SENATE BILL 1059
47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2005
INTRODUCED BY
H. Diane Snyder
AN ACT
RELATING TO STATUTES; PROVIDING FOR GENDER-NEUTRAL LANGUAGE IN STATE LEGISLATION, RULES AND OTHER DOCUMENTS; CREATING THE CODE REVISION COMMITTEE; ASSIGNING DUTIES; AUTHORIZING CODE REVISIONS; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. STATE DOCUMENTS--GENDER-NEUTRAL LANGUAGE.--
A. Gender-neutral language shall be used in drafting laws, memorials, resolutions or other documents produced by the legislative council service or rules produced by the legislative, executive or judicial branches of the state or its subdivisions.
B. When amending a section, article or chapter of statutes or when amending rules, a masculine or feminine gender-specific word shall be changed to a gender-neutral word only when it is clear that the statute or rule is not exclusively applicable to members of one sex.
C. Gender-neutral language shall not be used if it alters the meaning of the law being amended or compromises the clarity of the writing.
D. Gender-neutral language applies to the title of an act or other prefaces, headings or footnotes for rules and documents.
E. As used in this section:
(1) "gender-neutral" means language that does not expressly or implicitly refer to one sex to the real or apparent exclusion of the other and expressly or implicitly refers to both sexes without distinguishing between them; and
(2) "gender-specific" means language that expressly or implicitly refers to one sex to the real or apparent exclusion of the other or expressly or implicitly refers to both sexes and distinguishes between them.
Section 2. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL SERVICE--GENDER-NEUTRAL LANGUAGE.--To carry out its duty to improve the form or wording of the statutes and to clarify and reconcile their provisions as set out in Section 2-3-8 NMSA 1978, the legislative council service shall act as a revisor of statutes by reviewing the statutes and replacing gender-specific language where reasonable and possible.
Section 3. CODE REVISION COMMITTEE--CREATED.--A joint legislative interim committee is created that shall be known as the "code revision committee". The committee shall function from the date of appointment until the first day of December 2008 prior to the first session of the forty-ninth legislature.
Section 4. MEMBERSHIP--APPOINTMENT--VACANCIES.--
A. The code revision committee shall be composed of eight members. The New Mexico legislative council shall appoint four members from the house of representatives and four members from the senate. At the time of making the appointment, the legislative council shall designate the chair and vice chair of the committee. The legislative council may appoint advisory members to the code revision committee as it deems necessary.
B. Members shall be appointed from each house so as to give the two major political parties in each house the same proportionate representation on the code revision committee as prevails in each house; however, in no event shall either party have less than one member from each house on the committee. At the request of the committee chair, members may be removed from the committee by the New Mexico legislative council for failure to attend meetings pursuant to legislative council policy. Vacancies on the committee, however caused, may be filled by the legislative council or the legislative council may reduce the size of the committee by not making replacement appointments and in that case the legislative council need not adjust the party representation.
C. No action shall be taken by the code revision committee if a majority of the total membership from either house on the committee rejects the action.
Section 5. DUTIES.--
A. After its appointment, the code revision committee shall hold one organizational meeting to develop a work plan, budget and schedule of meetings for the ensuing interim. The work plan, budget and schedule of meetings shall be submitted to the New Mexico legislative council for approval.
B. The code revision committee shall meet no more than four times annually.
C. Upon approval of the work plan, budget and schedule of meetings by the New Mexico legislative council, the committee shall review the work of the legislative council service to improve the form or wording of the statutes, clarify and reconcile statute provisions as set out in Section 2-3-8 NMSA 1978, review the statutes and replace gender-specific language where reasonable and possible.
D. The code revision committee shall:
(1) provide guidance and direction to the legislative council service staff regarding revising the NMSA 1978;
(2) review revisions to statutes drafted by the legislative council service staff; and
(3) recommend for introduction into the next legislative session a code revision bill if one is found to be necessary.
Section 6. SUBCOMMITTEES.--Subcommittees shall be created only by a majority vote of a quorum of the code revision committee. A subcommittee shall be composed of at least one member from the senate, one member from the house of representatives and at least one member of the minority party from either house. All meetings and expenditures of a subcommittee shall be approved by the full committee in advance of a subcommittee meeting or expenditure. The creation of the subcommittee and the approval of meetings or expenditures for the subcommittee shall be shown in the minutes. The New Mexico legislative council may create subcommittees of the code revision committee as it deems necessary.
Section 7. REPORT.--The code revision committee shall make a report of its findings and recommendations for consideration for any session of any legislature. The report and suggested legislation shall be made available to the New Mexico legislative council on or before December 15 preceding the legislative session in which the code revision committee's bill is introduced.
Section 8. STAFF.--The legislative council service shall provide staff for the code revision committee.
Section 9. APPROPRIATION.--One hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) is appropriated from legislative cash balances to the legislative council service for expenditure in fiscal years 2005 through 2007 to revise sections of the NMSA 1978 as required to provide for gender-neutrality in the language, to make revisions as deemed appropriate and to fund the expenses of the code revision committee. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2007 shall not revert to the general fund.
Section 10. EMERGENCY.--It is necessary for the public peace, health and safety that this act take effect immediately.
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