Governor, key Democrat back Spaceport secrecy bill
SANTA FE – A bill that would allow Spaceport America to keep certain information confidential – such as security records and visitor logs – has the backing of Gov. Susana Martinez and a top Democratic state lawmaker, who says it’s needed to keep up in a national space race.
However, an open-government group has criticized the idea of giving such authority to the taxpayer-funded facility, saying Spaceport officials have already shown a troubling pattern of withholding records that should be publicly available.
The debate comes on the heels of the busiest year on record at the Spaceport, a commercial facility in southern New Mexico that has been blasted by critics as a boondoggle since construction began in 2006.
Senate President Pro Tem Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, one of the sponsors of the legislation pending at the Roundhouse, said the bill is not intended to make Spaceport operations more secretive.
Read more: https://www.abqjournal.com/1123036/governor-key-democrat-back-spaceport-secrecy-bill.html