SB0262

SENATE BILL 262

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

Joseph Cervantes and Kelly K. Fajardo

AN ACT

RELATING TO CAPITAL EXPENDITURES; PROVIDING POWERS AND DUTIES; CREATING THE LEGISLATIVE PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE; REQUIRING THAT THE COMMITTEE ANNUALLY DEVELOP LEGISLATION AUTHORIZING RECOMMENDED PROJECTS FOR CAPITAL OUTLAY FUNDING; OUTLINING CRITERIA FOR PROJECTS TO RECOMMEND.

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

SECTION 1. [NEW MATERIAL] PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE--CREATED--MEMBERSHIP--SUBCOMMITTEES--STAFF.--

A. The "public works committee" is created as a permanent legislative interim committee that consists of eighteen members.

B. The speaker of the house of representatives shall appoint nine members of the house to serve as members of the public works committee. The speaker shall make appointments so that the two major political parties have the same proportional representation on the committee as exists in the house, except insofar as is necessary to ensure that at least one member from each party is appointed.

C. The committees' committee of the senate shall appoint nine members of the senate to serve as members of the public works committee, unless the senate appointments are made in the interim, in which case the president pro tempore of the senate shall make the appointments in consultation with, and with the agreement of, a majority of the members of the committees' committee. The committees' committee or the president pro tempore, as appropriate, shall make appointments so that the two major political parties have the same proportional representation on the public works committee as exists in the senate, except insofar as is necessary to ensure that at least one member from each party is appointed.

D. The speaker of the house of representatives and the committees' committee, or the president pro tempore of the senate, as appropriate:

(1) shall select the public works committee's chair and vice chair, whose seats in those positions shall rotate each year; and

(2) may remove a member from the committee for nonattendance.

E. The public works committee shall not take any action rejected by a majority of the committee members from either chamber.

F. The public works committee may create subcommittees. The committee shall name to any subcommittee it creates at least three members, including one member from the house of representatives, one member from the senate and one member of the minority party from either chamber. The subcommittee may make expenditures only if the committee pre-approves them and if that approval is reflected in the committee's meeting minutes.

G. The legislative council service and the legislative finance committee shall provide staff for the public works committee.

SECTION 2. [NEW MATERIAL] PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE--ADDITIONAL POWERS AND DUTIES--CAPITAL PROJECT FUNDING.--

A. As used in this section:

(1) "capital project":

(a) means: 1) the acquisition, repair, alteration, demolition, renovation, construction, reconstruction, furnishing or equipping by an eligible entity of a public building or public work located wholly in New Mexico; 2) the acquisition by an eligible entity of heavy equipment; or 3) the acquisition, repair, alteration, furnishing or equipping by an eligible entity of information technology; and

(b) includes the purchase of the following, if directly related to the project: 1) planning, design and professional services in the fields of engineering, surveying, architecture or landscape architecture; 2) rights of way or easements; 3) land or other property for the public building or public work; 4) water rights; 5) site improvements to public property; 6) long-term equipment for the public building or public work; and 7) fixtures; and

(2) "eligible entity" means:

(a) a state agency or institution;

(b) a political subdivision of the state; or

B. The public works committee shall solicit from legislators and eligible entities proposals for capital outlay funding of capital projects and shall impose a deadline of July 1 of each year for those proposals' submission. The committee may:

(1) require those entities to submit other supporting information or data; and

(2) hold hearings to receive testimony on proposals from the officers and employees of those entities.

C. For each proposal for capital outlay funding of a capital project it receives, the public works committee shall forward a copy of the proposal to the state agency to which money for the project would be appropriated. The agency that receives the proposal shall review it and, by September 1 of that year, respond to the committee with its recommendation on whether the project should be funded.

D. Each year, the public works committee shall evaluate the proposals for capital outlay funding of capital projects received by the committee and shall develop a ranked list of projects it recommends based on a scoring methodology adopted by the committee. In ranking projects, the committee shall place high value on a project:

(1) that will fill critical health and safety needs;

(2) that will create jobs in New Mexico;

(3) for which funding is available from other state and non-state sources, including local, state and federal agencies and instrumentalities;

(4) that may be phased, if necessary, and for which funding to complete at least one full, functional phase is available;

(5) whose sponsoring entity can provide for its operation and maintenance;

(6) that is included in an infrastructure capital improvement plan adopted by a state agency or local government;

(7) for which capital outlay funding is an appropriate source of funding; and

(8) that meets other criteria, as determined by the committee.

E. Before the first week of every regular legislative session, the public works committee shall submit to the legislature, the governor and the department of finance and administration legislation that would authorize capital outlay funding for capital projects and that meets the following criteria:

(1) at least one-half of the amount estimated to be available for capital outlay funding in the upcoming year, according to the most current estimates available, is allocated to state-owned projects; and

(2) no authorized project has a useful life that will expire before the bonds issued to fund the project mature.

SECTION 3. Section 6-4-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1975, Chapter 282, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:

"6-4-1. CAPITAL PROGRAMS--PREPARATION--DUTIES.--

A. The department of finance and administration and the general services department shall jointly prepare, amend and maintain a four-year program of major state capital [improvement] projects recommended to be undertaken by the state or to be undertaken with state aid or under state regulation. The program shall:

(1) classify projects with respect to urgency and need for realization; [and it shall]

(2) recommend a time sequence for construction; [The program shall also]

(3) contain the contract price or estimated cost of each project; and [it shall]

(4) indicate probable operating and maintenance costs and probable revenues, if any, [as well as] and existing sources of funds or the need for additional sources of funds for the construction and operation of each project.

B. By July 1 of each year, the department of finance and administration shall transmit to the public works committee a list of the projects recommended under the four-year program of major state capital projects and associated information as outlined in Subsection A of this section.

[B.] C. Heads of departments and other agencies of the state shall transmit to the department of finance and administration on July 1 of each year a statement of all capital projects proposed for the ensuing four years for review and recommendation to the governor with respect to inclusion in the capital program of the state."

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