Report from Santa Fe; Diane Denish

music Report from Santa Fe is made possible in part by grants from the members of the National Education Association of New Mexico, an organization of professionals who believe that investing in public education is an investment in our state's economic future and by a grant from the Healey Foundation, Taos, New Mexico Hello, I'm Lorraine Mills and welcome to report from Santa Fe. Our guest today is Diane Danish, the Lieutenant Governor of the Great State of New Mexico. Thank you for joining us Well, thank you for inviting me one more time as we go into my last session of Lieutenant Governor. I think we've done it before most of the sessions. And we have to say that as in your role as Lieutenant Governor, by the way, the first Lieutenant Governor that was a woman in the state of New Mexico, but you also preside over the Senate. So I love taking advantage of your perspective from the cat bird seat, from which you watch over one house of the legislature. Let's talk a little about your background. One of the things that you've done that I've always been so appreciative of, you established the children's cabinet. The first children's cabinet, could you tell

our audience what that was and is? Well, initially the children's cabinet was an effort to streamline and work together, spend our taxpayer dollars better. We thought we'd have a few key secretaries, health, human services, some of those, the CYFD coming together. It turned out we had 13 cabinet secretaries who have some way of influencing the safety, education, health, ability to go to work or the civic engagement areas of young people's lives from zero to 21. It's been a wonderful effort of starting to look at how we really worked together in a more collaborative way. But I do want to say that one of the things about the children's cabinet, it was preceded by a lot of hard work among many children's advocates, but also by First Lady Alice King. Who established the First Children's Youth and Families Department? The First Children's Youth and Families Department, and this was just the next step in many ways

to make sure that that department had the support and the resources to work with all these other agencies. Almost everything we do in state government impacts children or young people's lives in the long term. Speaking of Alice King, we lost a giant this year when we lost Governor Bruce King. I saw you at the funeral. What were your thoughts on that day? Well, I thought it was the end of an era. I've known Bruce King for a long time, and I'd love to tell the story about 17, 18 years ago when we had a vacancy in the Land Commissioner. Someone put my name in and he actually interviewed me as one of the contenders to be the Land Commissioner. He had a chance to appoint the Land Commissioner. And we had a lot of discussion about whether a Lady Land Commissioner would make it or not. But the fact that he thought I could do it was really an inspiration

to me. Many times women in office we think, well it's other women who carve the path. Now I tell that story because many times it's men who help us carve that path too. And he was one of those people. Yeah, he really was. He was a great man. And they always used to joke and say he was the most recycled governor in New Mexico history because he was governor of the 70s, the 80s and the 90s. And I miss him a lot too. But let's look forward now. We've got an amazing session coming up, the 2010 legislative session. From your perspective and presiding over the Senate, what's it feeling like going in? Well, I think we're all a little anxious about it. But frankly, I'm very hopeful. There are a lot of good proposals on the table, on a lot of different issues. We all know the focus will be our finances. So I'm hoping that while the legislature begins to look at what we do, they look at how we become a little leaner, more efficient,

making sure we're doing everything we can to help New Mexico's families. If there are budget cuts, where are those budget cuts going to come that will do the least harm to the least number of people. And we will not let people drop through the cracks that need essential services. Well, I remember back in the day, we had Aubrey Dunn and John Marshall with the financial giants of the time. They would all say, it's much harder to govern when there's too much money than when there's not enough money. But the cuts that are coming now, I can't imagine that it could be any harder than the decisions that have to be made between children, education, health care. Well, I think the thing that we all have to remember is that even though these are tough times, we are well positioned in New Mexico for the job creation for the new economy. And that's what we have to think about. Let's make sure that we protect those things that really do help us create jobs. Of course, I believe that's education. I believe that is the economic stimulus for not just people in the public area,

but those adults who are going back to school to be trained and retrained. When I think about it, I think I just had a conversation with somebody in which she and her husband are both, as I call it, repotting themselves. Oh, great. That's what's happening in New Mexico, so we need to continue those investments. We're going to find out if it's easier with very little money or not. This is the first time in eight years that we've had to deal with that. We're a little bit protected. We've protected our reserves. That's important for our bond writing in New Mexico, but now we have to retool. Well, I just want to talk more about the session, ethics reform, predator landing, all these things. But you mentioned that you've just come back from a statewide tour of meeting with business people and seeing what their suggestions are to kind of jumpstart the economy and to create jobs. What do you bring from the never reaches of the state? What have they told you? Well, small

