Sponsor Declares Campaign Finance Reform is “Dead”

A proposed legislation aimed at addressing loopholes in New Mexico’s campaign contribution and expenditure reporting laws faced a significant defeat in the House Government, Elections & Indian Affairs committee on Friday.

“The bill is done for,” commented Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, late Friday afternoon. Wirth has been working to close these loopholes in New Mexico’s Campaign Reporting Act since multiple groups took advantage of them during the 2020 election to partially dodge donor and spending disclosures.

Senate Bill 85 initially passed in the Senate with ease, but then stalled for a month before House committees began reviewing Senate legislation just last week. The bill required two committee hearings, a vote on the House floor, and likely another Senate vote to approve any amendments made by the House before it could reach the desk of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

With only a week remaining in the session, time was critical.

Wirth seemed to recognize the urgency when he pointed out during Friday morning’s committee hearing that none of the numerous progressive non-profits opposing the bill had communicated their concerns or shared the letter they sent to committee members prior to the meeting.

“This is the first time I’ve heard any of this testimony, and I was never copied on the letter,” Wirth expressed. “The best way we can accomplish legislation is not to wait until the last week to show up and then neglect to even share the letter with the sponsor. So I just wanted to publicly address that.”

Representatives from several non-profits testified against the bill, particularly opposing the removal of the phrase “for a political purpose” from the definition of “expenditure” in current law.

“By eliminating the term ‘political purpose’ from the expenditure definition, it now encompasses anything relating to a ballot question or candidate without a time limitation,” stated Lan Sena, policy director for the New Mexico-based Center for Civic Policy, during the hearing.

Sena expressed that the amendment could categorize educational activities conducted by 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations about legislative sessions as “independent expenditure” political actions under the Campaign Reporting Act, consequently requiring the group to disclose its donors to the Secretary of State.

Others also voiced their concerns regarding the proposed changes.

“Removing the term political purpose from the expenditure definition will negatively impact 501(c)(3) funding,” remarked Ahzta Chavez, Executive Director of New Mexico Native Vote. “The main goal of many 501(c)(3) organizations is to inform the public on legislative matters, and this would classify such education as a regulated political expenditure.”

Chavez highlighted a letter that the committee members should have received, signed by several non-profits, which she listed.

“Organizations opposing this bill include ACLU, Café ACCION, Center for Civic Policy, El Centro, Equality NM, NM Native Vote, NM Working Families, Olé, Organized Power in Numbers, Progress Now New Mexico, Semilla Action, and the Sierra Club, Rio Grande chapter,” Chavez stated.

The coalition comprises both 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) non-profit organizations that run nonpartisan get-out-the-vote campaigns and, in the case of 501(c)(4) entities, endorse Democratic candidates.

New Mexico In Depth sought a copy of the letter from some groups. Center for Civic Policy communications director Jessie Sanchez indicated that the organization preferred not to disclose it publicly. Sanchez noted that the bill was complex and required extensive legal analysis, which took time, especially since it wasn’t initially on their radar.

However, it remains unclear why Wirth felt blindsided by the coordinated opposition to his bill. “These are groups I support,” Wirth said late Friday afternoon.

In a text, Sanchez outlined several implications arising from the suggested changes to the statute, but it’s uncertain if all concerns originated from the removal of “for a political purpose.” Sanchez indicated that policy staff were unavailable for comment on Friday.

Wirth countered the group’s interpretation during the committee hearing on Friday morning, stating that the modification merely codified existing state regulations governing the statute’s application. He then asked Lindsay Bachman from the Secretary of State’s office to elaborate.

Bachman referred to specific time frames in regulatory language that mandate reporting about independent expenditures only when advertisements “mention a clearly identified candidate or ballot question and are distributed to the relevant electorate within 30 days before the primary election or 60 days prior to the general election when that candidate or ballot question is on the ballot.”

The bill did not receive a complete hearing or vote on Friday. Committee Chair D. Wonda Johnson, D-McKinley and San Juan, told Wirth she would arrange for it to be debated again Saturday morning. However, it appears that Wirth, who bears considerable responsibilities as Senate majority leader in the final days of the session, opted not to pursue it further. He informed New Mexico In Depth that he plans to make another attempt in future years.

Trip Jennings contributed to this report.