S 241 PROSPERITY & ECONOMIC RESILIENCE ACT

Sen George K Munoz

Actions: [4] SJC/SFC-SJC

Scheduled: Not Scheduled

 Senate Bill 241 (SB 241) enacts the Prosperity and Economic Resiliency Act (Act) and creates the Prosperity and Economic Resiliency Council (Council). SB 241 creates the Prosperity and Economic Resiliency Permanent Fund (Permanent Fund) and the Economic Resiliency Program Fund (Program Fund) and provides for an annual distribution from the the Permanent Fund to the Program Fund. Makes appropriations. Declares an emergency.
 

 Senate Bill 241 (SB 241) enacts the Prosperity and Economic Resiliency Act (Act) and creates the Prosperity and Economic Resiliency Council (Council). SB 241 creates the Prosperity and Economic Resiliency Permanent Fund (Permanent Fund) and the Economic Resiliency Program Fund (Program Fund) and provides for an annual distribution from the the Permanent Fund to the Program Fund. 

SECTION 1 adds new material which may be cited as Prosperity and Economic Resiliency Act (Act). 

SECTION 2 adds new material to the Act to identify the broad based categories of statewide problems and needs that require significant commitments of effort and funding by the state or by the state in concert with federal and local governments to solve or rectify problems. Provides the scope of these problems in this subsection.

The Act creates nine broad, substantive categories of need, with the tenth category providing money for renovation or major repair and maintenance of existing state assets and funding for infrastructure planning and design for projects that may be funded by the Council or by other funding streams. The categories of need are listed in this subsection.

SECTION 3 adds new material to create the Prosperity and Economic Resiliency Council.
A. The Council consists of a range of state government officers and ad hoc public members.
B. The Council shall have no more than five public members from the same political party. Members shall serve staggered six-year terms. No public member may serve more than one term on the Council.
C. Provides for the meetings and actions of the Council. 
D. The Council is administratively attached to the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA). Several state and federal bureaus shall provide staff.

SECTION 4 adds new material to specify the powers and duties of the Council.
A. The Council may: (1) request the assistance of any state agency, branch, institution, board, commission, bureau, committee, instrumentality or district of state government or any political subdivision of the state in carrying out its powers and duties; and (2) on its own motion, request a state agency to submit an application or join another state agency's application for a proposed project. 
B. The council shall: (1) act in the best interest of the state; (2) adopt rules to implement the Act; (3) investigate application proposals and their applicability to and efficacy in solving an identified problem relating to a category of need; (4) prioritize projects and inter-fund transfers and certify the approved applications to the legislature; (5) encourage applications that propose statewide or regional solutions for identified problems; (6) require and assist development of comprehensive statewide planning for prevention and mitigation of natural disasters; (7) assist in coordinated and sustained state planning for all state capital needs; (8) make recommendations to the legislature for appropriations and transfers to existing programmatic funds; and (9) make recommendations to the legislature of statutory funds that should be collapsed into the Program Fund. 
C. State agencies shall submit applications for project funding from the Program Fund on forms provided by the Council.
D. The Council shall give priority to projects as specified in this subsection.
E. In response to a crisis identified by the Council that requires state response, the Council shall certify approved applications to the governor and shall provide funding for those applications. Operational and capital expenditures in response to a crisis or declared emergency are allowed and are subject to the provisions of Sections 12-11-23 through 12-11-25 and Sections 13-1-127 and 13-1-128 NMSA 1978. 
F. When possible, if federal funding subsequently becomes available to beneficiaries for the same purpose for which funding from the Program Fund was made available, the appropriate subaccounts shall be reimbursed the amount of funding by the beneficiaries up to the amount received from the federal government. 
G. The Council shall create a Crisis Planning and Response Team (Team) of state, federal and local experts to plan and coordinate necessary and appropriate responses to statewide, regional or local emergencies. The crisis Team shall provide after-event reports to the Council and the legislature. 
H. The Council may appoint one or more working groups for each category of need. The working groups shall include at least one council member. 
I. Federal agencies and the national laboratories are invited and encouraged to participate in the work of the Council and its working groups. 
J. Each year, the Council may distribute:
(1) to the DFA, up to $2,000,000 as specified in this subsection; 
(2) to the DFA, up to 80 percent of the state assets and capital planning and design subaccount's unencumbered balance for planning and design for capital projects; and (3) to the Tribal Infrastructure Board, up to 80 percent of the tribal initiatives subaccount's unencumbered balance to assist tribal governments in meeting match requirements to leverage federal funding. 
K. Applications approved by the Council require the financial participation of the applicants of at least 50 percent of the approved project. The Council may distribute to the DFA up to 50 percent of the unencumbered balances of applicable subaccounts to pay the state share of critical projects approved by the council. 
L. The Council shall immediately notify the state treasurer and the State Board of Finance of the Council's approval of distributions and projects. The DFA shall keep a record of expenditures made from distributions and shall report the record to the Council and the Legislative Finance Committee.

SECTION 5 adds new material to create the Prosperity and Economic Resiliency Permanent Fund as a non reverting fund in the state treasury. This section provides direction on investments and reports to be made. This section provides for insufficient revenues to be met b an appropriation from the Permanent Fund. A distribution from the Permanent Fund shall be made to the Program Fund of $200,000,000 or five percent of the prior three-year average of the Permanent Fund, whichever is greater. The distribution to the Program Fund shall be divided equally among its subaccounts for Fiscal Year 2024; thereafter, the legislature shall appropriate the amount in each subaccount that may be used by the Council. 

SECTION 6 adds new material to create the Prosperity and Economic Resiliency Program Fund  (Program Fund) as a nonreverting fund in the state treasury. The Program Fund shall be divided into subaccounts corresponding to each category of need. Money in each sub account of the Program Fund is subject to appropriation by the legislature. Specifies that unexpended or unencumbered balances remaining in a subaccount exceeds $100,000,000, the surplus shall be transferred to the Permanent Fund. Creates subaacounts for:
-Water Conservation and Delivery.
-Environmental, Agricultural and Climate Resiliency 
-Energy, Science, Technology and Innovation
-Higher Education and Academic Research.
-Physical, Mental and Behavioral Health Access and Services 
-Rural Economic Development
-Tribal Initiatives.
-Cultural and Creative Economy 
-Courts and Public Safety
State Assets and Capital Planning and Design

SECTION 7 authorizes transfers and makes appropriations. 
A. Transfers $800,000,000 from the General Fund to the Permanent Fund on July 1, 2023. 
B. Appropriates $200,000,000 from the General Fund to the Program Fund for expenditure in Fiscal Year 2024 and subsequent fiscal years to carry out the purposes of the Act. Money in the Program Fund shall not revert to the General Fund. 
C.  Appropriates $1,000,000 from the General Fund to the DFA for expenditure in Fiscal Year 2023 and subsequent fiscal years to cover expenses and contracts to carry out the provisions of the Act. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund. 

SECTION 8 declares this action an emergency.