business people are worried about their access to credit. The very optimistic and hopeful thing for me is there are still people every day opening new businesses. And they said to me, keep our efforts to invest in opportunities for small businesses available. Our efforts to create opportunities for micro -lending in New Mexico have had a very broad reach. 1800 businesses over the last five years have either been started or expanded because we changed one little thing that allowed New Mexico to be a partner with the lending institutions when it comes to creating jobs. Small businesses create 85 % or more of the jobs in New Mexico. That's important to note. Now, speaking of lending institutions, you have been every session, you have sponsor and direct and support, predatory lending legislation. And it's like incrementally little things are coming along. What do you have, what are you supporting

for this session? Well, we're supporting just a cap on those rates. 45 % on 2 ,500 or less and 36 % on 2 ,500. You know, at the federal level for the military, 36 % is the cap. If it's good enough for men and women in the military, I say it's good enough for New Mexicans. We're also supporting a database, a registry that shows how many times these loans are made so that we can have some handle on people that are flipping loans, that are getting too many loans. We really need more information. Payday lenders that charge 600, 800, a thousand percent strip the wealth out of New Mexico's communities. And we need to make sure that our consumers are treated fairly. Right. Now, we're going to go dive into the big issues of the session because I, ethics reform is a big one to

me. We've had the pay to play. We've had, you know, all of these things. Tell me one thing. What happened last session in Senate rules with all those ethics bills? You know, that's a question for the chairman of the rules. Okay. Okay. So, I mean, I know they were stymied and they got stoned maled, didn't come to a vote. So, I think that that, you know, these are legislators who, when they vote against changes like this, they have to go back and explain that to their own constituent. So, that's an important point to make. You know, we have proposed an independent ethics commission. Yes. And we proposed this several months ago. There's been another proposal from, frankly, from the governor and the legislature that's still in my mind is not independence because it lets the governor and the legislature not only appoint the people but create the pool from which those people are chosen. I think we have to say we're going to have a separate entity. We propose the Supreme Court create the pool that the applicants and

then let the governor and the legislature choose from those people who is that would be part of this and put some teeth into it. Give them the ability to have some subpoena power to make recommendations to other enforcement agencies if they're needed for a general or even local law enforcement agencies if they find something. But we also need a strict regulation on there that we are, it's not going to be a place for frivolous time consuming expensive complaints that have no merit. Well, 44 other states have ethics commissions. You know, and we unfortunately have a bad reputation nationally with all this paid to play stuff. And so it seems to me at the minimum. I hope this session we can at least get that. We're hopeful with the budget concerns. I think we're going to be competing for time and interest on all these issues. But I think pushing for ethics reform now like I've long done and I just want to mention we

inaugurated it with the new year or state contractor database. Yes. Yes. And that's relates to ethics. It's transparency. It's giving taxpayers information that if they want it, they can get it without too much effort. Well, I heard a little it's through what's called a sunshine portal. I mean, it almost sounds like it's either Dr. Who. So what is this sunshine portal and why is this different from a regular database? Well, the database is the first step to a sunshine portal, but the sunshine portal really has a lot of bipartisan support. We're going to put the checkbook online so people can look and see how New Mexico's money spent to put every public meeting online. So people know where to find them very easily without any every agency will be able to put on any meeting they're having in any division, any open meeting that's happening. So New Mexico taxpayers have access to information in a way that they never have before. The contractor database is up and running anybody that

has a $20 ,000 contractor more. You can find them with what agencies and anybody that has a cumulative total of $20 ,000 or more in contracts. So they might be a real small contractor who now has $25 ,000. You can find that too. Well, well done. I welcome it. You've always been an advocate of transparency, campaign finance reporting is another area. And I think you and only one of your opponents in the gubernatorial race, Representative Janiss Arnold Jones, both of you have listed your contributors. And again, the sunshine letting people know who gave you how much and when actually she doesn't have when, but she will. And so it was very, I thought it was really classy of you to acknowledge her who is male, to be a competitor for stepping out on campaign reform being transparent with her. Well, the thing about campaign finance reform and reporting especially is there's a lot of talk but there's very little action. We've been reporting quarterly for about a little over two years now in line with the federal

reporting system, which not only provides transparency, but I believe it provides consistency when your Congress people are reporting quarterly and your senators are reporting quarterly any federal office. Let's do that for state offices too and give everybody that opportunity. So that's one thing. We're going to invoke campaign contribution limits after the next general election. We all need to see how those work. Piling on more and more before we know how some of our things work is probably not how I would approach it, but I think we want significant reforms that really give information to taxpayers. Well, we had the gift act in 2007, which limited the amount that an individual or group could give to a candidate. And now think New Mexico has this new initiative. Can you sum it up for me? You know, I know it's not your initiative. It's not my initiative and the one I'm paying attention to most is the Independent Ethics Commission. I know they have various restrictions on

