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Joseph Carraro
Joseph Carraro was a 2012 Independent candidate for District 10 of the New Mexico State Senate.
Carraro is a former Independent member of the New Mexico State Senate, representing District 23 from 1993 to January 2009. He was previously registered as a Republican, but changed his party affiliation to Independent when he was ran for the 1st Congressional District in 2008. He previously served in the New Mexico State Senate, representing District 26 from 1985 to 1989.[1]
Biography
Carraro eaned his B.A. in political science from the University of New Mexico in 1968, his master's degree in business administration (MBA) from the University of New Mexico in 1981 and his Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico in 2002. His professional experience includes working as a business consultant and as a writer.[2]
Elections
2012
- See also: New Mexico State Senate elections, 2012
Carraro ran in the 2012 election for New Mexico State Senate District 10. He was defeated by incumbent John Christopher Ryan (R) in the general election on November 6, 2012.
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  John Ryan Incumbent |
54.3% | 10,063 | |
| Independent | Joseph J. Carraro | 45.7% | 8,474 | |
| Total Votes | 18,537 | |||
Transparency advocacy
2008
Carraro's transparency advocacy focuses on reforming conference committee rules. Conference committees are formed when the House of Representatives and the Senate disagree on certain aspects of any legislation. Legislators from both Houses are called together in these committees to come to an agreement. Currently, the conference committee meetings are held behind closed doors, without public participation or observation.
A conference committee is convened every year to produce a state budget for the Governor's approval. During this process, bills are accepted, modified, or cut completely from receiving budget appropriations. Conference committee members must compromise many of the bills introduced by their fellow House legislators in order to generate a budget both Houses can agree upon.
During 2008's 30-day legislative session, Carraro introduced New Mexico Senate Bill 205 (2008), which would've required the conference committee meetings to be open to public observation. It would've also required that the public be given "reasonable notice of meetings."[3] However, the "Senate Committees' Committee," which is responsible for determining whether or not introduced legislation is relevant to the Governor's legislative proposals during 30-day sessions, postponed the bill indefinitely.[3]
2007
In 2007, Carraro introduced a similar bill, New Mexico Senate Bill 322 (2008), also intended to make conference committee meetings open to the public. The bill passed through the Senate Rules Committee, the Senate Public Affairs Committee, and was sent to the Senate floor where it passed by a 19-18 vote. However, according to the Chief Clerk of the Senate's Office, Senator May Kay Papen of Dona Ana County, who initially voted for the bill, made a motion to reconsider which resulted in a new vote being taken. Four additional Senators participated in the second count and the bill failed, 20-21.[4]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for Joseph + Carraro + New + Mexico + Senate
- All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
- New Mexico State Senate
- Senate Committees
- New Mexico State Legislature
- New Mexico state legislative districts
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Albuquerque Journal, "Senate District 10 (DTS) – Joseph Carraro," accessed December 18, 2014
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography of Joseph Carraro," accessed December 18, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 New Mexico Legislature, "Senate Bill 205 wording," accessed December 18, 2014
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "SB322," accessed December 18, 2014
