Gift Made with Intent to Influence

1978. No legislator or public officer or employee may request or receive, and no person may offer, any thing of value or promise thereof conditioned upon or given in exchange for promised performance of an official act. Any person who knowingly and willfully violates the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a fourth degree felony and shall be sentenced pursuant to the provisions of Section 31-18-15 NMSA 1978.

N.M. Stat. Ann. § 10-16-3(D).

Extra Compensation for Official Duties

§ 9. Officer’s Compensation

No officer of the state who receives a salary, shall accept or receive to his own use any compensation, fees, allowance or emoluments for or on account of his office, in any form whatever, except the salary provided by law.

N.M. Const., Art. XX, § 9.

§ 12. Compensation of Executive Officers

The compensation herein fixed shall be full payment for all services rendered by said officers and they shall receive no other fees or compensation whatsoever.

N.M. Const., Art. V, § 12, cl. 3.

§ 10. Compensation of Members

Each member of the legislature shall receive . . . no other compensation, perquisite or allowance.

N.M. Const., Art. IV, § 10(C).

§ 10-16-4.1. Honoraria Prohibited

No legislator, public officer or employee may request or receive an honorarium for a speech or service rendered that relates to the performance of public duties. For the purposes of this section, “honorarium” means payment of money, or any other thing of value in excess of one hundred dollars ($100), but does not include reasonable reimbursement for meals, lodging, or actual travel expenses incurred in making the speech or rendering the service, or payment of compensation for services rendered in the normal course of a private business pursuit.

N.M. Stat. Ann. § 10-16-4.1.

Gift Regardless of Giver Status

No current state statute or regulation falls under the category of “Gift Regardless of Giver’s Status.”

Gift from Lobbyist or Regulated Entity

§ 10-16B-3. Limitation on Gifts

1. A state officer or employee or a candidate for state office, or that person’s family, shall not knowingly accept from a restricted donor, and a restricted donor shall not knowingly donate to a state officer or employee or a candidate for state office, or that person’s family, a gift of a market value greater than two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
2. A lobbyist registered with the secretary of state, the lobbyist’s employer or a government contractor shall not donate gifts of an aggregate market value greater than one thousand dollars ($1,000) in a calendar year to any one state officer or employee or to any one candidate for state office.
3. A state officer or employee shall not solicit gifts for a charity from a business or corporation regulated by the state agency for which the state officer or employee works and shall not otherwise solicit donations for a charity in such a manner that it appears that the purpose of the donor in making the gift is to influence the state officer or employee in the performance of an official duty.

N.M. Stat. Ann. § 10-16B-3.

§ 10-16B-2. Definitions

As used in the Gift Act:

. . .

1. “[R]estricted donor” means a person who:
   1. is or is seeking to be a party to any one or any combination of sales, purchases, leases or contracts to, from or with the agency in which the donee holds office or is employed;
   2. will personally be, or is the agent of a person who will be, directly and substantially affected financially by the performance or nonperformance of the donee’s official duty in a way that is greater than the effect on the public generally or on a substantial class of persons to which the person belongs as a member of a profession, occupation, industry or region;
   3. is personally, or is the agent of a person who is, the subject of or party to a matter that is pending before a regulatory agency and over which the donee has discretionary authority as part of the donee’s official duties or employment within the regulatory agency; or
   4. is a lobbyist or a client of a lobbyist with respect to matters within the donee’s jurisdiction.

N.M. Stat. Ann. § 10-16B-2(D).

Definitions and Exceptions

Gift Defined and Definition Exceptions

1. “[G]ift” means any donation or transfer without commensurate consideration of money, property, service, loan, promise or any other thing of value, including food, lodging, transportation and tickets for entertainment or sporting events, but does not include:
   1. any activity, including but not limited to the acceptance of a donation, transfer or contribution, or the making of an expenditure or reimbursement, that is authorized by the Campaign Reporting Act [1-19-25 to 1-19-36 NMSA 1978] or the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 [52 USCS § 30101], as amended;
   2. a gift given under circumstances that make it clear that the gift is motivated by a family relationship or close personal relationship rather than the recipient’s position as a state officer or employee or candidate for state office;
   3. compensation for services rendered or capital invested that is:
      1. (a) normal and reasonable in amount;
      2. (b) commensurate with the value of the service rendered or the magnitude of the risk taken on the investment;
      3. (c) in no way increased or enhanced by reason of the recipient’s position as a state officer or employee or candidate for state office; and
      4. (d) not otherwise prohibited by law;
   4. payment for a sale or lease of tangible or intangible property that is commensurate with the value of the services rendered and is in no way increased or enhanced by reason of the recipient’s position as a state officer or employee or candidate for state office;
   5. a commercially reasonable loan made in the ordinary course of the lender’s business on terms that are available to all similarly qualified borrowers;
   6. reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses actually incurred in the course of performing a service for the person making the reimbursement;
   7. any gift accepted on behalf of and to be used by the state or a political subdivision of the state, including travel, subsistence and related expenses accepted by a state agency in connection with a state officer’s or employee’s official duties that take place away from the state official’s or employee’s station of duty;
   8. anything for which fair market value is paid or reimbursed by the state officer or employee or candidate for state office;
   9. reasonable expenses for a bona fide educational program that is directly related to the state officer’s or employee’s official duties; or
   10. a retirement gift.

N.M. Stat. Ann. § 10-16B-2.

Notes/Resources

Resource(s)

New Mexico Legislative Ethics Guide

Basic Public Ethics Law in New Mexico PowerPoint

Anti-Donation Clause and Other Gift Restrictions in Government (A summary of New Mexico’s Gift Law for New Mexico State University employees)

Learn more about state gift laws