State Sen. Bill Sharer accused Rep. Andrea Romero of a pay-to-play scheme tied to $100,000 she requested the district attorney’s office that later hired her.
SANTA FE, N.M. – State Sen. Bill Sharer accused Rep. Andrea Romero of a pay-to-play scheme tied to $100,000 she requested the district attorney’s office that later hired her.
Sharer, the Senate minority leader, filed an ethics complaint against Romero after he learned she used a taxpayer-funded public relations firm hired by the Truth Commission to handle her personal employment fallout.
He now wants Romero to resign as chair of the Truth Commission and from her seat in the Roundhouse.
Legislative records show Romero requested the capital outlay of money during the past legislative session for the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office, where she worked months later.
“The whole idea that people can be making money off of being a legislator is wrong and it needs to stop. And that’s really the bottom line is if we’re not there to serve the people of New Mexico, then we shouldn’t be there,” Sharer said.
Sharer said capital outlay requests happen every session and that every lawmaker makes them for projects or offices in their districts.
Records show Romero was one of several Santa Fe-based lawmakers who requested money for the district attorney’s office, but Sharer said her later employment there sets this apart.
What evidence is there?
“What is unusual is then being employed by that group that just gave you, that you just gave money to,” Sharer said.
KOB 4 reached out to New Mexico House Democrats about the new allegations against Romero. A spokesperson said, “Every single state lawmaker allocates Capital Outlay funding to public bodies within their district. Many frequently direct funds to their local District Attorneys’ offices.”
KOB 4 also asked Sharer whether there is any evidence of Romero’s job at the district attorney’s office was tied to that funding.
“If you’re doing something wrong, the timing is irrelevant. So that’s what this is, I think we’ve ….we as New Mexicans have just had enough of this kind of stuff,” Sharer said.
In the same statement, a House Democrats spokesperson said Republican lawmakers have allocated capital outlay to school districts where they are employed and to public bodies their businesses may seek contracts with, adding, “Those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”
KOB 4 has not heard directly from Romero. She is also running unopposed this year to keep her seat in the Roundhouse.
A spokesperson for the New Mexico House Democrats sent the following statement:
“Every single state lawmaker allocates Capital Outlay funding to public bodies within their district. Many frequently direct funds to their local District Attorneys’ offices.
Countless similar examples could be pointed out. Republican lawmakers have allocated Capital Outlay to the school districts where they’re employed and to public bodies with which their businesses may seek contracts or perhaps even have active partnerships. Those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”
A spokesperson for the First Judicial District Attorney also sent the following statement:
“The FJDA rejects any suggestion that Andrea Romero’s employment was connected to capital outlay funding for this office. When Andrea was considered for the part-time position, the office’s focus was on whether her employment was permissible and her qualifications to perform the work. As we have previously stated, Andrea had proactively sought guidance from the Attorney General’s Office before accepting the position, and our office also conducted its own ethics and conflict review.
The suggestion that public funding appropriated to the District Attorney’s Office was exchanged for employment is patently false, outrageous, and defamatory.”
