HOUSE BILL 568

47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2006

INTRODUCED BY

Ben Lujan

AN ACT

RELATING TO HOUSING; AMENDING THE REGIONAL HOUSING LAW TO CREATE THE REGIONAL HOUSING COUNCIL, TO CREATE THE REGIONAL HOUSING REVOLVING FUND AND CRITERIA FOR DISBURSING THE FUND AND TO PROVIDE FOR CONSISTENCY WITH FEDERAL LAW; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

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

     Section 1. A new section of the Regional Housing Law, Section 11-3A-5.1 NMSA 1978, is enacted to read:

     "11-3A-5.1. [NEW MATERIAL] REGIONAL HOUSING COUNCIL--COMPOSITION--DUTIES.--

          A. The "regional housing council" is created. The council shall consist of ten members as follows:

                (1) three members, appointed by the governor, who shall serve for terms of two years; and

                (2) the chair of each of the seven regional housing authorities or the chair‛s designee.

          B. The council shall annually elect a chair and such other officers as it deems necessary and shall meet at the call of the chair or at the motion of six or more members, but no less than four times per year.

          C. Appointed members shall receive per diem and mileage as provided in the Per Diem and Mileage Act and no other compensation.

          D. To the extent that money is available in the regional housing revolving fund, upon application, the council shall make distributions from the fund to regional housing authorities pursuant to the following guidelines:

                (1) distributions shall be made for the purpose of providing an authority with the necessary funding to initiate a housing project, including the necessary funding to match federal, local or private money committed to a project;

                (2) after a housing project commences, as a recipient authority recoups money from bond or loan proceeds or other funding, the amount received from the fund shall be repaid and deposited in the fund; and

                (3) the amount distributed to any single authority in a fiscal year shall not exceed the amount allocated to that authority based upon an equitable formula developed by the council based on populations according to the 2000 federal decennial census.

          E. As needed and as determined by the council, employees of the authorities shall provide staff to the council.

          F. The council shall adopt rules necessary to effectuate the provisions of this section."

     Section 2. A new section of the Regional Housing Law is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] REGIONAL HOUSING REVOLVING FUND.--The "regional housing revolving fund" is created in the state treasury. The fund shall consist of appropriations, gifts, grants, donations and bequests made to the fund and repayments by regional housing authorities of distributions from the fund. Income from the fund shall be credited to the fund, and money in the fund shall not revert or be transferred to any other fund at the end of a fiscal year. Money in the fund is appropriated to the regional housing council for the purposes of making distributions approved by the council pursuant to Section 11-3A-5.1 NMSA 1978. Expenditures from the fund shall be made on warrant of the secretary of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the chair of the regional housing council."

     Section 3. A new section of the Regional Housing Law is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] CONFLICT WITH FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS.--If any part of the Regional Housing Law is found to be in conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to the allocation of federal funds to the state, the conflicting part of that act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding does not affect the operation of the remainder of that act in its application to the agencies concerned. The rules adopted by the authorities and the regional housing council pursuant to the provisions of the Regional Housing Law shall meet those federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state."

     Section 4. APPROPRIATION.--Five million dollars ($5,000,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the regional housing revolving fund for expenditure in fiscal year 2007 and subsequent fiscal years for the purpose of making disbursements pursuant to Section 11-3A-5.1 NMSA 1978. Unexpended or unencumbered balances shall not revert at the end of a fiscal year.

- 4 -