New Mexico is trying to fix utility and insurance regulation yet again.\u00a0 New Mexico\u2019s\u00a0 Public Regulation\u00a0 Commission (PRC), created in 1996 to replace the previous, dysfunctional State Corporations Commission and the appointed Public Utilities Commission, has suffered its own dysfunction. \u00a0So now we are voting on three proposed constitutional amendments (Amendments 2, 3 and 4) intended to fix the PRC.<\/p>\n
To be informed on these proposals, you must do more than simply read the ballot. \u00a0\u00a0The ballot contains only a sentence briefly describing each amendment, taken from the title of the legislation.\u00a0 That leaves a lot to your imagination.\u00a0\u00a0 If you want to know what you are voting on, here\u2019s some homework.<\/p>\n
The Legislative Council Service (www.nmlegis.gov\/lcs<\/a>) has prepared a detailed online publication describing the PRC, explaining the amendments, offering arguments for and against, and copying the full text of all the amendments (if you can\u2019t find the publication, use your search engine). \u00a0I recommend it.\u00a0 The League of Women Voters has briefer arguments in its voter guide.<\/p>\n Amendment 2\u00a0 proposes to require qualifications for future PRC commissioners. \u00a0The presumption is that commissioners who regulate something as complex as utilities ought to have prior knowledge or experience.<\/p>\n The amendment leaves it to subsequent legislation to establish the qualifications.\u00a0 That creates some potential for mischief.\u00a0 Those qualifications will have to crystal clear, or they could be subject to nasty legal disputes (\u201chow dare they tell me I can\u2019t run for this office!\u201d), and there must be a decision-maker to determine whether candidates meet the qualifications.<\/p>\n Amendment 3 proposes to move the corporate registration function out of the PRC and to the Secretary of State.\u00a0 This is easy to endorse; it will simplify life for businesses while relieving the PRC of a responsibility unrelated to its primary function.<\/p>\n The Santa Fe think tank that originally proposed these amendments, Think New Mexico, recommended moving several other divisions of the PRC to other agencies, and it\u2019s regrettable that more of those recommendations are not in the proposed amendments.<\/p>\n Amendment 4 takes the Department of Insurance out of the PRC.\u00a0 The proposed way to do this is novel.\u00a0 It creates an Insurance Nominating Committee whose only job is to appoint the Superintendent of Insurance.\u00a0\u00a0 Supposedly this committee will be politically independent, will select professionally qualified individuals to serve as Superintendent, and will not gum up the works of the department with political pressure, as some PRC members allegedly have done and as Corporations Commissioners allegedly did in years past.<\/p>\n I\u2019m skeptical at the idea that any politically-appointed committee in New Mexico will be truly independent.\u00a0 As with Amendment 2, it is left to the legislature to invent the composition of this committee and flesh out the details of how it will work, so politics will no doubt be embedded into the committee structure.\u00a0 But I hope for the best.<\/p>\n The amendment says the committee appoints a superintendent and does nothing else, leaving the superintendent completely free of accountability to anybody. \u00a0I can\u2019t quite believe the legislature will let that happen.<\/p>\n There is certainly no harm in taking insurance out of the PRC.\u00a0 A knowledgeable old-timer once told me that the Corporation Commission got the Department of Insurance years ago because the state constitution then limited the commissioners\u2019 salary to $25,000 a year, and they could get a pay raise by serving as the Insurance Commission.\u00a0 That story is unverified (the old-timer is no longer available) but so charming I must share it.<\/p>\n People I trust have endorsed these proposed amendments so I support them, but we must remember that the second part of this process \u2013 the enabling legislation to be enacted next year \u2013 is critical to making this work.<\/p>\n Triple Spaced Again, \u00a9 New Mexico News Services 2012<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" New Mexico is trying to fix utility and insurance regulation yet again.\u00a0 New Mexico\u2019s\u00a0 Public Regulation\u00a0 Commission (PRC), created in 1996 to replace the previous, dysfunctional State Corporations Commission and the appointed Public Utilities Commission, has suffered its own dysfunction. … Continue reading