44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

RELATING TO ELECTIONS; APPLYING THE CAMPAIGN REPORTING ACT AND THE FINANCE DISCLOSURE ACT TO SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

Section 1. 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 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 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 any 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 by certified or registered mail, by telecopier, electronic mail or facsimile or by personal service;

H. "election" means any primary, general, school board 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] a 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 includes 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; provided that a political committee includes a single individual who by his actions represents that he is a political committee and a person or an organization of two or more persons that within one calendar year expends funds in excess of two thousand dollars ($2,000) 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 prepared and prescribed by the secretary of state;

O. "proper filing officer" means either the secretary of state or the county clerk as provided in Section 1-19-27 NMSA 1978;

P. "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. "reporting individual" means every public official, candidate or treasurer of a campaign committee and every treasurer of a political committee; and

R. "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."

Section 2. Section 1-19-29 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993, Chapter 46, Section 5, as amended by Laws 1997, Chapter 12, Section 1 and also by Laws 1997, Chapter 112, Section 3) is amended to read:

"1-19-29. TIME AND PLACE OF FILING REPORTS.--

A. Annually, all reporting individuals shall file with the proper filing officer by 5:00 p.m. on the second Monday in May a report of all expenditures made and contributions received on or before the first Monday in May and not previously reported. The report shall be filed annually until the reporting individual's bank account has been closed and the other provisions specified in Subsection E of this section have been satisfied.

B. In an election year, in addition to the May report provided for in Subsection A of this section, all reporting individuals, except for persons who file a statement of exception pursuant to Section 1-19-33 NMSA 1978 and except for public officials who are not candidates in an election that year, shall file reports of all expenditures made and contributions received according to the following schedule:

(1) by 5:00 p.m. on the second Monday in October, a report of all expenditures made and contributions received on or before the first Monday in October and not previously reported;

(2) by 5:00 p.m. on the Thursday before a primary, general, school board or statewide special election, a report of all expenditures made and contributions received by 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday before the election. Any contribution or pledge to contribute that is received after 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday before the election and that is for five hundred dollars ($500) or more in a legislative or nonstatewide judicial election, or two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) or more in a statewide election shall be reported to the proper filing officer either in a supplemental report on a prescribed form within twenty-four hours of receipt or in the report to be filed by 5:00 p.m. on the Thursday before a primary, general, school board or statewide special election, except that any such contribution or pledge to contribute that is received after 5:00 p.m. on the Friday before the election may be reported by 12:00 noon on the Monday before the election; and

(3) by 5:00 p.m. on the thirtieth day after a primary, general, school board or statewide special election, a report of all expenditures made and contributions received on or before the twenty-fifth day after the election and not previously reported.

C. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, the report due on the thirtieth day after an election need be the only report filed after the annual May report if the candidate is not opposed in the election and if the report includes all expenditures made and contributions received for that election and not previously reported.

D. A report of expenditures and contributions filed after a deadline set forth in this section shall not be deemed to have been timely filed.

E. Each reporting individual shall file a report of expenditures and contributions annually pursuant to the filing schedule set forth in this section, regardless of whether any expenditures were made or contributions were received during the reporting period. Reports shall be required until the reporting individual delivers a report to the proper filing officer stating that:

(1) there are no outstanding campaign debts;

(2) all money has been expended in accordance with the provisions of Section 1-19-29.1 NMSA 1978; and

(3) the bank account has been closed.

F. Each treasurer of a political committee shall file a report of expenditures and contributions annually pursuant to the filing schedule set forth in this section until the treasurer files a report that affirms that the committee has dissolved or no longer exists and that its bank account has been closed.

G. A reporting individual who is a candidate within the meaning of the Campaign Reporting Act because of the amount of contributions he receives or expenditures he makes and who does not ultimately file a declaration of candidacy or a nominating petition with the proper filing officer shall nevertheless file a report, not later than the second Monday in May for a primary election or the second Monday in October for a general election, of all contributions received and expenditures made on or before the first Monday in May for a primary election or the first Monday in October for a general election, and not previously reported."

Section 3. Section 1-19-33 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1979, Chapter 360, Section 9, as amended) is amended to read:

"1-19-33. EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN CANDIDATES FROM

REPORTING--STATEMENT OF EXCEPTION.--

A. In a year in which a primary, general, school board or special statewide election is held, a person who seeks or considers a public office covered by the Campaign Reporting Act and who anticipates receiving or expending for the election less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for a nonstatewide office, or two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for a statewide office, may file, in lieu of filing a report of expenditures and contributions, a statement of exception to that effect before the election on a prescribed form and under penalty of perjury. The statement of exception shall be filed by 5:00 p.m. on the second Monday in May for a primary or special statewide election or by 5:00 p.m. on the second Monday in October for a general, school board or special statewide election. The statement shall be filed with the proper filing officer.

