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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Rodella

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/27/2007

HB 1256

SHORT TITLE Gaming Control Board Rule Exceptions

SB

ANALYST Moser

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Attorney General’s Office (AGO)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 1256 would allow religious organizations, with limited resources, to be exempt from

the regulations of the Bingo and Raffle Act at the discretion of the licensing authority.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

This Bill would allow the licensing authority to exempt a religious organization with limited

resources from the regulations promulgated under the Bingo and Raffle Act. The bill does not

define “limited resources". Nor does HB 1256 specifically define what constitutes a religious

organization.

The AGO indicates that House Bill 1256 may run afoul of Article II, Section 11 of the New

Mexico Constitution which provides:

“[n]o person shall be required to attend any place of worship or support any religious

sect or denomination; nor shall any preference be given by law to any religious

denomination or mode of worship."

House Bill 1256 – Page

2

Additionally, the AGO indicates that this Bill may also violate the Establishment Clause of the

United States Constitution.

1

A federal court has previously ruled that a law allowing schools to

have a moment of silence violated both provisions.

2

Similarly, The AGO indicates that a law that

gives preference to religious denominations under the Bingo and Raffle Act may be found to

give a preference to religions, thus violating the New Mexico Constitution and the United States

Constitution.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

House Bill 1256 also raises a law enforcement issue as to whether or not it is good public policy

to allow an agency to waive background investigations for gambling activities.

GM/csd

1

See Amendment 1 to the State Constitution.

2

Duffy v. Las Cruces Pub. Sch., 557 F. Supp. 1013, 1023 (D.N.M. 1983)