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

SPONSOR Carraro

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/19/08

1/22/08 HB

SHORT TITLE Open Conference Committees To Public

SB 205

ANALYST Wilson

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$0.1

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Attorney General’s Office (AGO)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 205 will amend NMSA Section 10-15-2 of the Open Meetings Act to:

•

require “reasonable notice" of meetings to be given to the public via publication on the

daily calendars or by the presiding officer in each house at the time the meeting is

scheduled;

•

remove the exemption from discussion by a legislative committee or policymaking body

in an open meeting for matters relating to any bill, resolution or other legislative matter

not yet presented to either house of the legislature or general appropriation bills;

•

require conference committees to consist of a proportionate membership from the

majority and minority parties, provided that there shall be at least one member from each

minority party. The conference committee shall not be subject to provisions of Section

10-15-3 NMSA 1978 which refers to the Open Meetings Act, but the conference

committee shall be open to the public for public observation but not for public

participation;

•

add a “conference committee" to the definition of a meeting as used in this act.

Senate Bill 205 – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

There will be a minimal administrative cost for statewide update, distribution and documentation

of statutory changes. New laws, amendments to existing laws and new hearings have the

potential to increase caseloads in the courts, thus requiring additional resources to handle the

increase.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Proponents of the bill may cite the mission statement of the Open Meetings Act that say a

representative government is dependent upon an informed electorate and all persons are entitled

to the greatest possible information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of

those officers and employees who represent them.

Proponents may also cite to Article IV, Section 12 of the state constitution requiring all sessions

of each house shall be public to mean that the legislature should not be holding closed

conference committee meetings, or closed legislative committee meetings on matters relating to

bills not yet presented to either house or general appropriation bills.

Opponents of the bill may cite to a precept of constitutional law that one legislature cannot bind

another (with a few exceptions relating to compacts and contracts), and the legislative branch is

free to conduct its own internal proceedings without interference from the courts. Given these

precepts, it is unclear whether state laws governing the conduct of legislative proceedings are

binding on future legislatures, or even the legislative body enacting the law. In addition,

opponents may point out that the legislature has already adopted rules governing the conduct of

its meetings which appear to conflict with this bill and other provisions in the Open Meetings

Act.

The AGO notes the bill’s provisions making conference committee meetings open to the public

are undercut by the exemption from the enforcement provisions of the Open Meetings Act.

Therefore, if there is a violation, the can be no enforcement action against the conference

committee members.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

If there are additional enforcement actions, the AGO or a local district attorney office may need

to commit additional resources and staffing to this issue.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

This bill exempts conference committees from many provisions of the Open Meetings Act, but

requires the conference committee to be open to the public for public observation but not for

public participation. Does this mean that the public will get notice of the meetings and be

allowed to attend.

DW/nt