New Mexico Urged to Erect Bulwarks to Contribution Limits & Disclosure Laws in Wake of Court Ruling

On Friday, the Campaign Legal Center urged the State of New Mexico to proactively address likely fallout related to Citizens United after a federal appeals court on December 18 upheld a lower court ruling in Republican Party of New Mexico v. King striking down the state contribution limits for independent expenditure committees. In comments filed with the New Mexico Secretary of State’s office in response to a notice of proposed rulemaking, the Legal Center urged the state to address the issues of disclosure and coordination in particular in order to avoid some of the consequences suffered by other states and at the federal level.

“The experiences of other states strongly suggests that New Mexico will soon see an explosion of big-money Super PACs and ‘dark money’ groups that do not publicly disclose their donors,” said Paul S. Ryan, Legal Center Senior Counsel. “The State has an opportunity through this rulemaking to mitigate some of the potential damage but it needs to act quickly. Otherwise the integrity of the State’s contribution limits and disclosure laws will be in jeopardy.”

In addition to addressing the issues of disclosure and coordination, the comments filed by the Legal Center also address a number of other campaign finance and lobbying matters outlined in the State’s notice of proposed rulemaking.

To read the comments filed by the Legal Center, click here.