2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 10 - Public Officers and Employees › Article 16B - Gift Act › Section 10-16B-2 - Definitions.

As used in the Gift Act:
A. "family" means a spouse and dependent children;
B. "gift" 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, 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:
(a) normal and reasonable in amount;
(b) commensurate with the value of the service rendered or the magnitude of the risk taken on the investment;
(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
(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;
C. "market value" means the retail cost a person would incur to purchase a gift;
D. "restricted 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; and
E. "state officer or employee" means any person who has been elected to, appointed to or hired for any state office and who receives compensation in the form of salary or is eligible for per diem or mileage.
History:
Laws 2007, ch. 226, § 2.
ANNOTATIONS
Cross references.
— For the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971,
see
2 U.S.C. § 431.
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.
Payment of reasonable expenses incidental to an educational tour for legislators is not subject to the Gift Act's limitation on gifts.
— An energy company, proposing to build a nuclear waste storage facility in southeastern New Mexico and planning to conduct a series of two-day educational programs for members of the New Mexico legislature at the company's Missouri nuclear generating station, is not subject to the Gift Act's limitation on gifts for its donation of reasonable expenses for flights, meals, refreshments, and lodging incidental to the educational tour, because under the Gift Act's educational program exception, 10-16B-2(B)(9) NMSA 1978, a donor can pay the reasonable expenses for a bona fide educational program that is directly related to the state officer's or employee's official duties. 2020 Op. Ethics Comm'n No. 2020-03.
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.