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NMCC Members,
Below are the outcomes for some of the bills we have been working on your behalf.
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BILLS WE OPPOSED THAT DID NOT PASS:
HB 50-- PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR CERTAIN STATUTES
Sponsor: Rep. Louis
HB 50 would have created huge regulatory risk for New Mexico businesses and industries like agriculture, insurance, extractive industries, and manufacturing by circumventing our existing state regulatory protections and allowing anyone to file a lawsuit for claimed past harm, or potential future harm, clogging up our already overburdened court system.
SB 312-- GAME AND FISH WILFLIFE CHANGES
Sponsors: Sen. Steinborn & Rep. Small
Significant changes would have been made to out of state elk licenses, the definition of an outfitter, and the taking of an animal by a landowner. This bill would have put rural New Mexico at a disadvantage, and we believe it would have put many public land outfitters out of business, especially in the Gila.
SB 155-- ENERGY TRANSITION ACT CHANGES
Sponsors: Sen. Tallman & Sen. Sedillo-Lopez
The NM Chamber is a staunch supporter of the cohesive, thoughtful, and broadly supported 2019 Energy Transition Act, which is why we opposed this bill. SB 155 would have unraveled and undermined the climate actions taken to ensure our carbon-emissions free future in a fair and responsible way.
SB 149-- PROHIBIT NEW FRACKING LCENSES
Sponsors: Sen. Sedillo-Lopez & Rep. Roybal-Caballero
This bill would have eliminated almost 40% of New Mexico’s annual revenue that is used for public schools, health care and infrastructure with no plan to backfill the tax revenue. Thankfully the bill did not move forward in the senate.
HB 30-- WATER LEASE & EFFECTIVE DATES
Sponsors: Rep. Chandler, Sen. Wirth, Rep. Ortez
House Bill 30 would have created new costly and inefficient regulatory requirements regarding water leases in the state. According to the Fiscal Impact Report, the Department of Transportation reports that enactment of HB 30 would have cause delays in contractors’ ability to use leased water on highway improvement projects, potentially resulting in project delays, increased project costs, or even a loss of federal funding if project timelines are significantly affected.
HB 38-- PAID FAMILY & MEDICL LEAVE ACT
Sponsor: Rep. Chandler
Our membership endorsed a set of principles that were based on successful Family Medical Leave programs in California and Colorado, but not all of those made it into the bill and the cost of implementation was not included in the proposed state budget.
HB 110-- PHASED MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE
Sponsor: Rep. Roybal-Caballero
This bill would have undermined the 2019 legislative compromise that steps up increases to the state’s minimum wage overtime.
SB 86-- USE OF WATER FOR OIL AND GAS OPERATIONS
Sponsor: Sen. Sedillo-Lopez
The 2019 Produced Water Act made New Mexico a world leader in the reuse and recycling of produced water within the oilfield. The Produced Water Act provided necessary clarity to encourage investment in the recycling and reuse of produced water, and also created additional regulatory oversight for produced water use within the State by creating a clear jurisdictional split between NMED and NMOCD. Senate Bill 86 would have eliminated most, if not all, of these benefits.
SJR 3-- THE GREEN AMENDMENT
Antoinette Sedillo-Lopez
This would have repealed the existing NM Constitutional environmental provision, which requires Legislative action, and replace it with a statement of environmental rights that would be self-executing. It would allow persons, likely NGOs, to challenge any administrative or legislative act in a court proceeding as unconstitutional. It would also give the judicial branch complete control over whether the provision was complied with, and empower the courts to set policy. It would have taken policy decisions out of the hands of the Legislative and Executive branches.
HB 95-- WATER ADMINISTRATION AND PLANNING CHANGES
Sponsor: Rep. Andrea Romero
HB 95 would have reduced the standing requirements for permit objections to allow anyone to protest, which would have greatly increased the number of filed protests, raised the agency’s administrative costs and significantly delayed permit approvals.
HB 236-- PUBLIC BANKING ACT
Sponsors: Rep. Roybal-Caballero, Sen. Steinborn & Rep. Thomson
This bill aimed to divert public money from more immediate economic recovery needs, and put it into an unnecessary and risky investment. However, there is legal concern about whether this measure even met the definition of “investment” and may have posed an anti-donation problem under the state constitution.
SB 83-- LOCAL CHOICE ENERGY ACT
Sponsor: Sen. Steinborn
We opposed this bill because it adds unfair complications and costs in a time that our local businesses and communities especially need energy reliability and affordability.
HB 9-- CLIMATE SOLUTIONS ACT
Sponsor: Rep. Stansbury
It would have created the Climate Leadership Council and required the development of a statewide framework to address climate change. While the sponsor had good intentions, there were too many unanswered questions about potential unintended consequences.
HB 268-- CORONAVIRUS & WORKERS' COMP
Sponsors: Rep. Hochman-Vigil, Rep. Ely, Rep. Chandler, Rep. Dixon & Rep. Garratt
HB 268 would have amended Workers’ Compensation to create a presumption that coronavirus disease 2019 is an injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment for essential employees. HB 268 would have permitted employers to rebut the presumption and defines “essential employee.” HB 268 would have prohibited workers’ compensation insurers from using coronavirus disease 2018 claims in developing rating plants.
