New Mexico's Public Regulation Commission (PRC) oversees some
of the most powerful industries and businesses in the state. The
five-member agency regulates the insurance and transportation
companies and all utilities--electric, natural gas and telecommunications--setting
the rates they can charge consumers. "This commission has
been characterized as the most powerful in the country,"
one commissioner told the /Santa Fe New Mexican/ in 2002. "You
can put people in business; you can put people out of business.
You can make them profitable; you can make them unprofitable."
When the commission was set up, its members--who are elected
by the voters in regional districts across the state--were prohibited
from accepting contributions from regulated industries. Candidates
could, however, accept contributions from lobbyists for those
industries. The all-too-predictable result: lobbyists representing
those industries donated thousands of dollars to PRC commissioners
in recent years.
Well, no longer. Starting with the next election in 2006, candidates
for the PRC will have the option of running with full public financing--Clean
Money--if they agree to raise no private money for their campaign
and abide by strict spending limits. On March 14, Governor Bill
Richardson signed the "Voter Action Act" into law, after
it was passed by 40-24 in the House and 20-11 in the Senate. With
the law's passage, New Mexico becomes the sixth state in the nation
to enact Clean Money/Clean Elections campaign finance reform--joining
Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Vermont--and
the third to do so by legislative action. As in Arizona and Maine,
candidates in New Mexico will first have to qualify for funding
by collecting a large number of $5 contributions from voters in
their districts. Industries covered by the PRC will pay slightly
higher regulatory fees to raise the estimated $300,000 needed
to fund the system.
Significantly, all five of the sitting PRC commissioners endorsed
the new law. "It's not called the 'Big Oil and Gas Commission,'"
Republican commissioner David King told the /Albuquerque Journal/.
"It's the Public Regulation Commission." Democratic
commission chair Lynda Lovejoy said she looked forward to being
freed from the money chase. "I ran twice and both times it
was very difficult for me to raise funds," she told the /Journal/.
"You find yourself having to make a choice whether you should
be out campaigning and raising money or being at your office."
Marc Spitzer, chair of the Arizona Corporations Commission, the
New Mexico PRC's equivalent, said public financing for the commission
was crucial. "It's a tough job to run and get contributions
for, because the only people interested are utilities, and you
don't want to take contributions from them," Spitzer said.
"In the old days, there'd be endless debate about who was
raising money for who. Now, candidates are talking about issues."
"You know in politics, you buy access; you get access. And
those contributions have a bearing on it, whether we like it or
not," said Senate President Pro Tem Richard Romero, one of
the bill's strong supporters. "I mean, if you vote consistently
against certain industries, you know you're not going to get any
money. I think all of us as elected officials have experienced
that."
Reformers in New Mexico see this victory as the first step toward
Clean Money/Clean Elections for all state elected offices. The
coalition in New Mexicans for Campaign Reform includes members
from over 30 organizations including Re-Visioning New Mexico,
Common Cause, ACORN, American Association of University Women,
and New Mexico Public Interest Research Group. "This bill
is a great beginning. We just felt that the PRC was the right
agency to start with," House Speaker Ben Lujan, another of
the bill's sponsors, said. And Governor Richardson, who admitted
that he has some qualms about "the concept of public financing,"
said he was open to the idea. "Rather than not sign the bill,
I put my objections away because I think this is true reform,
and I'm willing to consider reform in campaign finance as it affects
other candidates and other races."
