Lawmakers debate PRC standards

SANTA FE (KRQE) - Former PRC commissioner Doug Howe has seen first-hand how complex the job as one of five members of the Public Regulation Commission can be.

"I t's a highly, highly technical job," Howe said.

The PRC oversees several state industries including the insurance and transportation industries, as well as utilities.

But unlike a typical board member, a PRC commissioner often acts more like a judge with meetings structured more like court proceedings. In fact, PRC rulings are appealed to the New Mexico Supreme Court.

However the only qualification or experience needed to run for the PRC is that a candidate be at least 18.

The PRC received more than its fair share of attention when now-former Commissioner Jerome Block Jr. was convicted in 2011 of stealing thousands from taxpayers.

That scandal and the lower requirements were enough for 81 percent of New Mexicans who voted to pass a constitutional amendment asking for minimum qualifications to be on the PRC.  The amendment left the specifics of those qualifications up to lawmakers.

Where the bar should be set is now being debated by state lawmakers.

Sen. Tim Keller, D- Albuquerque, and Rep. Paul Bandy, R-Aztec, introduced Senate Bill 8 and House Bill 89 requiring PRC commissioners have a bachelor's degree and at least seven years relevant work experience.

But Keller backed off, introducing a substitute bill at the Senate Rules Committee meeting Wednesday morning that significantly watered down those requirements to either an associate's degree or seven years work experience.

"We're raising the bar, but you've got to be very careful not to judge people based on their degree," Keller said.

That upset some lawmakers, Howe and PRC reform advocate Fred Nathan. The concern is that an associate's degree of any type doesn't truly prepare someone to work on the PRC.

"If you have an associate's degree in photography or fashion design or cosmetology it's really not a relevant educational background for the job," Nathan said.

In response to some of those concerns, Keller says he's looking at amending his bill again to make the minimum requirement 10 years of relevant education and work experience combined.

A competing bill introduced by Speaker of the House Ken Martinez, D-Grants, and Rep. Tom Taylor, R-Farmington, would set requirements at seven years relevant work experience or a bachelor's degree in a field relevant to what the PRC manages.