SENATE BILL 509

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2025

INTRODUCED BY

George K. Muñoz

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC BENEFITS; ENACTING THE PATHWAY ACT TO PROVIDE, WITHOUT A GUARANTEE, TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS ($2,000) TO EVERY ELIGIBLE FOSTER CHILD TO USE FOR HOUSING, EDUCATION OR WORKFORCE TRAINING; CREATING THE PATHWAY PROGRAM; CREATING THE PATHWAY PROGRAM FUND; PROVIDING THAT BENEFITS SHALL NOT BE GUARANTEED AND A PROPERTY INTEREST SHALL NOT BE CREATED BY THE PATHWAY ACT; EXEMPTING MONEY TRANSFERRED TO OR SPENT ON BEHALF OF A BENEFICIARY PURSUANT TO THE PATHWAY ACT FROM TAXATION; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--Sections 1

through 5 of this act may be cited as the "Pathway Act".

     SECTION 2. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the

Pathway Act:

          A. "beneficiary" means a person whose primary residence is in New Mexico and who is eligible for the pathway program;

          B. "department" means the department of finance and administration;

          C. "foster care" means twenty-four-hour substitute care for a child placed away from the child's parents or guardians and for whom the children, youth and families department has placement and care responsibility; and

          D. "primary residence" means the domicile where a person physically resides for most of the time and the address of which the person uses for purposes of a driver's license or state-issued identification card.

     SECTION 3. [NEW MATERIAL] PATHWAY PROGRAM--ELIGIBILITY--ENROLLMENT--DUTIES.--

          A. A person is eligible to be a beneficiary of the pathway program who:

                (1) has spent at least eighteen months cumulatively in foster care;

                (2) reaches eighteen years of age on or after January 1, 2026; and

                (3) has successfully completed a financial literacy course, either in high school, as evidenced by a transcript, or that is approved by the department.

          B. Upon request by a beneficiary to the department, the department shall transfer two thousand dollars ($2,000) from the pathway program fund to the beneficiary's personal bank account to be used only for housing, education or workforce training expenses. A beneficiary shall be allowed only one transfer pursuant to this subsection.

          C. The department shall:

                (1) create and administer the pathway program in consultation with the children, youth and families department;

                (2) collaborate with the children, youth and families department to automatically enroll beneficiaries and communicate to beneficiaries who become eligible of the availability and use of funds pursuant to the Pathway Act; and

                (3) verify a beneficiary's successful completion of a high school financial literacy course or, when a beneficiary indicates that the beneficiary has not taken a high school financial literacy course, provide a list of approved financial literacy courses and reimbursement to the beneficiary for completion of the course.

          D. The children, youth and families department shall share with the department of finance and administration at regularly agreed intervals information necessary for the department to identify and enroll children in foster care in the pathway program.

     SECTION 4. [NEW MATERIAL] PATHWAY PROGRAM FUND.--

          A. The "pathway program fund" is created as a nonreverting fund in the state treasury. The purpose of the fund is to provide beneficiaries with money for housing, education or workforce training. The fund consists of distributions, transfers, appropriations, gifts, grants, donations and income from investment of the fund. Money in the pathway program fund shall be invested by the state treasurer.

          B. Money in the pathway program fund is appropriated to the department for the purposes specified in the Pathway Act. The department shall administer the fund, and expenditures from the fund shall be by warrant of the secretary of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the secretary or the secretary's authorized representative.

     SECTION 5. [NEW MATERIAL] NO GUARANTEE OF BENEFITS OR

ENFORCEABLE INTEREST.--The provisions of the Pathway Act do not guarantee any benefits and shall not be construed to create an interest in property that:

          A. does not otherwise exist; or

          B. is enforceable under state law.

     SECTION 6. A new section of the Income Tax Act is enacted

to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] EXEMPTION--PATHWAY ACT.--

          A. Money transferred to or spent on behalf of a beneficiary pursuant to the Pathway Act is exempt from state income taxation.

          B. As used in this section, "beneficiary" means a New Mexico resident who is eligible for the pathway program pursuant to the Pathway Act."

     SECTION 7. APPROPRIATION.--Four million dollars ($4,000,000) is appropriated from the early childhood education and care fund to the pathway program fund for expenditure in fiscal year 2026 and subsequent fiscal years for the purposes of administering the Pathway Act. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the early childhood education and care fund.

     SECTION 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the

provisions of this act is January 1, 2026.

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