Candidates for governor pledge transparency

Candidates for governor of New Mexico in 2018 are on the record in support of the public’s right to know. Republican Steve Pearce joined Democrats Jeff Apodaca, Joseph Cervantes, Peter DeBenedittis, and Michelle Lujan Grisham at NMFOG’s first ever Sunshine Week Open Government Candidate Forum focused solely on open government issues on Sunday afternoon at Read More …

New Mexico Foundation for Open Government audits cities for IPRA Compliance

ALBUQUERQUE — The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government (NMFOG) today released the results of its audit to determine compliance by municipalities with public records requests. The Inspection of Public Records Act requests (IPRAs) were sent by a third party to New Mexico’s 49 largest cities. The requester sought copies of any IPRA logs kept Read More …

FOG ALERT: Special session budget discussions must be public

This afternoon, the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government issued the following statement in regard to the proposed special legislative session to address the budget shortfall: July 29, 2016 The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government urges New Mexico legislators to open all meetings in connection with the budgetary shortfall to the public, whether such Read More …

Transparency advocates sue Corizon Health for settlement agreements with prisoners

FOG, The Santa Fe New Mexican and the Albuquerque Journal today filed a Writ of Mandamus against Corizon Health asking the court to make public certain settlement documents between Corizon and inmates in the state’s prison system. Filed in the state district court in Santa Fe, the transparency lawsuit alleges that the documents are public Read More …

President Obama Signs FOIA Reform Bill on 50th Anniversary

Article from the Society of Professional Journalists: INDIANAPOLIS – The Society of Professional Journalists is thrilled that the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 has been signed by President Barack Obama as the 50th anniversary of the original FOIA law approaches. “We have a little something extra to celebrate this Fourth of July,” said SPJ National Read More …

FOG sends letter to lawmakers urging transparency in the state budget process

Today FOG sent each member of the New Mexico Legislature the following letter, insisting that the state budget be discussed in public, allowing citizens to hear the debate and weigh in on critical decisions affecting our state. We encourage you to contact your representatives and tell them you support an open budget process in accordance Read More …

FOG conducts IPRA Audit of Counties and State Agencies

The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, NMFOG, has released the results of its audit to determine compliance by state agencies and counties with public records requests. The Inspection of Public Records Act requests (IPRAs) were sent by a third party to 122 New Mexico agencies and boards and all of the state’s 33 counties. Read More …

New Mexico Earns C+ on Government Spending Transparency Study

FOLLOWING THE MONEY 2016: NEW REPORT RANKS ALL FIFTY STATES ON GOVERNMENT SPENDING TRANSPARENCY A new report by the United States Public Interest Research Group found that New Mexico falls in the middle of states for online disclosure of government spending. This seventh annual evaluation of state transparency websites finds that states continue to make Read More …

Victory for open meetings in Court of Appeals decision

In a decision filed Thursday, the New Mexico Court of Appeals held that committees appointed by public bodies must comply with the Open Meetings Act (OMA), and even when meetings are closed due to the attorney-client privilege, substantial OMA requirements still must be met. The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government and the New Mexico Read More …