Senate’s contractor disclosure vote toys with absurdity

From NM Politics.net - By Heath Haussamen - I’m a big fan of transparency, and I believe private contractors who do public work could use more sunshine. But the N.M. Senate toyed with absurdity on Monday by approving an amendment to the Sunshine Portal law that would require all state contractors to disclose the names, titles and salaries of all employees. One example of a company the legislation would affect is a business that runs a prison for the state. I absolutely believe the names and salaries of the company’s employees who work at that prison should be publicly disclosed. But on the other extreme is a company that does 99 percent of its work in the private sector and has one tiny contract with a state agency for a couple thousand dollars. I don’t believe such a company should have to give out that much proprietary information. Somewhere in between is a gray area in which a line should be drawn between what’s public and what’s not. I’m glad lawmakers including Eric Griego, D-Albuquerque, have brought this issue into the debate about government transparency. But the way they’ve done it – with an overly broad amendment to the Sunshine Portal – is simply not appropriate. Read more

Senate’s contractor disclosure vote toys with absurdity