HOUSE BILL 158

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

INTRODUCED BY

Debra M. Sariñana and Harold Pope and Alan T. Martinez

AN ACT

RELATING TO MILITARY BASES; ENACTING THE MILITARY BASE PLANNING AND IMPACT ACT; CREATING THE MILITARY BASE IMPACT FUND; PROVIDING FOR GRANTS TO DEFENSE COMMUNITIES; ESTABLISHING PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS; REQUIRING REPORTS; AMENDING, REPEALING, ENACTING AND RECOMPILING SECTIONS OF CHAPTER 9, ARTICLE 15 NMSA 1978; REPEALING THE SUNSET FOR THE OFFICE OF MILITARY BASE PLANNING AND SUPPORT AND THE MILITARY BASE PLANNING COMMISSION; MAKING APPROPRIATIONS.

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

     SECTION 1. A new Section 9-15-60 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:

     "9-15-60. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--Sections 9-15-60 through 9-15-66 may be referred to as the "Military Base Planning and Impact Act"."

     SECTION 2. A new Section 9-15-61 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:

     "9-15-61. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Military Base Planning and Impact Act:

          A. "commission" means the military base planning commission;

          B. "defense community" means a political subdivision, including a municipality, county or special district, that encompasses a portion of or is within a forty-five-minute commute of a United States military base or defense facility;

          C. "defense worker" means:

                (1) an employee of the United States department of defense, including armed forces personnel and civilian workers;

                (2) an employee of a government agency or private business or organization providing a United States department of defense-related function who is employed at a military facility;

                (3) an employee of a business that directly provides services or products to the United States department of defense and whose job is directly dependent on defense expenditures; or

                (4) an employee of the United States department of energy or an employee or a contractor for the United States department of energy working at a defense or United States department of energy facility in support of a department of defense-related project;

          D. "defense worker job" means a permanent position authorized by the United States department of defense or a position held or occupied by one or more defense workers for more than twelve months;

          E. "department" means the economic development department;

          F. "fund" means the military base impact fund;

          G. "military facility" includes military bases and research and training facilities owned or operated or under contract by the United States department of defense; and

          H. "military office" means the office of military base planning and support."

     SECTION 3. Section 9-15-50 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003, Chapter 166, Section 3 and Laws 2003, Chapter 170, Section 3) is recompiled as Section 9-15-64 NMSA 1978 and is amended to read:

     "9-15-64. DUTIES.--The [military base planning] commission shall:

          A. obtain and evaluate information about the federal government's considerations, plans, policies and initiatives relating to military base realignment and closure;

          B. obtain and evaluate information relating to the impact of federal military base realignment and closure plans on the state's economy and the military base area's local economy;

          C. work with and provide assistance to established community organizations that have as their purpose the support of the long-term viability of the military bases in their local area;

          D. ensure collaboration among the community organizations described in Subsection C of this section and an understanding of the joint efforts between the military bases in the state;

          E. work with and provide assistance to the state's congressional delegation on matters relating to federal base realignment and closure plans; [and]

          F. advise the governor on measures necessary to ensure the continued presence of military bases in the state;

          G. advise the military office concerning the development of a grant program and make recommendations for grant awards from the fund; and

          H. adopt rules regarding:

                (1) the administration of grants from the fund. The rules shall include the application procedure, required qualifications for projects and purposes for which the grants may be used; and

                (2) the forty-five-minute commute boundary for each military base in New Mexico."

     SECTION 4. A new Section 9-15-65 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:

     "9-15-65. [NEW MATERIAL] MILITARY BASE IMPACT FUND CREATED--GRANTS--REQUIREMENTS AND LIMITATIONS.--

          A. The "military base impact fund" is created as a nonreverting fund in the state treasury. The fund consists of appropriations, gifts, grants and donations. The department shall administer the fund, and money in the fund is appropriated to the military office to provide assistance for infrastructure projects to defense communities impacted by realignment or potential realignment of defense worker jobs or United States military facilities. Disbursements from the fund shall be made by warrant of the secretary of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the director of the military office.

          B. The military office shall implement a grant program for infrastructure projects to:

                (1) accommodate or leverage, for the benefit of a defense community, an anticipated expansion of a military facility or employment of defense workers at a military facility or the retention of a military facility or employment of defense workers at a military facility;

                (2) increase the potential to retain a military facility anticipated to be closed or a military mission that is anticipated to be relocated in a realignment process initiated by the federal government;

                (3) facilitate the recruitment of a new military mission or other defense worker employer at a military facility to replace a mission or an employer that is being or is anticipated to be closed, reduced or relocated; or

                (4) stimulate the development or recruitment of private or public sector employers to replace an actual or anticipated reduction in defense worker jobs due to a closure, reduction or relocation of a military base or defense worker employer.

          C. When approving grants from the fund, the military office shall give consideration to:

                (1) the impact a project will have on the job market in the applicable defense community;

                (2) the extent to which the applicable defense community has used its own resources to promote local economic development;

                (3) the probability that the project will result in the:

                     (a) expansion of a military facility;

                     (b) retention of a military facility that is at risk of being closed or relocated; or

                     (c) recruitment of a military or other employer to replace the loss or anticipated loss of an existing military employer; and

                (4) the amount of federal or other financial assistance that will be leveraged by the grant for the project.

          D. A recipient of a grant from the fund shall be either a defense community or a regional planning organization organized under the Regional Planning Act that has a defense community within its planning region.

          E. A grant from the fund may be made for project construction, planning and design or purchase of interests in land for new facilities or rehabilitation or renovation of existing facilities; provided that a grant shall be no greater than the lesser of ninety percent of the total cost of the project or ninety percent of a matching requirement from a federal or other nonstate funding source.

          F. An applicant for a grant from the fund shall provide proof satisfactory to the military office that it can and will meet its cost-share requirements pursuant to this section.

          G. Total annual grants from the fund shall not exceed four million dollars ($4,000,000), and no single recipient project shall receive more than two million dollars ($2,000,000)."

     SECTION 5. A new Section 9-15-66 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:

     "9-15-66. [NEW MATERIAL] REPORTS.--On or before November 30, 2025, and on or before November 30 in each subsequent year, the military office shall provide a report to the governor and to the interim legislative committee tasked with examining economic development issues on the status of the fund, the projects that have received grants and rates of success of the grantees in achieving the goals for which the grants were made."

     SECTION 6. TEMPORARY PROVISION--RECOMPILATION.--Sections 9-15-48 and 9-15-49 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003, Chapter 166, Section 1 and Laws 2003, Chapter 170, Section 1; and Laws 2003, Chapter 166, Section 2 and Laws 2003, Chapter 170, Section 2, as amended) are recompiled as Sections 9-15-62 and 9-15-63 NMSA 1978.

     SECTION 7. APPROPRIATION.--Twelve million dollars ($12,000,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the military base impact fund for expenditure in fiscal year 2026 and subsequent fiscal years for the purposes of the fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund.

     SECTION 8. REPEAL.--Section 9-15-51.1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2021, Chapter 50, Section 1) is repealed.

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