Hang on, voters. We have to deal with the Public Regulation Commission again \u2013 with yet another constitutional amendment on the election ballot.<\/p>\n
The PRC is the bane of New Mexico\u2019s government. In addition to being lousy at its regulatory job, it has been a source of scandal since it was created.<\/p>\n
The PRC concentrates enormous regulatory power in one agency led by five elected commissioners, independent of the governor. It\u2019s almost as if we had two executive branches with different sets of powers.<\/p>\n
The PRC regulates public utilities such as electric and natural gas. It also has a hodgepodge of regulatory powers for diverse areas including towing companies, ambulances, limousines, and taxis; intrastate motor carrier registration; moving companies, telephone companies and one that especially concerns me, pipeline safety.<\/p>\n
It was created in 1996, by a state constitutional amendment that was passed without enough scrutiny. Two already powerful agencies were, for confusing reasons, combined. One was the governor-appointed Public Utility Commission.\u00a0 The other was the elected State Corporation Commission, some of whose members could fairly be described as shamelessly corrupt. A lot of New Mexicans, including me, might have voted for anything that would abolish the Corporation Commission.<\/p>\n
Commissioners were originally not required to have expertise in the areas they would regulate. Their decisions have frequently been overruled by the courts, largely, it is said, because some commissioners didn\u2019t know the law.\u00a0 Recently a weak and unenforceable requirement for qualifications was added to the law.<\/p>\n
The original PRC was much more powerful than it is today.\u00a0 Several former divisions have been lopped off by a series of constitutional amendments, to which I say thank goodness\u00a0 — especially the Insurance Division (now the independent Office of the Superintendent of Insurance), which desperately needed to be freed from the PRC\u2019s political influence.<\/p>\n
Under legislation passed this year, the PRC will lose the state fire marshal\u2019s office, which will move to the state Department of Homeland Security.\u00a0 There is ongoing pressure to transfer authority for broadband to anyplace else.<\/p>\n
Two seats are up for election this year. New legislation requires candidates to file an affidavit with the secretary of state certifying their professional qualifications. However, it\u2019s not clear how voters can look at that information.<\/p>\n
The proposed constitutional amendment asks whether you approve tossing out the elected body entirely and replacing it with a three-member commission appointed by the governor, \u201cfrom a list of professionally qualified nominees submitted to the governor by a nominating committee\u2026\u201d and required to be bipartisan.<\/p>\n
The nonprofit policy organization Think New Mexico has been behind several previous initiatives but has taken no public position on this amendment.\u00a0 Readers interested in the lengthy and sordid history of the PRC and its predecessors can find it in a booklet published by Think New Mexico in 2011, available on its website.<\/p>\n
Like many New Mexicans, I\u2019m frustrated with the ongoing antics of the PRC and would like a change.<\/p>\n
It appears the proposed constitutional amendment offers a better option. Under the amendment, starting in 2023, the PRC would be stripped of all those miscellaneous functions and be limited to utility regulation. While the governor would have the power to appoint the commissioners, candidates would have to be professionally qualified and picked from a list created by a bipartisan committee..<\/p>\n
The commission itself would have to be bipartisan, with only three commissioners.<\/p>\n
Theoretically, the virtue of an elected commission is that it spreads power out, limiting the amount of power that is concentrated in the person of the governor. But I\u2019m afraid we have to acknowledge that in the case of this commission, the voters have done less than an adequate job.<\/p>\n
Triple Spaced Again, \u00a9 New Mexico News Services 2020<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hang on, voters. We have to deal with the Public Regulation Commission again \u2013 with yet another constitutional amendment on the election ballot. The PRC is the bane of New Mexico\u2019s government. In addition to being lousy at its regulatory … Continue reading