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Where to begin?
Just like every other day, cathedral bells are expected to ring at noon on Jan. 20 in downtown Santa Fe. Yet that day the gongs will also ring in the start of the New Mexico Legislature, set to convene its 60-day lawmaking session a few blocks away. And after lots of thanking and clapping and parading around, state representatives and senators will sit down and start working.
The members of our citizen legislature have until Feb. 19 to introduce proposals, yet as per usual, they’ve hit the ground running with what are known as “prefiled” measures that mounted to nearly 300 at last count.
While we’re already bracing for important debates on spending for education, increasing the state’s minimum wage, economic development, hemp farming, right-to-work and other issues, New Mexicans can also expect some lightweight fare and doomed-to-failure ideas to surface. Consider adding another kind of vanity plate to New Mexico’s already long list of choices; trying to repeal the school A-F grading system; and suspending driver’s licenses for truant teens.
and there’s more ...
Top officials appointed by the governor stand for confirmation by the Senate, a process that’s been thorny in the past. They include:
Hanna Skandera, whose four-year tenure as head of the Public Education Department never earned Senate affirmation of her leadership
Ryan Flynn, a former corporate lawyer at the helm of the Environment Department
Monique Jacobson, the former Tourism Department secretary tapped to lead the state Children, Youth and Families Department
Brent Earnest, who stepped into the top spot at the Human Services Department after Sidonie Squier resigned
Tom Blaine, appointed as State Engineer just weeks before the Interstate Stream Commission voted to move toward controversial diversion of the Gila River
Wined and Dined
Lobbyists have no small influence on session business
A man takes a seat inside a storied downtown steakhouse, nearly empty and dark just before last call on a recent weeknight.
"What's the difference between a rib-eye and a bone rib-eye?" he asks the bartender.
"A bone," she replies in a chummy tone.
Now there's a burst in the chatter at the bar that flanks one side of the mirrored and leather-decked dining room. My tender pork chop, garnished with cinnamon-glazed slices of apples, has ceased sizzling, and I listen in. Manager Lisa Weidner Wilson speaks with two other men at the bar. They all have a rapport. But she tells me on the side that the group won't comment on the record.
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That's not how it's done at The Bull Ring.
One of the men offers to buy me a drink, unsolicited.
"Why not?" I think.
I'm already two drinks in the hole, and, as the creamy mashed potatoes settle in, I begin feeling less dour, less attentive to my journalistic mission: documenting the downtown establishments where the deals are made during the legislative session.
Yet one acute reason stands in my way.
The Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics demands that I "act independently."
"Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment," it specifies, "and avoid political and other outside activities that may compromise integrity or impartiality, or may damage credibility."
I think about this for a few seconds.
"Sierra Nevada," I say to the bartender.
The patron introduces himself as a lobbyist from Silver City. My reporter blood reactivates—a possible source. We talk Charlie Hebdo. Barbarians, I say, referring to the murderers of the French cartoonists. He agrees. He's affable. I like him, and a connection is made.
He pays for the beer.
Then it hits me: I've been wined and dined—just like the lawmakers I'm writing about.
At the start of upcoming legislative session, the state's entire political class will descend on Santa Fe, including hundreds of lobbyists, lobbyists' staffers, lawmakers and others seeking to shape laws that could have wide-reaching implications for all New Mexicans.
Lawmakers have a code of conduct, too, to which they swear to abide in their oaths of office that state, in part, "I shall not use my office for personal gain and shall scrupulously avoid any act of impropriety or any act that gives the appearance of impropriety."
And while lawmakers can't accept an individual gift worth more than $250 from a lobbyist, and a lobbyist is forbidden from showering more than $1,000 in aggregate gifts to one lawmaker each year, there are loopholes.
Steve Terrell, a longtime Roundhouse writer for the Santa Fe New Mexican, has pointed out in his reporting that nothing forbids multiple lobbyists from picking up a tab. If a lobbyist's spending reaches a $500 threshold, he or she is required to disclose those expenditures publicly within 48 hours. But nothing prevents multiple lobbyists from splitting that tab, thus avoiding disclosure requirements.
On Jan. 15, lobbyists must register with the secretary of state, whose office logs those 48-hour reports. Not everyone appreciates Terrell's reporting on the disclosures.
