HOUSE BILL 244
49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009
INTRODUCED BY
Thomas C. Taylor
AN ACT
RELATING TO STATE CONTRACTS; PROHIBITING CERTAIN CONTRIBUTIONS AND SOLICITATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS BY THE PRINCIPALS OF STATE CONTRACTORS AND PROSPECTIVE STATE CONTRACTORS; PROHIBITING CERTAIN SOLICITATIONS OF CONTRIBUTIONS FROM STATE CONTRACTORS AND PROSPECTIVE STATE CONTRACTORS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. A new section of the Campaign Reporting Act is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] CONTRIBUTIONS FROM STATE CONTRACTORS PROHIBITED.--
A. No principal of a state contractor or prospective state contractor, with regard to a state contract, bid solicitation or request for proposals with or from a state agency in the executive, legislative or judicial branch or an instrumentality of the state, shall make a contribution to or solicit contributions on behalf of:
(1) a candidate or candidate committee established by a candidate for nomination or election to a state public office; or
(2) a political committee authorized to make contributions or expenditures to or for the benefit of such candidates.
B. The contribution limitations provided for in Subsection A of this section as applied to principals of a state contractor shall remain in effect for two years following the expiration of a state contract held by that state contractor.
C. On or after July 1, 2011, if a principal of a prospective contractor has contributed to a state public officer or candidate for state public office in the two years immediately preceding the issuance of a request for bids or request for proposals, neither a state agency nor an instrumentality of the state shall enter into a state contract with that prospective state contractor pursuant to that request for bids or request for proposals.
D. If a principal of a state contractor makes or solicits a contribution prohibited by Subsection A of this section, the contracting state agency or instrumentality of the state may, in the case of a state contract executed on or after the effective date of this section, void the existing contract with that contractor, and no state agency or instrumentality of the state shall award that state contractor a state contract or an extension or an amendment to a state contract for two years after the election for which the contribution is made or solicited. Each state contract shall include the provisions of this subsection and Subsection A of this section as conditions of the contract.
E. A state public officer, candidate for state public office or any agent of a state public officer or candidate shall not solicit contributions on behalf of a candidate, a candidate committee or a political committee from a principal of a state contractor or prospective state contractor.
F. The provisions of this section shall not restrict a principal of a state contractor or prospective state contractor from establishing a candidate committee for the principal's own campaign or from soliciting contributions from persons not prohibited from making contributions by this section."
Section 2. Section 1-19-26 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1979, Chapter 360, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:
"1-19-26. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Campaign Reporting Act:
A. "advertising campaign" means an advertisement or series of advertisements used for a political purpose and disseminated to the public either in print, by radio or television broadcast or by any other electronic means, including telephonic communications, and may include direct or bulk mailings of printed materials;
B. "anonymous contribution" means a contribution the contributor of which is unknown to the candidate or [his] the candidate's agent or the political committee or its agent who accepts the contribution;
C. "bank account" means an account in a financial institution located in New Mexico;
D. "campaign committee" means two or more persons authorized by a candidate to raise, collect or expend contributions on the candidate's behalf for the purpose of electing [him] the candidate to office;
E. "candidate" means an individual who seeks or considers an office in an election covered by the Campaign Reporting Act, including a public official, who either has filed a declaration of candidacy or nominating petition or:
(1) for a nonstatewide office, has received contributions or made expenditures of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more or authorized another person or campaign committee to receive contributions or make expenditures of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more for the purpose of seeking election to the office; or
(2) for a statewide office, has received contributions or made expenditures of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) or more or authorized another person or campaign committee to receive contributions or make expenditures of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) or more for the purpose of seeking election to the office or for candidacy exploration purposes in the years prior to the year of the election;
F. "contribution" means a gift, subscription, loan, advance or deposit of money or other thing of value, including the estimated value of an in-kind contribution, that is made or received for a political purpose, including payment of a debt incurred in an election campaign, but does not include the value of services provided without compensation or unreimbursed travel or other personal expenses of individuals who volunteer a portion or all of their time on behalf of a candidate or political committee, nor does it include the administrative or solicitation expenses of a political committee that are paid by an organization that sponsors the committee;
G. "deliver" or "delivery" means to deliver by certified or registered mail, telecopier, electronic transmission or facsimile or by personal service;
