A. 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). B. 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. C. 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. History: Laws 2007, ch. 226, § 3. Effective dates. — Laws 2007, ch. 226 contained no effective date provision, but, pursuant to N.M. Const., art. IV, § 23, was effective June 15, 2007, 90 days after the adjournment of the legislature. Legislators are not prohibited from using their legislative email to promote charitable events, but they may not use official resources to solicit charitable donations. — The Gift Act, §10-16B-3(C) NMSA 1978, provides that a state officer shall not solicit donations for a charity in such a manner that it appears that the purposes of the donor in making the gift is to influence the state officer in the performance of an official duty, and therefore a legislator is not prohibited from using his or her legislative email address to email contacts about a fundraising event, but the legislator's use of a legislative email address to contact sponsors for the purpose of soliciting donations to a charity is likely prohibited by the Gift Act, because the recipient of the email may reasonably conclude that the legislator is making that request in connection with legislative duties, or in a way that might affect the legislator's performance of legislative duties. 2024 Op. Ethics Comm'n No. 2024-03. A state employee who also receives a monthly salary from a political campaign committee does not necessarily violate state ethics laws. — Although the Gift Act, 10-16B-1 to 10-16B-4 NMSA 1978, the Governmental Conduct Act, 10-16-1 to 10-16-18 NMSA 1978, the Financial Disclosure Act, 10-16A-1 to 10-16A-8 NMSA 1978, the Campaign Reporting Act, 1-19-25 to 1-19-36 NMSA 1978, and the State Ethics Commission Act, Chapter 10, Article 16G NMSA 1978, impose certain duties on state employees and regulate certain state employees' conduct, the limited set of facts presented in this request, that a state employee, while employed and performing regular public duties, is also receiving a monthly salary from a political campaign committee or political organization, do not establish a violation of any of the foregoing statutes. 2020 Op. Ethics Comm'n No. 2020-01. Educational program exception to the New Mexico Gift Act. — Educational programs that an energy company hopes to provide to members of the New Mexico legislature regarding its proposed nuclear waste storage facility in southeastern New Mexico falls within the educational program exception to the New Mexico Gift Act, 10-16B-1 to 10-16B-5 NMSA 1978, because the programs are designed to educate the legislators about the nuclear waste storage facilities and are therefore directly related to a legislator's official duties. Educational Program Exception under the New Mexico Gift Act (4/22/20), Att'y Gen. Adv. Ltr. 2020-04.
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