Gov’s office kept unused party cash, review finds

Gov. Susana Martinez isn’t properly managing the account she used to pay for her infamous holiday pizza party last year, according to an independent audit released this month. The finding stems from the governor’s contingency fund, which the state Legislature grants roughly $70,000 each year to for “purposes connected with obligations of the office,” according […]

Gov’s office kept unused party cash, review finds

Gov. Susana Martinez isn’t properly managing the account she used to pay for her infamous holiday pizza party last year, according to an independent audit released this month.

Susana Martinez during the 2016 State of the State Address. Photo Credit: Andy Lyman.
Susana Martinez during the 2016 State of the State Address. Photo Credit: Andy Lyman.

The finding stems from the governor’s contingency fund, which the state Legislature grants roughly $70,000 each year to for “purposes connected with obligations of the office,” according to state law. That’s been interpreted by past governors and Martinez as entertainment expenses for hosting officials and staff.

Specifically, Martinez’s office is supposed to revert any unspent money remaining in her contingency account by the end of a fiscal year to the state’s general fund, according to the audit. Instead, her office kept leftover money into that account.

Last summer, Martinez’s office rolled over $66,000 of unspent money from that account to the current fiscal year, which began in July.

The leftover money “should have been reverted to the State General Fund” and spent on “other purposes,” according to the finding from Axiom, an Albuquerque-based auditing firm commissioned by State Auditor Tim Keller to perform a yearly audit of the governor’s office.

All government entities in New Mexico are required to undergo annual audits.

But Martinez’s office argues that keeping unspent money from year to year until leaving office is the “time tested practice” of an account that’s been used by governors “for more than a hundred years.”

In a written response to the audit finding, the governor’s office defended rolling over the funds, saying that its contingency fund has never been subjected to these parts of state law before. A spokesman for Martinez didn’t return requests for comment from NM Political Report before press time.

To Axiom, the governor’s explanation still “does not cite any legal basis” for not placing the money into the state’s general fund at the end of a fiscal year.

In particular, Axiom cites a section of the state General Appropriations Act that orders all leftover money from “remaining at the end of fiscal year 2015 shall revert to the general fund by October 1, 2015” unless otherwise noted by that law, which does not mention the governor’s contingency fund.

Axiom also cites state statute that mandates all “unreserved, undesignated fund balances” by June 30 “shall revert by September 30 to the general fund.”

Keller addressed the problem in an April 5 letter to Martinez.

“While this has been the past practice, ‘it has always been this way’ is a poor substitute for an actual legal foundation,” Keller writes.

Keller also takes issue with claims from the governor’s office that he had “reversed his position” in “an unprecedented move” after not making similar findings in last year’s audit.

Keller calls the statement “incorrect” and ignorant of “the fact that an independent public accounting firm, not the Office of the State Auditor, completed the audit and issued the finding.”

“In a year when the general public was confronted with the lack of transparency of the contingency fund, it was appropriate to examine this area more closely than other firms may have in the past,” Keller writes.

This is likely a reference to Martinez’s holiday party at the Eldorado Hotel in Santa Fe last December. Martinez’s office spent $8,000 of her office contingency to fund party.

The party made headlines after audio Eldorado Hotel staff called police on Martinez that night for noise complaints and reported thrown bottles from the balcony of a hotel room.

A security guard said Martinez appeared “inebriated.”

Another point of contention to some is how this contingency fund isn’t itself subjected to state audits. State House Minority Leader Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, carried legislation earlier this year during the state’s budget-only session to change that.

Martinez didn’t put Egolf’s bill on the call to be heard during the short session. Egolf also introduced the proposal as a floor amendment. He withdrew the measure after a short debate after agreeing to work with Republicans this year on lumping oversight of the contingency fund with other unaudited state funds in future legislation.

The governor’s office’s written response to the audit finding notes three times that the contingency fund does not have to be audited.

Keller acknowledges this in his letter but adds that the lack of “adequate review and proper accounting” means auditors cannot determine “whether the spending is in compliance” with state law.

