SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed an overhaul of the state’s labor union bargaining laws pertaining to public employees, over the objections of open-government advocates who say some provisions may shield access to salaries and other employment information for government and school workers.
The Democratic governor also signed legislation Thursday that eliminates a six-month waiting period for public disclosure of financial settlements to resolve accusations of abuses or misbehavior by public officials.
The changes to settlement disclosures respond to concerns that the system led to secretive, unjustified payouts under former Republican Gov. Susana Martinez. The settlement reforms sponsored by Republican Sen. Sander Rue of Albuquerque also would eliminate criminal misdemeanor penalties for improper disclosure of public records that could bar employees from state employment for five years.
Advocates for the newly signed collective bargaining bill say it consolidates the number of local labor boards to provide more efficiency and accountability, while reducing delays in petitions to unionize workplaces. Jurisdictions without a local labor board will default to the state Public Employee Labor Relations Board on collective bargaining matters.
Teachers’ unions and labor groups that represent state and local employees lobbied for the changes. The free-market Americans for Prosperity group, funded by the conservative-leaning Koch network, opposed the legislation as a power grab by union leaders that gives them access to personal contact information for public employees that can be used to encourage union membership. Republicans and a couple Democrats voted against the bill.
The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government says the bill contains provisions that would prevent public access to government and school employees’ names, hire dates, salaries and other information supplied to labor boards or groups - and that it should be rewritten.
In a statement, Lujan Grisham spokesman Tripp Stelnicki said that publicly accessible information about government employees will remain that way with “no infringement upon or contravention of the public’s right.”
The Foundation for Open Government said it “assumes that the governor will instruct the executive branch that it is not to withhold any public records based on this statute.”
The governor also signed a bill that establishes new penalties for public contractors who pay workers less than the prevailing wage and benefits set out in state statute for a variety of trades and professions.
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