Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance

committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

if they are used for other purposes.

Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are a vailable on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).

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attachments may be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.

F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Boitano

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/11/07

3/8/07 HB

SHORT TITLE Former Legislators as Lobbyists

SB 588/aSJC

ANALYST Wilson

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to HB 819, HB 820, 821, 822, 823, HB 553 & SB 400.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Attorney General’s Office (AGO)

Secretary of State (SOS)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of SJC Amendment

The Senate Judiciary Committee amendment adds that

t

he provisions of this act shall apply to

members of the legislature who resign from office, are removed from office or serve their terms

in office on or after July 1, 2007.

Synopsis of Original Bill

Senate Bill 588 enacts a new section of the Lobbyist Regulation Act (NMSA Sections 2-11-1 to

2-11-9) to prohibit a member of the legislature from accepting compensation as a lobbyist for a

period of one calendar year after the member resigns from office, is removed from office or

serves the member's term in office.

The bill also prohibits a lobbyist's employer from compensating a member of the legislature as a

lobbyist for a period of one calendar year after the member resigns from office, is removed from

office or serves the member's term in office.

Senate Bill 588/aSJC – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

There is no fiscal impact.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

There may be a conflict of interest or at the very least there may be an appearance of a conflict of

interest.

The National Conference of Legislators note that conflicts of interest may be the most common

ethical dilemma faced by state legislators. In fact, ethics commissions and committees have

reported that the largest number of requests for advice and counseling revolve around conflict of

interest issues.

Conflicts of interest are not, within themselves, wrong or unusual. Actually, they are inherent in

our states' citizen legislatures. Stuart Gilman, president of the Ethics Resource Center, says,

“Although it might seem obvious, one has to have at least two interests to have a conflict of

interest. The ability to identify conflicts of interest does not necessarily ensure that one can deal

with them effectively."

Although conflicts of interest can occur in any setting or profession, they may be more common

in the public sector. In the public sector, conflicts of interest typically arise when a legislator or

staff member has the potential to receive a personal benefit based on his or her public position.

Often, the personal benefit is a financial one.

Proponents of this bill believe that legislators should vote in all of their constituent’s best

interests-not just one industry or advocates group. They often state that the appearance of having

a conflict of interest is a bad as actually having one.

Opponent believe that legislators- especially those in a “citizens" legislature need to make a

living like everyone and should not be barred from employment in any area.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

There is no enforcement mechanism in this bill.

RELATIONSHIP

This bill relates to a package of ethics bills that include: HB 819, HB 820, 821, 822, 823, HB

553 & SB 400.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

Which agency will be responsible for enforcing this bill.

DW/nt