NewMexicoMatters.com

Lobbyist reform coming to Santa Fe?

Trip Jennings starts us off with an update on ethics reform in the legislature.

SANTA FE — Former state lawmakers would need to wait a year after their terms end to return to the Roundhouse as lobbyists under legislation that hurdled a Senate committee late last week.

The Senate Rules Committee on a 4-to-1 vote passed Senate Bill 163 on Friday. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Eric Griego, D-Albuquerque, would impose a one-year “cooling off period” for lawmakers who want to become lobbyists.

[From New Mexico Independent » Lobbyist reform coming to Santa Fe?]

PRC hosting forum on Nuclear Power

From Break The Grip!: PRC Hosts Nuclear Forum Today

We have just learned that the PRC is hosting a forum today on Nuclear Power with speakers: at the PRC Hearing Room at the PERA building just after 9:30 am. The PERA building is located at the Northeast corner of Old Santa Fe Trail and Paseo de Peralta.

The PRC's agenda listing is:
"COMMENT ON THE FUTURE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY: VICE-CHAIRMAN JASON MARKS, PRESENTED BY BRUCE BARNABY, MARVIN MOSS, DON HANCOCK, DAVE MCCOY AND JIM FERLAND"

Public comment is scheduled just before this.

This forum comes on the heels of PNM installing a Mr. Jim Ferland, a major nuclear industry player, to head new generation development for PNM in May. During the same week that this occurred, Governor Bill Richardson began openly supporting nuclear power development.

Nuclear power development has consistently paved the way for nuclear weapons development throughout the world. Yet the Bush Administration is proposing to re-start reprocessing nuclear fuel rods, precisely the approach that enabled India, for example, to acquire nuclear weapons in three short years in the late 1960s after they pledged publicly not to (we gave them the technology on the basis of their pledge). The National Academy of Sciences recently called for putting the brakes on Bush's plan: Click here to read.

Meanwhile, industry is pushing ahead to turn New Mexico into a one-stop nuclear store: Chevron, Hydro Resources, and others are all pushing to re-start uranium mining here; LES is already building an enrichment plant near Eunice, NM, and another is proposed; A reprocessing facility is being proposed near Roswell, New Mexico. And a BTG! member heard an Association of Commerce and Industry, the most powerful business lobby in the state, say that they intend to see a nuclear power plant built in New Mexico within ten years.

Finally, the attempt by the Richardson Administration and PNM to drastically weaken renewable energy provisions of the so-called Renewable Energy Transmission Authority" suggests that this is also really about building more conventional power plants.

Investor Sues Thornburg Mortgage, Claims Shares were 'Artificially inflated'

This should be interesting, chief operating officer and director Larry A. Goldstone made several appearances on CNBC last week and the week before to calm the nerves of investors after Thornburg's stock had fallen to record lows. Could this be the end of Thornburg Mortgage?

Investor Sues Thornburg Mortgage: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- The manager of KT Investments has sued Santa Fe-based Thornburg Mortgage Inc. on behalf of himself and everyone who bought Thornburg common stock since Oct. 6, 2005, alleging the price was artificially inflated.
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Kenneth Z. Slater seeks unspecified damages from alleged violations of federal securities laws by officers of Thornburg Mortgage, which specializes in jumbo loans, or those over $417,000, with adjustable rate terms.

The 38-page lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court here by New York and New Mexico law firms, alleges Thornburg issued numerous positive financial statements and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that were false and misleading because the company failed to disclose that it faced increasing margin calls.

Technorati Tags: economy, mortgage , news, NM, Subprime-Mortgage, Thornburg

Lyons: I did it for the kids

Land commissioner says he shouldn't have signed contract

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - State Land Commissioner Patrick Lyons said he made a mistake last year in signing a contract that allows a developer to master plan a state-owned parcel that is being considered for annexation into Las Cruces.

"We did jump the gun," Lyons said Friday. "We should have waited a month."

The state Land Office has been criticized in recent weeks for giving Solo Investments' Philip Philippou a sweetheart deal. The contract was signed Dec. 26, but the notice gave a deadline of Feb. 1 for proposals to be submitted.

Lyons has said he didn't wait until the deadline to see what other proposals might be submitted because Philippou's "was so good and above everybody else's."

He also said the proposal was attractive because it offered to master plan the adjacent plot at no cost.

"We did err, but I thought that if we were going to err, it should be on the side of public school kids in New Mexico," Lyons said Friday.

Foreclosure Wave Bears Down on Immigrants - washingtonpost.com

Foreclosure Wave Bears Down on Immigrants - washingtonpost.com:
Immigrants are emerging as among the first victims of a growing wave of home foreclosures in the Washington area as mortgage lending problems multiply locally and across the country.

Fannie, Freddie Wary of Controls - washingtonpost.com

Link: Fannie, Freddie Wary of Controls - washingtonpost.com.

Executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac invoked the upheaval in the mortgage market yesterday as a reason for lawmakers to be cautious about subjecting them to stricter regulation.The recent meltdown in unconventional home loans provided political ammunition for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac just as House members are poised to move ahead on long-delayed legislation aimed at tightening controls on the federally chartered mortgage-funding companies.

Democrats Open Door To Looser Business Rules - washingtonpost.com

Link: Democrats Open Door To Looser Business Rules - washingtonpost.com.

Speaking at the Summit on Competitiveness sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) offered to give securities regulators more flexibility to tweak the Sarbanes-Oxley law, a 2002 corporate accountability measure that has proved more costly for business than government officials intended.

Democrats Open Door To Looser Business Rules - washingtonpost.com

Link: Democrats Open Door To Looser Business Rules - washingtonpost.com.

Speaking at the Summit on Competitiveness sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) offered to give securities regulators more flexibility to tweak the Sarbanes-Oxley law, a 2002 corporate accountability measure that has proved more costly for business than government officials intended.

Coast Guard Cancels Contract - washingtonpost.com

Link: Coast Guard Cancels Contract - washingtonpost.com.

The Coast Guard took the unusual step yesterday of canceling a troubled $600 million patrol boat program, saying the service could manage the effort more efficiently than two of the nation's largest defense contractors.The Coast Guard had given Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman broad latitude to develop the Fast Response Cutter, shifting significant control to the contractors. But the effort stalled after concerns emerged last year about the design of the vessel. By managing the work itself and rebidding the development work, Coast Guard officials estimated they would save enough money to buy an extra ship and address a patrol boat shortage by getting ships built faster.

Institute on Money in State Politics releases report on Payday Lenders' Lobbying

Legal in 37 states, the business of offering short-term, high interest loans - or payday loans - is routinely gaining the spotlight in statehouses all across the country because of complaints of unfair and usury practices. As of mid-January 2007, 17 states had already introduced payday lending and predatory mortgage loan legislation.

A new report <http://www.followthemoney.org/press/ReportView.phtml?r=297>  by the National Institute on Money in State Politics reveals that since the 2000 election cycle, companies and associations representing the predatory financial services industry have contributed $7.36 million to state-level candidates and party committees in 42 states.

The report, Political Payday, is part of the Institute's continuing effort to inform the debate on the role money plays in state elections and the public-policy process. It is available on the Institute's Web site, www.FollowTheMoney.org <http://www.followthemoney.org> .

Technorati Tags: Democrats, lobbying, media, newmexico, news, NM, Politics