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Friday, March 04, 2005

Taking Politics out of the PRC

I am super-amused, in a cynical journalist's way, about a press release that just came in from the Republicans at the Roundhouse about Senate Bill 947 titled PRC Professional Staff Standards.
Journalists, over the years, sometimes become well-versed in the histories of odd things and, for me, The Public Regulation Commission is one of those strange, under-the-radar topics I happen to know a little something about.
Once upon a time (in 1998, I believe) a legislator named Bob Perls (yes, the one who ran for the PRC last time around) decided it was time to do something about the highly politicized State Corporation Commission. At that time, utilities were either regulated by the SCC, an elected three-person body, or the Public Utilities Commission, an appointed body (which also had three people on it. I think). Perls pushed for, and got, a constitutional amendment put on the ballot that eliminated both entities and merged them. The scuttlebutt at the time was that the SCC was too political, with its commissioners too tied to the industries they regulated (Eric Serna and Jerome Block being, at the time, the commissioners in question).
I wrote a cover story back then with a focus on the fact that this was a terrible idea that wasn't going to solve any problems. As it happens, Block ended up getting elected to the new PRC, Serna is the Insurance Superintendent (and just had yet another public lambasting for alleged conflicts of interest), and now the Legislature is trying to deal with the fact that the PRC commissioners keep hiring and firing people for no apparent reason. Here's the quote from SB947's sponsor, Sen. Bill Payne, R-Bernalillo.

"The bill is an attempt to insulate the PRC professional staff from the continuous interpersonal and political conflicts among the elected commissioners which have negatively impacted the morale and ability of the staff to provide objective analysis to the commission," Senator Payne said.

And the description of the bill:
 
The bill would amend a Section  of the Public Regulation Commission Act to explicitly state that the Commission may only remove its Chief of Staff and General Council for cause.  The Chief of Staff will also be required to  have  significant administrative, budgetary and regulatory experience and expertise and shall be appointed solely based on qualifications to perform the duties of the position and without reference to political party affiliation.  The bill also states that the Chief of Staff may remove a Division Director only for cause and that Division Directors shall be appointed solely on qualifications to perform the duties of the position.

Now, I have it on good authority that Gov. Bill Richardson might be in favor of just making the PRC an elected body, which I'm sure would raise some eyebrows and ire as it might seem that Richardson just wanted to appoint friends and supporters. It's also, generally, believed that appointed positions cause a reduction in democracy. I will say, though, that the PUC, which was appointed, never had near the rancor and politicism that the SCC and PRC have engendered. On the other hand, perhaps part of being in a democracy is accepting the fact that people will keep electing who they elect until they start to connect the decisions those elected officials make with their own quality of life.
Interestingly enough, the PRC is the one consistent race in which SFR's endorsements seem to carry no weight, nor have the other papers if I remember correctly.
To learn more about the PRC, check out: its website