New Mexico News
| AG Challenges Group's Political Activities |
| Posted by () on May 23 2008 at 2:02 PM |
A nonprofit group claimed that its mailers earlier this year portraying Sen. Shannon Robinson as a self-dealing corporate shill were intended only to educate the public— not to influence the Democrat's re-election bid.
The Attorney General's Office has a different view of the group's activities.
Attorney General Gary King has advised Secretary of State Mary Herrera to change the status of New Mexico Youth Organized, forcing it to comply with the same standards set for political groups and candidates.
It's a move that could change the landscape of nonprofit involvement in the political process.
If the group's status is changed, it could lose its tax exemption with the IRS and be in danger of losing some funding from national foundations.
New Mexico Youth Organized is a division of the nonprofit Center for Civic Policy.
It has been under scrutiny since it sent out a mailer in Robinson's Albuquerque district putting his voting record in a negative light.
Robinson said that he is pleased with the attorney general's letter but that it doesn't repair the damage done by the group's mailer and calls.
"I've been personally hurt by this organization attacking my ethics ... I don't feel vindicated at all," he said.
In a response letter from New Mexico Youth Organized attorney Sara Berg sent Thursday night, the group says the attorney general was basing his opinion on bad information.
"I am writing to clarify what I see as factual misunderstandings and to inform you that NMYO has not engaged in any campaign intervention and is not a political organization," the letter says.
It says that "campaign" calls made on the group's behalf were for a green job initiative and that information the attorney general received from a Web site, www.theleague.com, was for a group that had disbanded in 2007.
NMYO was formed out of the remnants of a League of Young Voters group, but in a different capacity, it says.
Robinson complained to the AG's Office, claiming that the mailer was designed to influence his coming primary election.
The mailer says Robinson has voted in line with insurance companies at the expense of his constituents. It contains negative images, such as a man in a suit with his fingers crossed behind his back.
The Secretary of State's Office had sent out a letter in response to a similar complaint April 25, saying that New Mexico Youth Organized was meeting its requirements as a registered lobbyist organization and didn't need to meet campaign finance requirements.
But the Attorney General's Office said it believes that the mailers, as well as about 500 "campaign" phone calls, push the group into the realm of a political group.
"Since NMYO appears to have the characteristics of both a political committee and a lobbyist organization, we ask that (Herrera) amend (her) April 25, 2008 letter to provide that NMYO should immediately comply with the reporting and other requirements of both the Campaign Practices Act and Lobbyist Regulation Act," the letter states.
Many other nonprofit groups use various forms of public education on issues and voting records, and the AG's position could affect how they conduct business to protect their tax-exempt status.
To come into compliance with political group standards, NMYO would have to disclose its funding sources and how it spent the money quarterly.
The last disclosure period for candidates and political groups was earlier this month.
Nonprofits need only disclose their funding sources in tax documents, usually released at the end of June.
The group also would have to register with the secretary of state as a political action committee.
While New Mexico Youth Organized is the focus of the AG's letter, the group worked with two other local nonprofits to send mailers out to five districts.
The SouthWest Organizing Project and the SAGE Council, both of which have been active in the community for years, worked in collaboration with New Mexico Youth Organized.
Mailers were also sent out criticizing the voting records and campaign contributions of Sens. James Taylor, Bernadette Sanchez, David Ulibarri and Lidio Rainaldi, all Democrats.
All the senators are running for re-election except for Rainaldi, who decided not to run.
Taylor and Sanchez have also been vocal in denouncing the mailers. Sanchez said this week that she was drafting her own complaint to the AG and secretary of state.
Taylor said that the groups need to comply with the same requirements as political groups but that otherwise, "they don't have to be accountable to the voters they influence."
SWOP spokeswoman Jo Ann Gutíerrez Béjar said in an interview Wednesday that the mailers were directed at educating the public on issues the group finds important, not unseating a candidate.
SAGE Council spokesman Sonny Weahkee said his group was interested in protecting sacred Native American sites, making the candidate and his affiliation less important than the issue.
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