B. Upon the filing of the statement of exception, the candidate shall not be required to file a report of expenditures and contributions except as provided in Subsection D of this section.

C. A statement of exception that is not timely filed or that includes false or incomplete information shall be subject to the notice, penalty and arbitration provisions set forth in Section 1-19-34.4 NMSA 1978.

D. If at any time after filing a statement of exception a candidate receives or expends in an election more than the threshold amounts provided in Subsection A of this section, the candidate shall file reports of expenditures and contributions according to the reporting schedule provided in Section 1-19-29 NMSA 1978."

Section 4. Section 10-16A-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993, Chapter 46, Section 41, as amended) is amended to read:

"10-16A-3. REQUIRED DISCLOSURES FOR CERTAIN CANDIDATES AND PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES--CONDITION FOR PLACEMENT ON BALLOT OR APPOINTMENT.--

A. At the time of filing a declaration of candidacy or nominating petition, a candidate for legislative, school board or statewide office shall file with the proper filing officer, as defined in Section 1-8-25 NMSA 1978, a financial disclosure statement on a prescribed form. In addition, each year thereafter during the month of January, a legislator, school board member and a person holding a statewide office shall file with the proper filing officer a financial disclosure statement. If the proper filing officer is not the secretary of state, the proper filing officer shall forward a copy of the financial disclosure statement to the secretary of state within seventy-two hours.

B. A state agency head or official whose appointment to a board or commission is subject to confirmation by the senate shall file with the secretary of state a financial disclosure statement within thirty days of appointment and during the month of January every year thereafter that he holds public office.

C. The financial disclosure statement shall include for any person identified in Subsection A or B of this section and the person's spouse the following information for the prior calendar year:

(1) the full name, mailing address and residence address of each person covered in the disclosure statement, except the address of the spouse need not be disclosed; the name and address of the person's and spouse's employer and the title or position held; and a brief description of the nature of the business or occupation;

(2) all sources of gross income of more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) to each person covered in the disclosure statement, identified by general category descriptions that disclose the nature of the income source, in the following broad categories: law practice or consulting operation or similar business, finance and banking, farming and ranching, medicine and health care, insurance (as a business and not as payment on an insurance claim), oil and gas, transportation, utilities, general stock market holdings, bonds, government, education, manufacturing, real estate, consumer goods sales with a general description of the consumer goods and the category "other", with direction that the income source be similarly described. In describing a law practice, consulting operation or similar business of the person or spouse, the major areas of specialization or income sources shall be described, and if the spouse or a person in the reporting person's or spouse's law firm, consulting operation or similar business is or was during the reporting calendar year or the prior calendar year a registered lobbyist under the Lobbyist Regulation Act, the names and addresses of all clients represented for lobbying purposes during those two years shall be disclosed;

(3) a general description of the type of real estate owned in New Mexico, other than a personal residence, and the county where it is located;

(4) all other New Mexico business interests not otherwise listed of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more in a New Mexico business or entity, including any position held and a general statement of purpose of the business or entity;

(5) all memberships held by the reporting individual and his spouse on boards of for-profit businesses in New Mexico;

(6) all New Mexico professional licenses held;

(7) each state agency that was sold goods or services in excess of five thousand dollars ($5,000) during the prior calendar year by a person covered in the disclosure statement;

(8) each state agency, other than a court, before which a person covered in the disclosure statement represented or assisted clients in the course of his employment during the prior calendar year; and

(9) a general category that allows the person filing the disclosure statement to provide whatever other financial interest or additional information the person believes should be noted to describe potential areas of interest that should be disclosed.

D. A complete financial disclosure statement shall be filed every year. The secretary of state shall mail each elected official required to file a financial disclosure statement a copy of any statement the person filed the previous year.

E. The financial disclosure statements filed pursuant to this section are public records open to public inspection during regular office hours and shall be retained by the state for five years from the date of filing.

F. A person who files a financial disclosure statement may file an amended statement at any time to reflect significant changed circumstances that occurred since the last statement was filed.

G. [Any] A candidate for a legislative, school board or statewide office who fails or refuses to file a financial disclosure statement required by this section before the final date for the withdrawal of candidates provided for in the Election Code shall not have his name printed on the election ballot.

H. For a state agency head or an official whose appointment to a board or commission is subject to confirmation by the senate, the filing of the financial disclosure statement required by this section is a condition of entering upon and continuing in state employment or holding an appointed position."