Smith: Time Frame Gap "Hard for me to accept"



Jan Goodwin

Capitol Report New Mexico - The executive director of the Educational Retirement Board (ERB) said Thursday (June 16) that by the end of last August “we realized there was a problem” as the ERB began mistakenly sending out interest overpayments to some beneficiaries. By early December the board started processing refunds but members of the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) — as well as other top state government officials — weren’t told of the problem until April of 2011. “There’s a time-frame gap there that is hard for me to accept,” LFC chairman Sen. John Arthur Smith (D-Deming) told ERB executive director Jan Goodwin, who appeared before the committee for the first time since media reports came out detailing the $1.69 million mistake.
“I apologize … I’ll try better next time,” Goodwin responded. “We’re not kept informed,” Smith replied. “We have to deal with the public on this … it’s the limited transparency that is aggravating to me … it irritates me no end and pushes me to the wall … the public has a mistrust of government … and we’re the ones painted with the brush.” Read full story here: News New Mexico

Smith: Time Frame Gap "Hard for me to accept"