Summary:

 Senate Bill 271 (SB 271):  This bill amends Section 2-5-1 of the New Mexico Statutes Annotated (NMSA) 1978, which governs the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC). Although the total number of committee members (16) remains the same—eight from the House of Representatives and eight from the Senate—the composition is adjusted to explicitly include representation from the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee (LHHS). The bill also updates language to be gender-neutral and includes an emergency clause so that it takes effect immediately upon enactment.  

Legislation Overview:

 Senate Bill 271 (SB 271): The bill maintains a 16-member Legislative Finance Committee but redistributes seats to include specific representation from the LHHS, ensures minority-party inclusion, and updates statutory language for clarity and gender neutrality. Below is a breakdown of key components of the bill.
1. Overall Membership Count Remains 16
•	Eight from the House of Representatives
•	Eight from the Senate
•	The committee’s total size does not change.
2. Who Serves on the LFC?
•	Chairs (or Designees) of Key Committees
•	House Appropriations & Finance Committee
•	House Taxation & Revenue Committee
•	Senate Finance Committee
•	Representation from the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee (LHHS)
•	Chair of LHHS (or the LHHS Vice Chair, if the Chair designates)
•	One Minority Member of LHHS, appointed by the minority floor leader of the legislative chamber not represented by the LHHS Chair
•	Appointed Members 
•	Five from the House (changed from six)
•	Six from the Senate (changed from seven)
•	These appointments come from: The Speaker of the House (for House seats)
•	The Senate Committees’ Committee or the Senate President Pro Tempore (for Senate seats) Minority Party Representation Requirement
•	Ensures at least one minority member from each chamber serves on the committee.
•	The Speaker must choose House minority members from recommendations of the House minority floor leader.
3. Why the Adjustments?
•	Previously, the legislative finance committee included: The chairs of House Appropriations & Finance, House Taxation & Revenue, and Senate Finance (3 seats).
•	Six additional House members (6 seats).
•	Seven additional Senate members (7 seats).
•	That added up to 16 members.
•	Under this bill, two seats are formally allocated to the LHHS Chair (or Vice Chair) and a minority LHHS member. To keep the total at 16, the House appointees drop from 6 to 5, and Senate appointees drop from 7 to 6.
4. Gender-Neutral Language
•	The bill replaces terms like “chairman” with “chair” and “his” with “the appointed member’s,” making the statute’s wording gender neutral.
5. Emergency Clause
•	Because of the emergency clause, once this act is signed into law by the governor, it takes effect immediately reflecting the legislature’s determination that it is necessary for the “public peace, health and safety.”
 

Current Law:

 Any member of the legislature of the state of New Mexico may resign his office by 
filing a written statement of such resignation with the secretary of state of New Mexico, 
and upon the filing of such resignation, the office of senator or representative filled by 
the person so resigning shall become vacant.