contractors and if you own stock in a company. It's kind of a full menu of ideas about ethics reform in New Mexico. And I think we ought to concentrate on some of the key proposals. And of course, I agree with you. I think that one of those key proposals is the ethics commission. Yeah. Yeah. Well, back, I want to go back to children now because of the cuts that are coming down and education. I know that the governor has fought to hold harmless the effect of the cuts on the student and the teacher in the classroom. Right after that special session, there came out all these stories about school districts that had iPhones for everyone on their staff. And you know, there was clearly some waste, but who will have the coldest, most discerning eye to know where to cut, say, an education and in health care? I mean, what agency of our government is going to be able to do this? Well, when it comes to education, we really have to look at

local school districts and superintendents and incentivize them to retool and get more efficient. I don't want the classroom sizes to be heard. When I hear about, well, we're going to go to biggest class sizes, bigger class sizes. That really makes me and I know all the parents out there and teachers cringe because if there's one thing that's been proven in education, it's that two things make a difference, teacher quality and class sizes. Those two things really make a difference in education. We are in pre -K. We're looking at, we've been able to get a little bit of extra money every year. But we're willing to live with staying where we are. And in fact, last year we had a hard time getting some of the money out to some of the private pre -K for -year -old providers. So we're going to sit down and try to bring something to the table when it comes to pre -K. We're going to fight hard to have the amount we need.

And I think that's what everybody needs to do is really think about what is it you need, what's most important, what deserves 100 % investment. And what is it that can be put on hold? And what is it that is not working? And that requires that to happen at every level, not just the executive, not just our department heads. We're all struggling with it. It's going to require a lot of cooperation between us to make sure that any cuts that are made are well thought out across the board. I believe education is the economic stimulus. So I'm going to fight hard to protect education as much as we possibly can when I'm convinced that they're doing everything they can to spend the money in the right ways. Well, let's take a minute and look back over your last seven years because I remember sitting here with you when nobody even knew what pre -K was. And now it's really working. We're glad we have it. What are some of the other major

projects that you kind of brought in out of nowhere? And sometimes they took more than one session. But now, like pre -K, tell me some of them. Well, pre -K, and of course the children's cabinet, which we talked about, but the micro -lending program, which has impacted these small businesses and really created jobs statewide by providing access to capital with just one little investment strategy with the state and our regular lenders, banking lenders that have been our partners in that. I think that's been several years ago, we did the Home Loan Protection Act to get rid of high -cost mortgage lending before the mortgage crisis. That was a buffer for us in New Mexico to make sure that we were, that it was really based on one area of housing, but it helped us in the long run to have a little foresight about that. And that's, isn't that one of the reasons why we did not suffer, say, like California and Florida. I mean, you know, everyone felt the housing bubble bursting, but we were not wiped out by it like other states were. That's exactly right. And so we feel very fortunate about that. And then

one of the things I'm really proud of that we were able to do in my area of housing was we reformed the regional housing authorities. Through citizen action, someone who came to us and said something's wrong here, we were able to use one legislative session to really reform for more oversight, making sure that regional housing authorities are creating housing opportunities, either rental or ownership, and that they are doing what they're supposed to do and they're not just spending money and inappropriate ways. Tackling that reform was not only the right thing to do, it was a group bipartisan citizen effort that really showed how government can do what it's supposed to do and how elected leadership can, who have the courage to move ahead on it can really push through and make things happen. It took a long time though. It took a couple of sessions. It took a couple of sessions, but I see that because most of my experience been it's about three sessions to get a bill passed. I thought we did it in 130

and 160 day with great gusto. So I was really proud of that because sometimes it does take three sessions to flesh out all the ups and downs of a bill or a proposal. So those are some of the things. I've been proud to continue on this payday lending. It's been a fight. We did do payday lending reform, but that lenders have found loopholes that make it not as effective as we would like it to be. Now we have the chance to correct that in this legislative session. Now another issue that's had several sessions that's going to be big. It despite the budget cuts despite ethics is domestic partnership. So you think it has a chance this time? Well, I think it's always got a chance. I don't believe in discrimination. So I'm for domestic partnerships. I know the governor's worked hard to find a bill that's a compromised bill. And when I see the details of that, I