“Enhancing the transparency and accountability of this public fund would assure policymakers and citizens that their money is being used appropriately,” Keller writes.

He also notes that while the fund may not be subject to state audits, it is subject to state procurement code and state public records laws.

New Mexico law does, however, mandate the governor to report yearly expenses from the fund to the state Department of Finance and Administration. But Keller writes that these reports traditionally “list only highly generalized categories of spending” and lack “adequate transparency regarding the specifics of how the money is being used.”

We're ad free

That means that we rely on support from readers like you. Help us keep reporting on the most important New Mexico Stories by donating today.

Related

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List, a nonprofit that supports women candidates and reproductive rights, endorsed seven incumbents facing general election opponents in New Mexico legislative elections. All…
Equality New Mexico endorses 15 legislative candidates

Equality New Mexico endorses 15 legislative candidates

A New Mexico-based LGBTQ rights organization endorsed 15 candidates for state House and Senate seats for the 2024 elections.  Marshall Martinez, executive director of…
Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pocket vetoed two bills the legislature passed this legislative session: one changing the Cybersecurity Act and the other concerning law…
BLM announces final methane waste rule

BLM announces final methane waste rule

The federal Bureau of Land Management announced its final methane waste rule on Wednesday. These new regulations clamp down on the practice of venting…
What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

Migrating birds appear to have caused a virus in dairy cattle that is causing reduced milk production. So far, the disease, which initially started…
Republicans seek to limit national monument designations

Republicans seek to limit national monument designations

Republican-backed legislation in the U.S. Congress would make it harder for the government to designate new national monuments. The proposed Congressional Oversight of the…
Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican The main things that bring Brayan Chavez to school every day: Seeing, talking to and engaging with…
Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican Brittany Behenna Griffith has a laundry list of adjectives to describe the ideal special education teacher:…
Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican A challenging task awaits New Mexico lawmakers in the next 30 days: Reconciling three very different…
Health workers fear it’s profits before protection as CDC revisits airborne transmission

Health workers fear it’s profits before protection as CDC revisits airborne transmission

Amy Maxmen, KFF Health News Four years after hospitals in New York City overflowed with covid-19 patients, emergency physician Sonya Stokes remains shaken by…
Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Friday $10 million in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act was awarded to six tribal nations and…
Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

The House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee discussed a potential constitutional amendment that seeks to limit the governor’s executive powers. The committee approved…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

Lawyers from the conservative Christian group that won the case to overturn Roe v. Wade are returning to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in pursuit…
Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Later this month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case against the abortion medication mifepristone. It will hear a second…
New Mexico Medicaid to cover cost of over-the-counter oral contraception

New Mexico Medicaid to cover cost of over-the-counter oral contraception

New Mexico Medicaid announced on Wednesday that it will cover the cost of Opill, the first oral contraception approved for over-the-counter use. It is…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

Lawyers from the conservative Christian group that won the case to overturn Roe v. Wade are returning to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in pursuit…
San Juan County, Navajo Nation settle redistricting case

San Juan County, Navajo Nation settle redistricting case

The Navajo Nation and San Juan County reached an agreement Monday about commission districts after the tribe alleged that its members were not adequately…
MIT ranks NM elections most well-run in the U.S.

MIT ranks NM elections most well-run in the U.S.

New Mexico’s 2022 election was ranked most well-run in the country by Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Election Data and Science Lab’s Elections Performance Index.…
Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List, a nonprofit that supports women candidates and reproductive rights, endorsed seven incumbents facing general election opponents in New Mexico legislative elections. All…
BLM announces final methane waste rule

BLM announces final methane waste rule

The federal Bureau of Land Management announced its final methane waste rule on Wednesday. These new regulations clamp down on the practice of venting…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

Migrating birds appear to have caused a virus in dairy cattle that is causing reduced milk production. So far, the disease, which initially started…

GET INVOLVED

© 2023 New Mexico Political Report