HM 27 — ANTI-DONATION CLAUSE INTERIM COMMITTEE WORK

HOUSE MEMORIAL 27 57TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEWMEXICO - FIRST SESSION 2025 INTRODUCED BY Linda Serrato and Joseph Franklin Hernandez and Patricia Roybal Caballero 7 9 A MEMORIAL REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TO TASK AN INTERIM COMMITTEE TO ASSESS THE BEST METHODS TO IMPLEMENT THE EXCEPTION THE VOTERS APPROVED TO ARTICLE 9, SECTION 14 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF NEW MEXICO, COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE ANTI-DONATIONANTI- DONATION CLAUSE, FOR THE PROVISION OF STATE ASSISTANCE FOR ESSENTIAL SERVICES AND TO DEVELOP LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS BASED ON THE e t 17 COMMITTEE'S FINDINGS FOR THE 2026 LEGISLATIVE SESSION.

w l n d 18 = = 19 a l WHEREAS, many New Mexico communities have struggled to i a e r 20 acquire essential utility services for their residents, a t m m 21 including internet, electricity, natural gas, water and d r e 22 wastewater services;

and c e s k 23 WHEREAS, utility providers in New Mexico sometimes find e a n b 24 u [ the capital costs of installing utility cables, lines, pipes and other utility infrastructure to be prohibitive for some .230484.2 communities due to their geography, geology, per capita disposable income, population density or other factors;

HM 27 Page 1 WHEREAS, in 2022, the voters of New Mexico approved an exception to Article 9, Section 14 of the constitution of New Mexico, commonly known as the "anti-donation clause", to allow the state to expend funds or resources for the purpose of providing essential services primarily for residential purposes and defined "essential services" as "infrastructure that allows internet, energy, water, wastewater or other similar services e t 17 as provided by law";

and w l n d 18 WHEREAS, the exception the voters approved included a = = 19 a l requirement for state expenditures to provide essential i a e r 20 services pursuant to implementing legislation that includes a t m m 21 "safeguards to protect public money and other public d r e 22 resources";

and c e s k 23 WHEREAS, electricity, internet, natural gas, water and e a n b 24 wastewater services meet very different human and community u [ needs, operate under very different regulatory structures and .230484.2 - 2 - have very different types of supporting infrastructure;

HM 27 Page 2 A.

(2) whether a single entity to assist all e t 17 essential services or several separate public entities, each w l n d 18 specifically dedicated to a particular type of essential = = 19 a l service, would be more efficient and provide greater i a e r 20 accountability to safeguard public money and other public a t m m 21 resources;

d r e 22 (3) whether the best pathway to implement an c e s k 23 assistance program for essential services is to establish a e a n b 24 program to provide assistance for one type of essential service u [ to act as a prototype to develop best practices for providing .230484.2 - 3 - assistance for other essential services or to implement a broad spectrum assistance program for all essential services;

(5) whether the provision of assistance for essential services should be conditioned on some level of HM 27 Page 3 matching funding from local governments;

and e t 17 B.

develop legislative proposals for the 2026 w l n d 18 legislative session to implement an assistance program for = = 19 a l essential services based on the committee's findings;

and i a e r 20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be a t m m 21 transmitted to the members of the New Mexico legislative d r e 22 council and the director of the legislative council service.

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