46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2003

SUSPENDING THE CONSIDERATION OF NOMINEES TO BOARDS OF REGENTS UNTIL SUCH TIME AS THE GOVERNOR TERMINATES THE PRACTICE OF DEMANDING THE RESIGNATIONS OF SUCH NOMINEES AS A CONDITION OF THEIR NOMINATIONS.

WHEREAS, Article 12, Section 13 of the constitution of New Mexico provides that the control and management of the state's institutions of higher education shall be vested in boards of regents; and

WHEREAS, the constitution of New Mexico provides that the members of the boards of regents are to be nominated by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate; and

WHEREAS, the constitution of New Mexico provides that the members of the boards of regents serve staggered terms and the supreme court of New Mexico, in Denish v. Johnson (121 NM 280), noted the benefits of staggered terms, specifically that:

"Staggered terms preserve continuity in the public entity by preventing the theoretical possibility of all appointees being replaced at once. This continuity ensures that there will be no erratic changes of the entity's policies", and

"Though individual members may be pressured, this staggering tends to insulate the public entity as a whole from being manipulated for political reasons", and

"Staggered terms of office also can promote creative tension between new appointees and appointees of a prior administration", and

"Such a scheme promotes institutional memory by assuring that older appointees have the opportunity to pass on important knowledge and experience to newer appointees"; and

WHEREAS, the governor of New Mexico has required nominees to the boards of regents, as conditions of their nominations, to submit undated letters of resignation that may be summarily made effective at any time by the governor; and

WHEREAS, such a practice nullifies the many benefits and protections of staggered terms as articulated by the supreme court of New Mexico in Denish v. Johnson; and

WHEREAS, the constitution of New Mexico provides that the members of the boards of regents "shall not be removed except for incompetence, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office" and only after a hearing governed by proceedings promulgated by the supreme court of New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, members of this senate on January 21, 2003 swore an oath to uphold the constitution of New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, the constitution of New Mexico provides that each house of the legislature may determine its rules of procedure;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that no nomination to any of the boards of regents of institutions of higher education be considered further by this senate until such time as the governor notifies the senate that he has nullified the letters of resignation that he has demanded of his nominees to be members of the boards of regents of the institutions of higher education and that he will not make any such future demands as a condition of nomination to one of the boards of regents; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the senate rules committee be prohibited, both during legislative sessions and in the interim, from conducting confirmation hearings on nominees to boards of regents until the governor so notifies the senate; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be delivered to the governor of the state of New Mexico.