"I've been reporting on the '48-hour' reports for years," he wrote in 2014, "and sometimes I've been criticized for doing it. A couple of years ago a senator even implied that The New Mexican doesn't like the idea of restaurants, bars and hotels making money from parties, lunches and dinners for legislators because we always run stories about these reports."
Back at the 55,000-square foot Bull Ring, Harry Georgeades can attest to the increased volume during legislative sessions.
Chef Socorro Balcorta, he says, makes "everything" fresh daily and has to order an estimated 40 percent more beef from a purveyor in Chicago during the sessions than the rest of the year. The beef cuts come in twice a week and are cooked at up to 1,800 degrees in a Montague oven.
A smoker of Marlboro Reds who hails from Idaho, Georgeades purchased the restaurant in 1980, when it was located right next to the Roundhouse—where the Rio Chama Steakhouse now holds its own version of VIP schmoozing.
"I don't know what I'd do without it," Georgeades says of the legislative session, but also notes that his business couldn't survive without support from the locals.
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Pundits are making predictions about how the politics of the session will roll out. With Republicans in control of the House for the first time in his 35 years as owner, Georgeades says it's going to be "a brand new dance." Still, he says, many of the lobbyists have the same contracts. "The main thing is," he says, "your rapport with lobbyists."
A lobbyer of lobbyists, Georgeades makes the rounds in the restaurant during lunch on a recent weekday, asking about significant others and warning customers that a reporter is in tow, with patrons responding to him as if he's a close friend. "We've been fortunate enough to get their business," Georgeades says.
A few blocks away at Rio Chama, General Manager Justin Svetnicka feels the same way about the importance of the session.
"Outside from the holidays, it's probably the busiest time of the year," he says, noting that the session brings a sales uptick of up to 33 percent.
And it happens almost without trying. No special ad campaigns or gimmicks are required to attract the political class. Whether because of proximity or prestige, the movers and shakers come right to his door.
Gov. Susana Martinez' Chief of Staff Keith Gardner is a frequent guest of the joint, seen there year-round.
"We kind of moved into this situation," says Svetnicka, adding later "We've kind of got the hot ticket, so to speak."
On the day lobbyist disclosures are due, the establishment will be changing its seasonal menu. He expects to bump up liquor orders for the session, including a "ridiculous amount of Crown Royal and Grey Goose."
"I couldn't tell you why," he says, noting that those brands of bourbon and vodka seem the most popular.
Prior lobbyists' 48-hour disclosures hint at the extent of the lobbying spending—but they don't tell the whole story. The Associated Press reported that lobbyists spent "at least $200,000" on the 2014 session.
Lobbyists report they spend on lawmakers, but they don't always disclose what specific legislation they're attempting to influence.
On Feb. 10, 2014, the film union IATSE Local 480 reported spending $5,197.54 on a "film and media day open reception" at the Pink Adobe for "all" New Mexico lawmakers "and film and media day participants."
That's more specific than a report filed by Bob Barberousse, who lists his clients as Sprint, El Paso Electric Company and the Cigar Association of America Inc. On April 16, he reported spending $3,167.03 at "various restaurants" for lawmakers to "discuss legislation."
Sometimes multiple lobbyists pay for receptions, dinners and benefits for the entire legislative body, as in the case of the New Mexico Golf Tourism Alliance, which reported spending $28,500 to "legislators" for a "golf promotion."
Even the association that represents media outlets, the New Mexico Press Association, threw its weight around last year, spending $2,247.82 to "all legislators" for a "legislative breakfast at Rio Chama," an annual event that's been taking place for decades. PNM's lobbyist Michael Anthony D'Antonio reported $1,698.78 in expenditures last year, reporting the beneficiaries of those expenditures as "various."
Don’t look here
Open government advocates want to see the Legislature put more funding toward the secretary of state’s online lobbyist database. And not without reason.
Journalists sort through public databases in order to disseminate important government information to the public in a way that makes sense. But even the most seasoned reporters in the state might have trouble making any sense out of the state’s online lobbying database. For the general public to learn just how much lobbyists are spending here can become an even more vexing task.
Currently, the secretary of state’s website only has information on lobbyists for the years 2011 and 2012. Meanwhile, the New Mexico campaign finance information system, cfis.state.nm.us, a separate website maintained by the secretary of state, offers tabs that allow members of the public to view information on lobbyists for certain years. It says that in 2014, 1,093 lobbyists contributed $2.6 million to candidates and spent $1.5 million on lobbying for the calendar year.