think as many other people maybe we will take a step forward and do the right thing. Well, I just think the joint's going to be jumping. There's going to be so so much going on. And that's why I want to thank you and the other powers that be forgiving us the webcasting. Absolutely. Well, you know, that's more transparency. I think webcasting. I know that we don't have a moving camera yet in the Senate chamber. So I feel like it's right in front of me and the seven bold here. So I have to look good every day. But it's interesting to me that it's not as it doesn't prove to be all that difficult to change once it's there. And if people want to have a view of either the House or the Senate, they deserve it. So I'm hopeful that we'll continue to implement those kinds of things that provide a window to the legislative process for new Mexicans. And it invites participation because, you know, when you can in the comfort of your home and your pajamas

with your cup of coffee, listen to everything you can write to your lawmakers, you can write to the elected officials. And I'm just so glad. And for myself, I listen all the time. I used to have to be here all the time and much rather in the morning, be at home. And then listen and then when something I can feel the moment in the building, tell me the truth. Everyone's why you think, well, maybe I should go over there. I absolutely get in my car and come down right away. Oh, no, I absolutely do. But there's, you know, it's hurry up and wait too. And not everyone can do that. And so I think that's exactly right. Hopefully it will provide a little bit of inspiration to people who've never been here to visit us and be here during a session to come and see what the process looks like right here on the ground. And the other thing that I want our audience to understand is that in New Mexico, one person really can make a difference. You can go talk to your elected officials. You can talk to your lawmaker. They, they welcome dialogue and it's, you can really make a difference if you care passionately about something.

That's absolutely true. You know, people stop me in the grocery store and when I'm out and about in the communities wherever I am. And tell me what they're thinking about. I try to encourage them to interact with their own lawmakers because I think it is so important to democracy. Are there any surprises coming up? What should we look for? No, I think, you know, really the issues, the primary issues have been pretty well put on the table. And I think that what what we do may feel like a surprise to some people. But I can't see anything that's coming down the pike that will really be a great surprise because I think people do realize we are in tough times. But we're a little tougher than the tough times we're in. Oh, that's great. Yeah. And I think people realize that. And so I don't think they're going to be surprised by much. Well, the governor has some tax cuts in mind, but so far he hasn't

described them to us. What do you think about the idea of a, quote, temporary tax? Is such a thing possible? Well, I'm kind of like you. So far, I don't know what that is. So before I voice a yay or a nay, I would want to make sure that it isn't stifling economic growth. That it leads to that we're still thinking about creating jobs, retaining jobs, redirecting people to new jobs in New Mexico. That we are shoring up our position as a leader for the new economy. In the new energy economy, in the film industry, in the healthcare industry where jobs are not abundant, but there's some unfilled jobs. We need to train people anew for those kinds of jobs. So before I endorse any kind of revenue generators or tax cuts or anything like that, I want to make sure they're the least time to the least people and the least time to New Mexico. Yeah, it's just going to be really, really tough. And I want to give credit to our lawmakers. There's 112 of them and they really

want to, most of them really want to do the right thing. And the amount of hours, I just know, they're going to start early, start working hard. And people forget they've been working in the interim. Yeah. And they've been listening. And I've been to many of their districts. I was just in Senator Keller's International District, which he got declared, which has a new vibrancy and excitement to it. And in Almagordo, Roswell, Rio Dosa, they're listening to people now ahead of time and doing their committee work. And they do deserve credit. They're citizens like we are in the state of New Mexico. And they come wanting to do the right thing for their constituents. And I think for the state of New Mexico, regardless of their party affiliation. Give me that line again about tough times. These are tough times in New Mexico, but I think we're tougher than the tough times. And New Mexicans in general, we have a resiliency stick to it to this. That's important in times like

these. Well, indeed we do. I'm just so grateful that you could come today and talk about this. This will air right before the session begins. And then I hope people will tune in on the internet to watch what's going on and come down to the Capitol. And really, really participate. We'll be much better than more people participate in our democracy. That's, you know, the way we can do things for people instead of two people is if they are participants in their own democracy. Yeah, but it's tough sometimes. I often do those all nights, you know, right before the end of the session. But I'm fascinated by the process. And you really represent the best of the process. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. And thank you for the opportunity to be on your show. So frequently during my tenure as Lieutenant Governor. Well, we'll see what happens in your next tenure. So you are running for Governor, but that's down the line a little bit. That's another conversation. That's another conversation. This is the session and Lieutenant Governor. Our

guest today is Lieutenant Governor Diane Danish. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, Lorraine. And I'm Lorraine Mills. I'd like to thank your audience for being with us today on Report from Santa Fe. We'll see you next week. Report from Santa Fe is made possible in part by Grant Strong, the members of the National Education Association of New Mexico, an organization of professionals who believe that investing in public education is an investment in our state's economic future. And by a grant from the Healey Foundation, Taos, New Mexico. Thank you.