Wednesday, February 04, 2009Capping The Campaign Cash For All; Senator's Measure Includes Nonprofits, Plus: A Jobs Question On General Mills, And: UNM Regents Circling Wagons?
Sen. Wilson Beffort
![]() Nonprofits, led by political operative Eli Lee, say because they are federally approved they aren't required to disclose where their money comes from or what they spend it on. The Attorney General disagrees and the matter is before the federal courts. Wilson Beffort's contribution limits for nonprofits would not necessarily make them reveal their funding sources but the amount of unaccountable money would diminish tremendously. The big money has been coming in here from "progressive" nonprofits, but conservative nonprofits are also currently free to play with as much money as they want and without meaningful accountability. Feldman and the progressive coterie in Santa Fe have before them the door of compromise: a contribution cap that includes all players. If they walk through it, we could finally get a major campaign reform bill approved. SAM'S WORLD David Contarino IT'S JOB ONE Job one is New Mexico right now is jobs---the loss of them. The problem remains serious. From the Guv: The Board of Finance...approved a $240,000 emergency loan to the Department of Workforce Solutions. The loan will cover costs of improvements Richardson ordered in response to increased demand from New Mexicans trying to access unemployment benefits in recent weeks. JOB QUESTION ![]() MONEY FOR NOTHING? We caught a glimpse of northern Congressman Ben Ray Lujan on TV talking about the stimulus bill and how much of it would go directly into New Mexico's general fund to help cover the budget shortfalls. We haven't seen anything on the wires about it, so we asked his office for details: There is a state stabilization fund that will receive an estimated $419 million over the next two fiscal years through the current House plan. Basically, it’s used to prevent cuts in state services. So that would mean $200 million for the fiscal year that ends June 30 and another $200 million or so for the one that starts July 1st. If that money makes it to the President's desk, it's going to take a little pressure off of lawmakers as they grapple with big budget shortfalls. But problems have developed for Obama and the stimulus, casting doubt on whether that money will be available to our struggling Santa Fe solons. CIRCLING THE WAGONS? Our UNM coverage has generated a number of e-mails. Let's check some out. Anonymous---A word to the UNM President: Sir, do not give a raise to someone involved in a pay-to-play scandal, think before adding another Vice President, and take a play from the Governor's book, cut some administrative salaries--freezing salaries after the pay raises amounts to an empty gesture. Jacob Salazar-- (UNM Executive Vice-President) David Harris gets a great raise, and they wonder why the morale is so low! Since being hired (President David) Schmidly has been all to willing to play in our little patron system. I seriously hope Mr. and Mrs. New Mexico wake up and smell the frijoles! Kudos to the UNM faculty! THE BOTTOM LINES ![]() Another incumbent, Mary Lee Martin of the ABQ School Board, was also defeated Tuesday, ending a 20 year run on the often controversial board. (Complete election results for CNM and APS are here.) We ran into Jeff at the coffee shop recently.. We blogged him tough during his political problems, but he was stoic about his fate and not at all bitter. We think his auditor problems probably cost him his CNM seat yesterday. But he comes from a Socorro family that has been playing the game for generations and they will surely play again on the rough and tumble field of La Politica... News? Comments? E-mail them in. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2009 Not for reproduction without permission of the author |
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