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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Rehm
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2/22/2007
HB 910
SHORT TITLE Number of DWI Convictions on Drivers License
SB
ANALYST Schuss
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)
FY07
FY08
FY09 3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
Total
Unknown Unknown Unknown Recurring General
Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Public Defender Department (PDD)
Attorney General’s Office (AGO)
Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)
Did Not Respond
Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 910 requires notation on a driver’s license of the number of DWI convictions. HB
910 amends Section 66-5-15 NMSA 1978 to include that a driver’s license shall clearly indicate
on its face the number of times that a person was convicted for driving under the influence of
intoxicating liquor or drugs. If a person has one conviction for driving under the influence of
intoxicating liquor or drugs and has not had another conviction under the Implied Consent Act
and four years have passed since the conviction, that person will not be required to have the
indication on their driver’s license.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
Potentially, there will be significant impacts to the Motor Vehicle Division of TRD. An analysis
from TRD will be imperative in determining these figures. TRD will potentially have to make
software changes to develop and print the new licenses.
pg_0002
House Bill 910 – Page
2
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
DFA states that noting on the driver's license the number of prior DWI or drug offenses will not
reduce DWI convictions.
According to DFA, the sponsor of this bill has stated that the ones to gain a benefit from this bill
will be law enforcement and bar owners. This will bring up a red flag of how many DWI
convictions an individual has had.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
HB 910 will have administrative impacts on the Motor Vehicle Division. An analysis from TRD
will be necessary to determine the impact.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
DFA notes that currently police who arrest someone for DWI confiscate his or her license on the
spot if the breath test is above the legal limit or the person refuses to take the test. Then, the
police take the license and notify the Motor Vehicle Division, which then revokes it up to one
year. With this proposal, the reissued license would then be branded with the number of DWI
convictions this person had on his or her record.
BS/csd