H. "election" means any primary, general or statewide special election in New Mexico and includes county and judicial retention elections but excludes municipal, school board and special district elections;
I. "election year" means an even-numbered year in which an election covered by the Campaign Reporting Act is held;
J. "expenditure" means a payment, transfer or distribution or obligation or promise to pay, transfer or distribute any money or other thing of value for a political purpose, including payment of a debt incurred in an election campaign or pre-primary convention, but does not include the administrative or solicitation expenses of a political committee that are paid by an organization that sponsors the committee;
K. "person" means an individual or entity;
L. "political committee" means two or more persons, other than members of a candidate's immediate family or campaign committee or a husband and wife who make a contribution out of a joint account, who are selected, appointed, chosen, associated, organized or operated primarily for a political purpose; and "political committee" includes:
(1) political action committees or similar organizations composed of employees or members of any corporation, labor organization, trade or professional association or any other similar group that raises, collects, expends or contributes money or any other thing of value for a political purpose;
(2) a single individual [who by his] whose actions [represents] represent that [he] the individual is a political committee; and
(3) a person or an organization of two or more persons that within one calendar year expends funds in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) to conduct an advertising campaign for a political purpose;
M. "political purpose" means influencing or attempting to influence an election or pre-primary convention, including a constitutional amendment or other question submitted to the voters;
N. "prescribed form" means a form or electronic format prepared and prescribed by the secretary of state;
O. "principal of a state contractor or prospective state contractor" means:
(1) a person who is a member of the board of directors of, or has an ownership interest in, a state contractor or prospective state contractor, which is a business entity, except for an individual who owns less than five percent of the shares of that state contractor or prospective state contractor that is a publicly traded corporation;
(2) a person who is employed by a state contractor or prospective state contractor, which is a business entity, as president, treasurer or executive or senior vice president;
(3) a person who is the chief executive officer of a state contractor or prospective state contractor, which is not a business entity;
(4) an employee of any state contractor or prospective state contractor who has managerial or discretionary responsibilities with respect to a state contract;
(5) the spouse or a dependent child of a person described in Paragraphs (1) through (4) of this subsection; or
(6) a political committee established by or on behalf of a person described in this subsection;
[O.] P. "proper filing officer" means either the secretary of state or the county clerk as provided in Section 1-19-27 NMSA 1978;
Q. "prospective state contractor" means a person, business entity or nonprofit organization that submits a bid in response to a bid solicitation by the state, a state agency or an instrumentality of the state, or a proposal in response to a request for proposals by the state, a state agency or an instrumentality of the state, until the contract has been entered into. "Prospective state contractor" does not include a municipality or any other political subdivision of the state or an employee in the executive, legislative or judicial branch of state government or instrumentality of the state, whether full- or part-time, in such person's capacity as a state or instrumentality of the state employee;
[P.] R. "public official" means a person elected to an office in an election covered by the Campaign Reporting Act or a person appointed to an office that is subject to an election covered by that act;
[Q.] S. "reporting individual" means every public official, candidate or treasurer of a campaign committee and every treasurer of a political committee; [and]
T. "state agency" means an office, department, board, council, commission, institution or other agency in the executive, legislative or judicial branch of state government;
U. "state contract" means an agreement or contract with the state or any state agency or instrumentality of the state, having a value of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) or more, or a combination or series of such agreements or contracts having a value of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or more in a fiscal year, for:
(1) the rendition of services;
(2) the furnishing of any material, supplies or equipment;
(3) the construction, alteration or repair of any public building or public work;
(4) the acquisition, sale or lease of any land or building;
(5) a licensing arrangement; or
(6) a grant, loan or loan guarantee;
V. "state contractor" means a person, business entity or nonprofit organization that enters into a state contract, which shall be deemed to be a state contractor until the termination of the contract. "State contractor" does not include a municipality or any other political subdivision of the state or an employee in the executive, legislative or judicial branch of state government or an instrumentality of the state, whether full- or part-time, in that person's capacity as a state or instrumentality of the state employee; and
[R.] W. "statement of exception" or "statement" means the prescribed form subscribed and sworn to by a candidate to indicate that the candidate does not intend to raise or expend the minimum amount required for the filing of a report of expenditures and contributions as provided in Section 1-19-33 NMSA 1978."
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