Conference committees open; or are they?

The Senate voted 33-8 to open conference committees.

The vote ends of years work by Senator Dede Feldman.
Blogger Haussamen reports, link;

"It is the secrecy that breeds suspicion, and that is
something that we can very easily end by sending this
vote that we want to end these closed conference
committees,” Feldman said in arguing for Cervantes’ bill."

The Governor is expected to sign off on the bill.

But will the real conference committees actually be open.
At least two state Senators are on the record stating that the
law makes no difference; that if conference committee members
want to, they will just have their meeting off campus and off of
the public record.

According to blogger Monahan, link;

"An opponent of the legislation, Senator John Arthur
Smith, argued that the holes in the new law are
"phenomenal" and that future Legislatures will find a way
around it."

Senator Stuart Ingle has said basically the same thing, link;

"A chief concern is that opening up conference committee
meetings would drive the Legislature's decision-making
process underground."

Talk about "breeding suspicion". Two influential Senators
freely admit that the spirit of law will be ignored.

The really scary part; they are so unafraid of the consequences
of ignoring the law, and the will of the people,
that they have announced their intention to skirt the law,
in advance!

Raise your hand, if you really believe that the people of
New Mexico are actually going to see their sausage being made.

Seeing no hands, ...