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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
01-29-08
HB
SHORT TITLE Debt Limit for Health Care & Education, CA
SJR 9
ANALYST Padilla/Francis
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Response Received From
Department of Health (DOH)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Joint Resolution 9 (SJR 9) proposes an amendment to the Constitution of New Mexico to
raise the statewide debt limit by one percent if the increased indebtedness is created exclusively
for health care facilities or the needs of New Mexico’s institutions of higher learning. The
proposed amendment shall be submitted to the people for their approval or rejection at the next
general election or at any special election prior to the date that may be called for that purpose.
The statewide debt limit refers to the amount of debt that can be outstanding as a percentage of
total property valuation and does not refer to other kinds of debt such as severance tax bonds or
bonds issued by the New Mexico Finance Authority.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
Increasing the statewide debt limit to two percent would increase the available general obligation
bond capacity. This would add an additional $490 million to the next GO bond issue in 2010
that would go to health care facilities and higher education. All general obligation bond
appropriations must be approved by voters in a statewide referendum.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
DOH reports SJR9 would be strengthened by specifying how the increased tax funds would be
accessed or used by health care facilities or institutions of higher education. SJR9 would exclude
leased obligations by public institutions and would double New Mexico’s authorized debt as
long as the increased indebtedness is for health care facilities or New Mexico’s public post-
secondary educational institutions.