leaders have promised to pause all proceedings that are interrupted by computer problems, which are inevitable with connecting 70 House members and 42 senators across the state.

With the Capitol building closed to the public, lawmakers won’t have to face voters, peers, the media or lobbyists in the Roundhouse like usual, which does not bode well for a public seeking to follow legislation or influence the process.

Such a closed session calls for an emphasis on transparency at every corner.

Let’s hope the House quickly passes the capital outlay transparency bill, and that this time it moves smoothly through the Senate. Because reforming the capital outlay process would allow a permanent ray of sunshine into what has been a traditionally shrouded process.