New Mexico Legislators Appointment Amendment, Amendment 5 (2010)

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The New Mexico Legislature Appointment Amendment was on the November 2, 2010 ballot in the state of New Mexico as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, where it was defeated. d The measure would have allowed the appointment of former legislative members to civil offices. Legislative members would have been appointed to those offices only under a "limited situation."

Election results

See also: 2010 ballot measure election results

Official election results follow:

Amendment 5 (Legislators Appointment)
Result		Votes	Percentage
d No		394,039	77.3%
Yes		115,592	22.7%

Results via New Mexico Secretary of State.

Text of measure

The ballot read as follows:

Proposing an amendment to Article 4, Section 28 of the Constitution of New Mexico to allow the appointment of certain former members of the legislature to civil offices in the state in a limited situation.

[ ] For

[ ] Against

Summary

The summary of the amendment read as follows:

A joint resolution proposing an amendment to Article 4, Section 28 of the Constitution of New Mexico to allow the appointment of certain former members of the legislature to civil offices in the state in a limited situation.

Fiscal note

The fiscal implications of the measure, as stated in the state Fiscal Impact Report, reads:

The SOS notes placing a Constitutional Amendments on the ballot is very costly. The previous 2008 General Election had 5 Constitutional Amendments that cost the State of New Mexico over $520,000. Each amendment cost approximately $104,000. These amendments have to be published in English and Spanish in a major recognized newspaper in every county statewide.

Constitutional changes

The measure was proposed to amend Article 4, Section 28 of the New Mexico Constitution to read:

"A. Except as provided in Subsection B of this section, a member of the legislature shall not, during the term for which the member was elected, be appointed to any civil office in the state, nor shall the member within one year thereafter be appointed to any civil office created, or the emoluments of which were increased during such term.

B. A member of the legislature may be appointed to a civil office during the term of the legislature for which the member was elected if:

(1) the member resigns from the legislature prior to the appointment; and

(2) during that term, prior to the member's resignation, the civil office to which the appointment is to be made was not created or the emoluments of which were not increased.

C. A member of the legislature shall not, during the term for which the member was elected, nor within one year thereafter, be interested directly or indirectly in any contract with the state or any municipality thereof, which was authorized by any law passed during such term."

The previous section read:

"No member of the legislature shall, during the term for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office in the state, nor shall he within one year thereafter be appointed to any civil office created, or the emoluments of which were increased during such term; nor shall any member of the legislature during the term for which he was elected nor within one year thereafter, be interested directly or indirectly in any contract with the state or any municipality thereof, which was authorized by any law passed during such term."

Support

• There was no known supporting campaign for the measure.

Opposition

• There was no known opposing campaign against the measure.

Media endorsements

See also: Endorsements of New Mexico ballot measures, 2010

Opposition

• The Valencia County News Bulletin, in an editorial stated about the measure, "This anti-corruption provision has served the state well since 1912. There is no compelling reason to change it now. The News-Bulletin recommends a no vote."

Path to the ballot

The measure was first introduced to the New Mexico House of Representatives on January 20, 2010, where the chamber approved it with a vote of 54-12 on February 6, 2010. The measure was then sent to the New Mexico State Senate, who approved of the measure with a vote of 36-0 on February 18, 2010. Article XIX of the New Mexico Constitution states that it takes a majority vote of all members of both houses of the New Mexico State Legislature to refer a proposed amendment to the ballot. New Mexico is one of ten states that allows a referred amendment to go on the ballot after a majority vote in one session of the state's legislature.

See also

Suggest a link

• New Mexico 2010 ballot measures
• New Mexico Legislature

External links

• Example of a New Mexico sample ballot that shows the language of New Mexico's 2010 ballot measures (dead link)