That information is vastly overstated, however, because it factors spending reports filed by lobbyists since at least 2011. For instance, the website claims Vanessa Alarid, wife of Rep. Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, spent $17,601 in 2014. But click on her name, and it becomes clear that number represents her spending since May 2011. She only spent $2,348 in 2014, records show.
Ken Ortiz, chief of staff at the secretary of state’s office, acknowledged a problem with the data and said officials inquired about it to the vendor that maintains the database.
The purpose?
"Inform elected officials on PNM issues."
State Rep. Jeff Steinborn, a soft-spoken Doña Ana Democrat who earned an award last year from the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, took on the entire lobbyist class before when he introducing unsuccessful legislation that would impose more reporting requirements on lobbyists. He tells SFR he'll again introduce similar legislation, including a proposal to require the employers of lobbyists to report how much aggregate money they're spending and to report specific issues and bills they're attempting to influence. That's how it's done on the federal level, where an army of Washington DC lobbyists file reports on the specific bill—or provision of a bill—they're attempting to support or oppose.
"It's a way to bring sunshine into our government—and also bring accountability to our elected officials," he says.
Viki Harrison, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico, says 38 states "require lobbyists to disclose what they're being paid to lobby the legislature." Not in New Mexico. Her group is one of the few lobbying groups that hope to shine more light on lobbyists.
Common Cause also would like to see more funding plowed into the secretary of state's online lobbying database to ensure that information on lobbyists is "searchable, accessible and downloadable." Harrison adds she'd like to see legislation that would require the secretary of state's office keep records online for 10 years. Currently, it only has to keep reports up for two years.
Common Cause released a poll it commissioned from Albuquerque-based Research & Polling Inc. in January that showed 65 percent of New Mexico voters thought lawmakers were more responsive to lobbyists than they were to voters.
The poll had a margin of error of 4.5 percent and also showed 78 percent of respondents support or strongly support revolving-door legislation that would require former legislators to wait two years after their term ends before becoming lobbyists.
Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, has stated before that she supports such a measure, but it's failed to clear the legislature in the past.
Lawmakers don't draw a salary for their public service, but they do get compensated in per diem payments for travel, food and housing. Still, many lawmakers objected to the revolving-door legislation because they say they shouldn't be punished for their public service.
One of Common Cause's more striking findings in its research into lobbying in New Mexico are the family ties. In 2013, the group reported that at least 13 former senators and 13 former representatives in the "lobbyist corps."
"The family atmosphere at the Roundhouse is a friendly one," the group wrote in a report, "most comforting to those in the in-crowd, which, during each session, expands to include other family members as attendants, analysts, or staffers."
"This is," noted the group, "after all, New Mexico, a small state where everyone knows each other and is somehow related."
Identity Crisis
With R’s in control of state House, Dems scramble to regain ground
When Kenny Martinez prepared to take the state House of Representatives Speaker’s gavel for the first time in his life just two years ago, he displayed the evenhandedness that the overseer of the chamber is supposed to, painting a rosy picture of minimal partisanship.
“If we can reach across the aisle and shake hands or hug the person we’ve worked with during the session—no matter their party affiliation—then I will know it was well run,” Martinez, D-Grants, told SFR in January 2013.
His most memorable move as speaker then became helping to ram through the last-minute passage of a tax bill that lowered the state’s corporate tax rate and cut state funding to municipalities.
Though many legislative Democrats supported the bill backed by the Republican governor because it included help for the film industry and new taxes on out-of-state big-box stores, others criticized it for a predicted toll on education, public safety and health care.
During Martinez’ run as speaker, Democrats passed a minimum wage increase bill but weren’t able to convince Gov. Susana Martinez to sign it.
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Then came the big blow, when voters used the ballot to take control away from House Democrats for the first time in 60 years. While many point to the usual explanations for this—a nationwide Republican wave coupled with low voter turnout everywhere—others are demanding New Mexico Democrats to take a hard look in the mirror.
Democrats, after all, make up 47 percent of registered voters in New Mexico—still a significant edge over Republicans, who comprise about 31 percent.
Oriana Sandoval, a policy director at the liberal-leaning Center for Civic Policy, questions whether state Democrats have pushed for a cohesive agenda in recent years—one that includes strong stances on a “fair wage, investing in kids, supporting small businesses and protecting the environment.”
