By Jesse Jones
Democratic Rep. Kathleen Cates of Rio Rancho announced she will not pursue House Bill 139, which would have added restrictions to the state’s public records law, with the justification of easing administrative burdens.
The bill aimed to limit, in some cases, who could request records and give government agencies the power to deny requests from requesters deemed problematic. Critics warned it could harm government transparency and accountability.
Cates told the Signpost she “will not be pursuing” the bill this legislative session but appreciates the feedback from opponents.
“My goal was to open the conversation about how to deliver transparency in our government without creating undue burdens for small and rural municipalities with limited resources,” Cates said.
Amanda Lavin, the legal director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government (NMFOG) — a group that strongly opposed the bill — said the legislation was the wrong way to start a conversation.
“While we are grateful that it’s not going to be pursued, we don’t think it was a productive way to initiate any sort of conversation about how IPRA can be improved just because it kind of flies in the face of what we understand to be New Mexico’s emphasis on transparency and strong open records laws,” Lavin said.
The bill would have allowed a $30 fee for locating and redacting records, denying requests that disrupt operations and blocking “vexatious” or annoying requesters for up to three years.
The bill would have also exempted certain records, including those related to law enforcement, infrastructure, cybersecurity and election processes.
The bill, which was supported by the nonprofit advocacy group New Mexico Counties, was drafted and brought to Cates by Sandoval County Attorney Michael Eshleman. The New Mexico Municipal League supports modernizing the current IPRA laws and drafted a report evaluating the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) and its impact on local governments.
Eshleman believes New Mexico Counties will back Rep. Christine Chandler’s IPRA bill since Cate’s bill will not move forward.
He said Chandler’s bill makes minor changes to the law, including creating a task force to review potential updates.
Eshleman said IPRA requests place the greatest burden on county clerks and sheriffs statewide.
“We spend a lot of time on IPRA here at the county. I think we received about 1,500 requests last year. In the city of Albuquerque, they had 10,000 plus,” he said.
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