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Ethics commission requests modest staff funding after security incident; committee accepts LFC base recommendation
Summary
The State Ethics Commission described recent security-related threats after being doxed and requested additional recurring funds for office security. The Appropriations & Finance subcommittee accepted the LFC recommendation to fund existing positions and asked staff to consider adding recurring funds for physical security upgrades.
The Appropriations & Finance subcommittee heard from the State Ethics Commission on the agency’s budget and accepted the Legislative Finance Committee recommendation to fund existing positions. The commission’s executive director described a recent security incident that the agency said led to threatening calls and a need for improved physical security.
Dr. Allegra Hernandez, the analyst presenting the LFC recommendation, said the LFC’s base proposal would fully fund existing positions and recommended reducing contractual services to shift funding into personnel. The LFC did not recommend a special appropriation requested by the commission; staff suggested the committee could consider adding $65,000 to the base budget (the 400s category) to meet a security request.
Jeremy Farris, executive director of the State Ethics Commission, told members the commission is now in its sixth year and has grown to about 10 FTE. Farris said the commission needs more staff to address growing caseloads and to reduce reliance on contracted hearing officers. He also described a summer incident in which commission records were posted online and the office received “a thousand threatening and harassing voice mails,” prompting coordination with the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Department of Public Safety and the University of New Mexico police.
“We were doxed on the Internet. All of our information was uploaded online,” Farris said in testimony. He told the committee the commission needs improved restricted-access doors, intercoms and video systems tied into campus police to protect staff who handle campaign finance and ethics enforcement.
Committee members expressed support for the commission’s work and for additional security protections. Representative Silva said she would advocate for the $65,000 recurring security funding; Representative Duncan and others asked about past reversions and contract spending patterns. The LFC recommendation passed on the committee floor; the motion to accept the LFC recommendation was adopted during the hearing.
