Summary:

 House Bill 25 (HB 25) enacts the Land Grant-Merced Infrastructure Act which creates the Land Grant Council. It defines the powers and duties that the Council will have to provide infrastructure assistance to land grants-mercedes. It contains seven definitions.
 

Legislation Overview:

 House Bill 25 (HB 25) enacts the Land Grant-Merced Infrastructure Act which creates the Land Grant Council. It defines the powers and duties that the Council will have to provide infrastructure assistance to land grants-mercedes. It contains seven definitions.

HB 25 creates the Land Grant-Merced Infrastructure Trust Fund and the Land Grant-Merced Infrastructure Project Fund, both of which are nonreverting.  The purpose of the Trust Fund is to make an annual distribution from the Trust Fund to the Project Fund of eighteen million dollars ($18,000,000) annually until the distribution is less than a certain amount. The Department of Finance and Administration (DFA), in consultation with the Council, administers the Project Fund.  HB 25 defines infrastructure assistance broadly and directs the Council to establish procedures and adopt rules for the administration of the Project Fund.  Beginning in Fiscal Year 2026, the Council will receive less than one percent of the project fund or fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), whichever is less, to administer the Project Fund for that FY.  Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of any FY reverts to the Project Fund.

HB 25 provides for legislative oversight including review of the rules proposed by the Council by the appropriate legislative interim committee working on land grant-merced issues prior to the rule’s approval.  The Council will provide a report to that appropriate committee no later than 1 October of each year that will contain total expenditures from the Project Fund, purposes of the expenditures, certain analysis and proposals for legislative actions.

HB 25 amends Section 7-27-10 NMSA to require DFA to allocate one and one-tenth
percent of the estimated severance tax bonding capacity to land grant-merced infrastructure projects and to allow the DFA to issue severance tax bonds to fund these projects.

HB 25 appropriates twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) from the General Fund (GF) to Land Grant-Merced Infrastructure Trust Fund for expenditure for FY 2026 to implement the provisions of the act. 
Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a FY will not revert to the GF.
 

Current Law:

 According to the Office of State Auditor (OSA) analysis, projects created and developed by HB025 or SB374 would be subject to the requirements for financial certification put in place by Executive Order 2013-006. Many of the land grant mercedes are small, local public bodies that have not conducted up to date agreed upon procedures reviews as required for financial compliance with the Audit Act. The OSA has developed and implemented an assistance program and works closely with the Land Grant Council to identify land grants with needs in financial certification, providing technical assistance and training opportunities to these organizations and communicating with the Land Grant Council on a regular basis. As of January 16, 2025, the OSA helped remove such access restrictions for approximately $3.1 million in withheld appropriations to acequias, land grants, and MDWA’s.  According to the State Treasurer’s Office (STO), the State Investment Council which will administer these funds can invest longer-term with higher risk while the STO ’s investments of public funds are strictly regulated by Chapter 6, Article 10 NMSA 1978.