SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL 931
48th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2007
AN ACT
RELATING TO GOVERNMENTAL CONDUCT; LIMITING GIFTS TO CANDIDATES FOR STATE OFFICE AND STATE OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES AND THEIR FAMILIES; PROVIDING FOR PENALTIES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. SHORT TITLE.--This act may be cited as the "Gift Act".
Section 2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Gift Act:
A. "family" means a spouse and dependent children;
B. "gift" means any donation or transfer without commensurate consideration of money, property, service, loan, promise or any other thing of value, including food, lodging, transportation and tickets for entertainment or sporting events, but does not include:
(1) any activity, including but not limited to the acceptance of a donation, transfer or contribution, or the making of an expenditure or reimbursement, that is authorized by the Campaign Reporting Act or the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended;
(2) a gift given under circumstances that make it clear that the gift is motivated by a familial relationship rather than the recipient's position as a state officer or employee or candidate for state office;
(3) compensation for services rendered or capital invested that is:
(a) normal and reasonable in amount;
(b) commensurate with the value of the service rendered or the magnitude of the risk taken on the investment;
(c) in no way increased or enhanced by reason of the recipient's position as a state officer or employee or candidate for state office; and
(d) not otherwise prohibited by law;
(4) payment for a sale or lease of tangible or intangible property that is commensurate with the value of the services rendered and is in no way increased or enhanced by reason of the recipient's position as a state officer or employee or candidate for state office;
(5) a commercially reasonable loan made in the ordinary course of the lender's business on terms that are
available to all similarly qualified borrowers;
(6) reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses actually incurred in the course of performing a service for the person making the reimbursement;
(7) any gift accepted on behalf of and that becomes the property of the state or a political subdivision of the state;
(8) anything for which fair market value is paid or reimbursed by the state officer or employee or candidate for state office;
(9) reasonable expenses for a bona fide educational program or other activities that are directly related to the state officer's or employee's official duties; provided that in case of the legislators, the program or activity is approved by the New Mexico legislative council; or
(10) an educational scholarship or other grant or award made in the ordinary course of the grantor's business and that is available to all similarly qualified applicants;
C. "market value" means the retail cost a person would incur to purchase a gift;
D. "restricted donor" means a person who:
(1) is or is seeking to be a party to any one or any combination of sales, purchases, leases or contracts to, from or with the agency in which the donee holds office or is employed;
(2) will personally be, or is the agent of a person who will be, directly and substantially affected financially by the performance or nonperformance of the donee's official duty in a way that is greater than the effect on the public generally or on a substantial class of persons to which the person belongs as a member of a profession, occupation, industry or region;
(3) is personally, or is the agent of a person who is, the subject of or party to a matter that is pending before a regulatory agency and over which the donee has discretionary authority as part of the donee's official duties or employment within the regulatory agency; or
(4) is a lobbyist or the lobbyist's employer with respect to matters over which the donee may reasonably be expected to act; and
E. "state officer or employee" means any person who has been elected to, appointed to or hired for any state office and who receives compensation in the form of salary or is eligible for per diem or mileage.
Section 3. LIMITATION ON GIFTS.--
A. A state officer or employee or a candidate for state office, or that person's family, shall not knowingly accept from a restricted donor, and a restricted donor shall not knowingly donate to a state officer or employee or a candidate for state office, or that person's family, a gift of a market value greater than two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
B. A state officer or employee or a candidate for state office, or that person's family, shall not accept from a restricted donor, and a restricted donor shall not donate to a state officer or employee or candidate for state office, or that person's family, a gift of a market value greater than one hundred dollars ($100) during a legislative session.
C. A restricted donor shall not donate gifts of an aggregate market value greater than one thousand dollars ($1,000) in a calendar year to any one state officer or employee or to any one candidate for state office or to the family of any one officer, employee or candidate.
D. A state officer or employee shall not solicit gifts for a charity from a business or corporation regulated by the state agency for which the state officer or employee works and shall not otherwise solicit donations for a charity in such a manner that it appears that the purpose of the donor in making the gift is to influence the state officer or employee in the performance of an official duty. An agent of a business or corporation regulated by a state agency shall not donate to a charity in response to a solicitation for that charity from a state officer or employee of that state agency.
Section 4. PENALTIES.--A person who violates the provisions of the Gift Act is guilty of a petty misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be sentenced in accordance with the provisions of Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978.
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