Hispanic Cultural Center Fined for Illegal Lobbying

Dianna Duran

VeritasNM - Updated – Citing a “serious breach of the law,” New Mexico Secretary of State Dianna Duran has fined the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation $5,000, the maximum allowed, for violations of the Lobbyist Regulation Act.Duran also demanded Foundation accounting records and expenditure reports for its lobbying efforts since 2006. Legislative appropriations secured by the Foundation are now at the center of a separate state investigation into alleged misappropriations and commingling of state funds with private money in the Foundation’s bank account.

Clara Apodaca

 “(I)t is clear from your own records that the Foundation engaged in lobbying for and obtaining appropriations without following the reporting requirements of the Lobbyist Regulation Act,” Duran wrote in a May 19 letter disclosed Saturday to Veritas NM. “This violation alone constitutes a serious breach of the law, and is exacerbated by the mutually contradictory reports you have filed. Therefore, I am imposing (a) fine on the Foundation in the amount of $5,000.” Read full story here: News New Mexico

Hispanic Cultural Center Fined for Illegal Lobbying