New Mexico Bill Adds to Lobbyist Reporting Requirements

Adrienne Borgstahl, Esq.
Research Associate 

New lobbying disclosure requirements for the state of New Mexico will be effective on July 1. Senate Bill 191 was introduced on January 17, passed both houses by January 30, and signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on February 4. The bill was part of several pieces of legislation previously blocked by former Gov. Susana Martinez.

Senate Bill 191 requires the disclosure of the cumulative total of all individual expenditures of less than $100 made or incurred by the employer or lobbyist during the covered reporting period. The expenditures must be separated into meals and beverages, other entertainment expenditures, and other expenditures. Additionally, the bill changes the deadline for expenditure reports from “by 11:59 p.m.” to “no later than [date report is due].” As the effective date of Senate Bill 191 is not until July 1, the first report to impacted by the new disclosure requirement will be the October 9th report.

The First Session of the 54th New Mexico Legislature will likely bring additional updates to lobbying, campaign finance, and procurement lobbying laws as lawmakers introduce bills related to the newly approved independent ethics commission. Legislation to watch includes House Bill 131, requiring a post-session lobbying report due after the Legislature adjourns; House Bill 140, requiring reports with estimated upcoming lobbying expenses for the year as well as actual previous expenses occurred; and House Bill 4, delegating the responsibilities of the new ethics commission.

[The details for this article will be updated on our website in the Registration and
Reports Required sections of the Lobbying and Procurement Lobbying Compliance Laws for New Mexico.]

Summary of Changes UPDATE
Note Recent Changes to Compliance Regulations 

Michael Beckett, Esq.,
Research Manager

FEDERAL: The lobbyist bundling disclosure threshold has increased for 2019. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) published its price index adjustments for expenditure limitations and the federal lobbyist bundling disclosure threshold, which increased from $18,200 to $18,700. Federal law requires authorized committees of federal candidates, leadership political action committees (PACs), and political party committees to disclose contributions bundled by lobbyists and lobbyists’ PACs.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: City Council passed an ordinance requiring companies that have contracts with the city to disclose under affidavit any contracts or sponsorships they or their subsidiaries have with the National Rifle Association (NRA). A letter last week sent from the NRA threatened legal action if the ordinance passed, stating the proposal violates the First Amendment and an effort to restrict and chill an individual’s right to associate and express political beliefs. Ordinance 18-0896 passed on a 14-0 vote and is headed to Mayor Eric Garcetti’s desk for review.

MASSACHUSETTS: The Office of Campaign and Political Finance released draft regulations reducing the amount of money a union can contribute to a candidate annually from $15,000 to $1,000. A state law banning corporate contributions was upheld by the high court this year, but the ruling noted Massachusetts law was unclear regarding contributions from unions. The draft regulation would also cap union contributions at $500 to a PAC and $5,000 to a political party. A public hearing on the draft regulations will be held on March 15 with the final regulations expected by May.

OKLAHOMA: The Ethics Commission chose not to vote on Proposed Rule 2019-02 after hearing public comments that the proposal would affect free speech and political activity. The proposed rule would have required disclosure of the names of organizations involved in indirect or grassroots lobbying via radio, phone, internet or other broadcast media if those groups spent more than $500 on campaigns for or against specific pieces of legislation. Those groups would also have been required to file reports with the Ethics Commission if expenditures exceeded $5,000. The Ethics Commission passed other proposals for consideration, including a revolving door provision prohibiting elected state officers and chief administrative officers from lobbying for two years following their terms of office or service, new rules regarding the due dates of electronic filings, and revised reporting periods for candidate election reports and independent expenditure reports. Additionally, the Ethics Commission submitted a proposal to prohibit state legislators from operating or becoming an officer of a PAC. If the Legislature chooses not to reject the proposed rule changes again, all passed amendments will be effective upon adjournment sine die of the regular legislative session on May 31.

TENNESSEE: Gov. Bill Lee signed executive orders modifying former Gov. Bill Haslam’s policies on gifts to state employees and ethics disclosures for interactions with the General Assembly. Lee added to Haslam’s policy on gifts by including beverage and refreshment on the list of banned gifts that can be accepted by a state employee from those intending to conduct business with the state agency where the employee works. Lee’s Executive Order 2 expands the scope of employees required to file ethical disclosures by adding senior members and all employees who regularly interact with the General Assembly.

Legislation We Are Tracking

At any given time, more than 1,000 legislative bills, which can affect how you do business as a government affairs professional, are being discussed in federal, state, and local jurisdictions. These bills are summarized in State and Federal Communications' digital encyclopedias for lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying and can be found in the client portion of our website.

Summaries of major bills are also included in monthly email updates sent to all clients. The chart below shows the number of bills we are tracking in regard to lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying.

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State and Federal Communications, Inc.
Scrapbook - February 2019

Photos - [top left] Elizabeth acknowledges as a Circle of Red sponsor; [top right] staff attending the Go Red for Women luncheon; [bottom] the State and Federal Communications, Inc. staff who came to work wearing red in honor of Go Red for Women.

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Elizabeth Z. Bartz visiting Donovan Pepper
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While attending the PAC Advocacy Conference in Key West, FL, our staff participated at the
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Plan to say hello at future events where State and Federal Communications, Inc.
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