Governor Increases Transparency

Susana Martinez

SANTA FE – Yesterday, in an address to the New Mexico Press Association, Governor Susana Martinez announced upcoming changes to the official transparency website for state government, the New Mexico Sunshine Portal. The portal will list additional information not previously found, including the names, titles and salary rate of all state employees regardless of their classification. Currently, the Sunshine Portal only lists the names, titles and salary rates of “exempt” employees – those who serve at the pleasure of the governor. The portal will now include this information for classified employees, who work under the rules of the state’s version of a civil service system. These changes are intended to increase transparency throughout state government, and to demonstrate to the public exactly where tax dollars are spent. “I have promised since day one that state government will be more transparent, more accessible, and more accountable to all New Mexicans,” said Governor Martinez. “The Sunshine Portal has been an important tool that promotes open and honest government. These changes will ensure that taxpayers have an even greater idea of how their money is being spent.”

New Mexico’s Sunshine Portal is a website that displays wide-ranging data for state agency budgets, expenditures, employees, revenue, and purchases, along with a number of informational reports including state investment reports and annual fiscal summaries. This summer, the official version of the Sunshine Portal was unveiled after a 6-month beta mode trial, to include additional functions as developed by constituent feedback.

The new changes are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks and will be fully displayed on the website by early December. Earlier this year, Governor Martinez partnered with the New Mexico Press Association to link electronically, via the Sunshine Portal and NewMexico.Gov, to all public notice postings that appear in newspapers throughout the state. NewMexico.Gov is the State's new online portal, which was re-designed and launched at the direction of Governor Martinez to improve access to information about state government. Also available on NewMexico.Gov, and on the Governor's website, are videos of legislative committee meetings and floor sessions, as well as meetings of boards and commissions such as the State Investment Council. Governor Martinez began the first-ever live webcasting and archiving of these meetings in order to better engage people throughout New Mexico in the process in Santa Fe.

Governor Increases Transparency