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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 family

relationship or close personal relationship rather than the

recipient's position as a state officer or employee or

candidate for state office;

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(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;

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 to be

used by the state or a political subdivision of the state,

including travel, subsistence and related expenses accepted

by a state agency in connection with a state officer's or

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employee's official duties that take place away from the

state official's or employee's station of duty;

(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 that is directly related to the state

officer's or employee's official duties; or

(10) a retirement gift;

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

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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 a client of a lobbyist

with respect to matters within the donee's jurisdiction; 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 lobbyist registered with the secretary of

state, the lobbyist's employer or a government contractor

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.

C. A state officer or employee shall not solicit

gifts for a charity from a business or corporation regulated

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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.

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.