Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance

committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

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

SPONSOR Campos

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/27/08

2/13/08 HJM 24/aHVEC

SHORT TITLE Study Bipartisan State Elections Commission

SB

ANALYST Wilson

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY08

FY09

FY10 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$0.1

Non-

Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Attorney General’s Office (AGO)

Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HVEC Amendment

The House Voters and Elections Committee amendment adds deputy county clerks as an

alternative to appointment of county clerks.

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Joint Memorial 24 requests the governor and legislature to establish a bipartisan

committee to study the establishment of an independent state elections commission as

recommended by both the governor's task force on ethics reform and the ethics subcommittee of

the legislative council.

The committee will consist of sixteen members who are appointed as follows:

•

six members shall be appointed by the governor, but not more than three of whom are of

the same political party;

•

three members of the house of representatives shall be appointed by the speaker of the

house of representatives and

House Joint Memorial 24/aHVEC – Page

2

•

three members of the senate shall be appointed by the committees' committee of the

senate or, if the senate appointments are made during the interim, by the president pro

tempore of the senate after consultation with and agreement of a majority of the members

of the committees' committee.

•

four county clerks shall jointly be appointed by the governor, the president pro tempore

of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives.

The secretary of state and other election officials will provide testimony to the committee and the

legislative council service and the governor's office will provide staff and support for the

committee. The committee is charged with concluding its work by December 1, 2008 and

making recommendations and drafting legislation, if necessary, to implement the

recommendations for consideration by the first session of the forty-ninth legislature in 2009.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

DFA notes the committee will require staff and support from both legislative council services

and the governor's office. Based on a large increase in the budget of legislative council services

for FY09 relative to FY07 actuals, no additional budget impact for this agency is assumed. The

governor's office may have a slightly more restrictive budget which could possibly result in a

reprioritization of some staff.

The creation of a state elections commission will have recurring fiscal impact based on the

recommendations of the committee and the legislation brought forward in 2009.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

DFA provided the following:

The establishment of the committee and the anticipated creation of a state elections

commission is designed to restore public confidence in the election process, election

results and election officials.

Requiring a study to be conducted in a bipartisan manner will enable recommendations to be

made that are agreeable to both major political parties. Including appointees from the governor

and both houses of the legislature should result in buy-in, meaningful to passing legislation in

2009 based directly on the recommendations of the committee. Including county clerks in the

process will enable administrative implications of election reform to be considered.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

DFA states there will be minimal administrative implications to the governor’s office and

legislative council services.

DW/mt