“Democratic voters weren’t convinced that Democrats really stood for issues that impact New Mexico’s working families,” she says. “It’s obvious that voters feel abandoned and frustrated.”
Now in the House minority, Sandoval argues that Democrats can “clearly define themselves” by standing up for traditional Democratic issues like minimum wage increases, early childhood education programs and “fair” tax reform.
All of which begs the question—are House Democrats facing an identity crisis? State Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, rejects any notion that the Democrats have lost their thunder. He points to increases in education funding, support of film industry incentives and the passage of the Fair Pay for Women Act as Democratic Party victories under a Republican governor.
“The way we stay unified is by clarifying the reasons we’re Democrats,” says Egolf, who was named minority leader by House Democrats.
But at least two Democratic state representatives says Sandoval’s point resonate with them.
“There’s been a gap in the ability of Democrats to, on a year-round basis, engage New Mexicans on the issues that matter to them,” says Stephanie Maez, named last month by the Bernalillo County Commission to replace outgoing state Rep. Mimi Stewart.
Jim Trujillo, who’s represented the Santa Fe area for 12 years, says he doesn’t see many of the younger generations active in party politics.
“The people we represent are disenchanted with government,” he says.
Maez, who also serves as executive director of the Center for Civic Policy, says she solidified her identification as a Democrat when she became pregnant in her late teens. As a young, soon-to-be mother, she received support from family and friends. But she also witnessed friends in the same circumstances who struggled to obtain public assistance.
To her, core Democratic values mean ensuring that “hard work is compensated by fair pay.”
“I think when you read the party platform, really, it’s about security,” Maez says. “Right now, being in the minority party, we have a huge opportunity to come together and fight for New Mexico’s families.”
Likewise, Trujillo argues that Democrats have stood out from Republicans by “always supporting the working poor and middle class.” Trujillo says his former life as a small business owner makes him a political moderate. But he argues that political parties are strongest when they’re unified.
Under the late Speaker Ben Luján, for example, Trujillo says House Democrats would decide to endorse a bill through majority votes of the caucus. More recently, he says Speaker Martinez “tried to build a consensus but wasn’t as demanding.”
Egolf says how the caucus is run is “the ultimate inside process” and adds that what’s important to know is that Democrats will be advancing an agenda focused on “the security of day-to-day lives of the families of New Mexico.” He has stated that Democrats will focus on a $10.10 minimum wa
Then, again there’s another plan afoot that could signal trouble in the ranks.
Trujillo says he’s planning to back a bill that some say stunts low-wage earners. He wants to bring back the statewide gross receipts taxes on food and medicine.
It’s a mindboggling direction, says Fred Nathan, the executive director of Think New Mexico. Ten years ago, Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson championed and led the Legislature to repeal those taxes. Now, the tax exemption on food and medicine is one of 338 rules that lift the tax burden from products ranging from jet fuel to mixed martial arts events.
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Nathan argues that the lack of a tax on food and medicine, deemed “necessities,” is one of the only of these tax exemptions that actually “helps working and middle-income people.”
“We just had an election,” Nathan says, “and I can’t think of anybody who ran on reinstating the food tax. It’s astonishing to me that this is even an issue.”
Trujillo says the bill he’s considering, which is supported from the New Mexico Municipal League, isn’t contrary to his values of standing up for the little guy. He argues that such a measure will effectively lower the state’s overall gross receipts tax, which he says will help middle-income earners in the long run and send more tax rebates to those in the low-income group.
The main point, though, is to make up for money that used to go to local governments before the latest corporate tax change. If nothing is done soon, Trujillo argues, local governments will have to cut their own essential taxpayer-funded services.
It’s not clear how much support the idea stands to gain.
Egolf says putting a gross receipts tax back on food and medicine is “absolutely the wrong way” to go. He also says he’s not convinced that local governments are currently in dire need of new revenue.
“I don’t think you’re going to see a Democrat introduce that [bill] in the House,” Egolf says.
Nathan says he’d rather see lawmakers angle to reform the 337 other tax loopholes.
“Why are we focusing our attention on the one thing that broadly helps New Mexicans?” he asks. “I think it’s because there’s no lobbyist for the middle class, and there’s a lobbyist for all these other loopholes.”
--Joey Peters
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