On April 11, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham vetoed a lobbying disclosure bill aimed at increasing disclosure.

House Bill 143 required lobbyists provide more details about the specific legislation lobbied, whether legislation was supported or opposed and if their positions changed, and the names of a lobbyist’s employer that lobbied on the legislation, either directly or through the registered lobbyist. The bill also required that if a lobbyist or lobbyist’s employer commenced lobbying on legislation after the adjournment of a legislative session, a lobbying activity report would have been required to have been filed prior to the end of the time period in which the governor could have acted on legislation.

In her House Executive Message No. 21 vetoing the bill, the governor wrote, “ While I support the intent of this legislation, [House Bill] 143 needs work. For example, it imposes an onerous requirement that lobbyists or their employers file these reports within forty-eight hours of commencing the lobbying activity – including any time their ‘position on legislation has changed’- irrespective of weekends and holidays.”

The bill would have also required lobbying reports be preserved for a period of 10 years.