SB 158: Score=7
Sponsor: Sen. Bill Tallman (D-Bernalillo)
Problems: The bill would exempt from the Inspection of Public Records Act outgoing checks that haven’t yet been cleared by the bank. Only once the check clears the bank would an agency have to produce it as a public record. We don’t support carving out exemptions from IPRA and making documents—especially financial documents—from any state agency less transparent and accessible to the public.
Unique to the bill: The bill’s fiscal impact report notes that the Department of Finance and Administration receives “numerous” IPRA requests each year for outstanding unpaid warrants from companies that sell their services to people who haven’t been paid. However, access to this information is important to journalists and members of public who are trying to determine whether state government is paying its contractors and other companies in a timely manner. The bill might also muddy the already difficult process of determining how companies managing Medicaid spend the advances paid to them each month to cover Medicaid patients. The timing of this bill to exempt outgoing checks not yet cleared by the bank raises questions about the state’s fiscal health.
