State of New Mexico
House of Representatives
Ben Lujan, Speaker of the House
Ken Martinez, House Majority Leader
Sheryl Williams Stapleton, House Majority Whip

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release Contact: Victoria Chávez 646-241-5335
January 26, 2010 Bailey Sachs 505-261-2419

Rep. Cote Pushes for Transparency in State Land Office

Santa Fe, NM – Rep. Nathan Cote (D-Las Cruces) has introduced House Bill 141 in an effort to create more transparency within the State Land Office. HB 141 would require the commissioner of public lands to develop, operate and maintain a public website that contains financial leases, sales or agreements relating to state lands. The bill sets a deadline of October 1st this year for the commissioner to create the information exchange process and July 1st of next year to have the website up and available for public access.*

Rep. Cote said, “This legislation will provide more of an opportunity for the public to be well informed on the current business matters of the State Land Office, which has been under recent public scrutiny for being less than transparent. The public is more aware of the need for transparency in our government offices and among its officials. This is especially true in dealing with enormous amounts of state resources. It’s our responsibility to require state offices to provide important financial information to New Mexico’s taxpayers and be accountable to the public trust.”

Under the proposed legislation, the website would provide the following information:

- the annual operating budget with a list of monthly expenditures,
- the commissioner’s contracts for the purchase of personal property or services totaling over $20,000,
- revenue received each month and from what source,
- a list State Land Office employees who are exempt from the Personnel Act,
- each upcoming monthly oil and gas lease and the results,
- all other leases besides oil and gas,
- copies of each lease or other agreement for the commercial use of state land, and
- copies of each land swap.

HB 141 is currently assigned to the House Rules Committee for consideration and is in line with the Governor’s message on transparency.

*Click hyperlinks to view complementary YouTube video quote. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlur9dlVS6k