PRC Chair Theresa Becenti-Aguilar
From the Public Education Commission
SANTA FE — The New Mexico Public Education Commission (PRC) scrutinized an eviction letter hand delivered and served Tuesday to Chief of Staff Jason Montoya by the General Services Division, demanding the PRC to vacate the PERA Building by June 30, 2020.
The timing could not have been more suspicious for the PRC following the failed effort by the Governor and several Legislators to dismantle the agency during the 2020 legislative session when HB11 was tabled in the Senate.
HB11 would have transferred regulatory authority from the PRC to the executive branch in possible violation of the principle of the separation of powers of the respective branches of state government.
Several members of the Commission are troubled by this blatant act of slow destruction through sustained and blind sighting assaults and pressure on the PRC.
The eviction letter was delivered to the PRC without any type of communication from GSD nor the Governor’s office, prior notice, forewarning, budget allocation for such a move, measure of alternative solution offered to ensure that the Commission, and its 156 employees, will have a place to conduct its day-to-day business, or budget allocation for future lease agreements, if necessary.
“We can do better governing, focus on economic efficiency, political accountability that best serves our communities, and we should not worry about an eviction,” Commission Chair Theresa Becenti-Aguilar.
Additionally, the Governor vetoed $489,000 of the PRC’s FY21 budget on Wednesday, prematurely preparing for the State Fire Marshal’s Office to be relocated to Homeland Security effective July 1, 2021. Lack of this funding and now having to use current funding to pay for moving offices and likely leasing space restricts and undermines the PRC’s ability to hire and recruit qualified staff such as Engineers, Economists, Accountants, Attorneys, Hearing Examiners, Consumer Complaint investigators, etc., despite the clear message from all, including sponsors, during HB11 debates that the PRC has never been appropriately funded to fill critical vacancies.
All of this additional pressure amid a state of public health emergency looming larger each day that should be higher priority for the executive. Instead of allowing the agency to focus on their responsibilities and caring for their health the PRC staff will now be spending taxpayer time packing offices and searching for a home.
It is a troubling fact that why now? Why in this manner? Where will the PRC be housed? What about protecting the public and consumer advocacy?
The answer is obvious … there continues to be a lot of effort and resources spent by the Governor to punish the PRC Commissioners and employees for not attaining what she had hoped would happen during the 2020 legislative session – a complete overhaul of the entire PRC.
Article XI, Section 2 of the New Mexico Constitution grants the PRC “responsibility for regulating public utilities, including electric, natural gas and water companies; transportation companies, including contract carriers; transmission and pipeline companies, including telephone, telegraph and information transmission companies; and other public service companies in such manner as the legislature shall provide.”