BILLS WE SUPPORTED THAT PASSED OR HAVE BEEN SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR:
SB 3-- SMALL BUSINESS RECOVERY ACT
Sponsors: Sen. Candelaria & Rep. Matthews
SB 3 makes changes in the definitions of the original bill from the June 2020 special session and extends the deadline to apply for a loan. Small businesses are in desperate need right now, and we appreciate the much needed support this bill provides.
HB 120-- MILITARY SPOUSE EXPEDITED LICENSURE
Sponsor: Rep. Alcon
HB 120 enables a number of licensing entities to accommodate military service members and members of their family during times of transition when they are seeking new employment. This bill will enhance our workforce and makes New Mexico more military-friendly.
SB 204-- AMENDING THE RURAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF NEW MEXICO
Sponsor: Sen. Padilla
This bill eliminates unnecessary regulatory costs enacted by the PRC, so that those monies can instead be used to build more infrastructure and to better serve the Navajo Nation with high-speed internet.
HB 11-- GRT & PERMANENT FUND FOR LEDA PROJECTS
Sponsors: Speaker Egolf & Rep. Chandler
HB 11 provides $200 million in grants to offset lease and mortgage costs for businesses impacted by the pandemic in New Mexico. An impacted business may qualify for up to $100,000 to be distributed in four quarterly payments.
HB 68-- SPACE FLIGHT INFORMED CONSENT ACT CHANGES
Sponsors: Rep. Hochman-Vigil & Sen. Diamond
HB 68 minimizes uncertainty around the business of space transportation, makes our liability environment comparable and more competitive with other states, and positions New Mexico as more attractive to spaceflight companies looking for operating locations.
SB 2-- WAIVE 2021 LIQUOR LICENSE FEES
Sponsors: Sen. Candelaria, Sen. Stefanics, Sen. McKenna & Rep. McQueen
Senate Bill 2 waives the next annual fee for renewed liquor licenses and for all new licenses issued in 2021. License fees can range as high as several thousand dollars annually. It is estimated the waivers will save businesses in New Mexico roughly $3.5 million in total.
SB 51-- CHARTER SCHOOL ENROLLMENT PREFERENCE
Sponsor: Sen. Hemphill
SB 51 allows charter schools to give enrollment preferences to children of employees of the school, beginning in the 2021-2022 school year. We support this bill because it is a family-friendly policy that will help better balance family and workplace obligations, and will help recruit and retain teachers in a state where we have a teacher shortage.
HB 278-- MANUFACTURING SERVICES GROSS RECEIPTS
Sponsors: Rep. Harper & Rep. Martinez
The Senate Finance Committee amended the proposed gross receipts tax deduction for accounting services. What remains is the deduction for the sale of tangible personal property, e.g. manufacturing equipment, to manufactures and to manufacturing services providers. This will particularly help small businesses, and we appreciate the sponsors' hard work to fix GRT pyramiding.
SB 93-- BROADBAND ACCESS & EXPANSION ACT
Sponsors: Sen. Padilla & Sen. Stefanics
Senate Bill 93 Establishes the office of Broadband Access and Expansion and provides powers and duties. The bill makes an appropriation from the General Fund to the Department of Information Technology for Fiscal Year 2022 and requires the broadband office, on or before January 1, 2022, to develop and provide to the governor and the legislature, a three-year statewide broadband plan.
OTHER UPDATES:
HB 20-- HEALTHY WORKPLACES ACT-- OPPOSE
Sponsors: Sen. Stewart, Rep. Chandler & Rep. Rubio
The business community worked very hard to get improvements to the Healthy Workplaces act and was successful in getting some improvements in the Senate that included delayed implementation until July 2022, recognition of existing paid time off programs, elimination of the additional 80 hours of supplemental sick leave, reduction of penalties by 50% and the inclusion of a definition of independent contractor. However, because the bill did not include pre-emption or include a small business exemption or tax credit, we continued to oppose the bill. On the Senate Floor, the requirement that the bill be enforced equitably between public and private employers was stripped out, exempting government from providing the benefits while still requiring small business to provide the full benefit. The amended bill received House concurrence in the last hour of the session and is headed to the Governor’s desk.
HB 75-- MEDICAL MALPRACTICE DEFINITIONS
Sponsor: Rep. Ely
The initial bill proposed removing hospitals from the Patient Compensation Fund. We opposed this because it would have made rural hospitals incredibly vulnerable to litigation, as they don’t have the margins to absorb a $10 million lawsuit. A deal with the hospitals was struck so they remain in the fund, and the cap on claims that the fund will disburse was raised to $750,000 from $600,000. This bill is heading to the Governor's desk.
CS/HB 291/a TAX CHANGES
Sponsors: Rep. Martinez, Rep. Chandler & Rep. McQueen
This bill was amended in Senate Finance Committee to strip out any tax hikes, and expanded the Low-Income Comprehensive Tax Rebate (LICTR) and the Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC), which we fully support. This bill is heading to the Governor's desk.
SB 317
Sponsor: Sen. Hickey
Last night HB 122 (Health Insurance Prmium Surtax sponsored by Rep. Deborah Armstrong) was rolled into Sen. Hickey's SB 317 (No Behavioral Health Cost Sharing). HB 122 increases the health insurance surtax and distributes a portion of the revenue of the surtax to a new Health Care Affordability Fund, creating the Health Care Affordability Fund to be used to reduce the cost of health care coverage for New Mexico residents, and requiring the Superintendent of Insurance to report on the expenditures from the Health Care Affordability Fund.The bill got concurrence on the Senate Floor and is heading to the Governor's desk. |
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