Shine a light on Roundhouse lobbying

It’s hard to overestimate the influence of lobbyists at the New Mexico Legislature.

In other states, legislators and their paid staff work full-time between sessions to study the issues, meet with their constituents and prepare bills. In New Mexico, our unpaid legislators are assigned to interim committees between sessions. Some attend those meetings, some don’t.

Even those who do attend the meetings come woefully unprepared for the avalanche of legislation to be considered in 30- or 60-day sessions. They will be greeted at the start of each session by an army or well-paid lobbyists who will be only too happy to help them fill in the blanks on whatever bill they may be seeking more information on. Let’s discuss it over dinner.

According to a report by the nonprofit Common Cause, there are more than six lobbyists at the Roundhouse for every one member of the Legislature.

Lobbyists and their employers gave more than $12 million in political contributions between the years 2021 and 2024, according to a report by New Mexico In Depth. Not surprisingly, the largest contributions came from oil companies, with Chevron ponying up nearly $2 million.

We can guess which side of the issue lobbyists representing Chevron are on, but they aren’t required to tell us. A bill passed by the Legislature and awaiting the governor’s signature, would change that.

House Bill 143, sponsored by local legislators Rep. Sarah Silva and Sen. Jeff Steinborn, both Democrats, would require lobbyists and their employers to file a report stating if they are in support or opposition to the bill they are lobbying on.

It would also lower the threshold for itemized expenditures from $100 to $50, And, thanks to an amendment passed on the House floor, it limits expenditures on food, entertainment and gifts to $50 during the session.

The bill is being hailed by Common Cause as, “the biggest lobbying reform passed in New Mexico in the last decade.” That may be true, but if so it’s a sad indictment on the state of affairs.

Legislators often bristle at the notion of lobbying reform, insisting, “I can’t be bought for a hamburger.” That misses the point. It’s not bribery, it’s influence. If the price of a hamburger is all it takes to get a legislator to sit down and listen to a lobbyist’s pitch, that was money well spent.

I’ve spent much of my career trying to inform readers about the actions of our government. I’m a huge fan of transparency … open records laws, open meetings laws … put it all out there for the world to see.

But the truth is, there’s already a wealth of information about lobbyists available on the Secretary of State’s website that nobody ever looks at. Exposing rot in the system is a good thing, but it doesn’t remove the rot. Forcing lobbyists to issue more reports won’t lessen their influence during the session.

Incredibly, even this modest measure may be a step too far for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. As of Monday, she had yet to sign the bill. Maybe we shouldn’t read too much into that. It’s not unusual for a flurry of bills to be signed on the final day.

But the governor is finishing her second term. I worry that the voters of New Mexico don’t mean as much for her future as those well-dressed men and women waiting outside her door.

Walter Rubel is a guest columnist for the Las Cruces Bulletin. He is a retired journalist and the former managing editor of the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached at waltrubel@gmail.com.