2020 Legislative Session

House version of electric vehicle tax credit advances

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A proposal to create an electric vehicle tax credit is headed to the House floor after passing its second committee on Wednesday along party lines. HB 217 is one of two proposals for an EV tax credit, along with SB 2. The two bills are very similar but have key differences between them. Democratic Rep. Jim Trujillo of Santa Fe presented HB 217 to the House Taxation and Revenue Committee. The bill would establish two personal income tax credits for New Mexicans: one for purchasing or leasing plug-in hybrid vehicles or 100 percent battery electric vehicles; and a second tax credit for installing charging infrastructure at the home.

2020 Legislative Session

Gas tax bill dies in committee

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A bill that would raise the state’s gasoline tax was tabled in the House Appropriations and Finance Committee Monday evening and is unlikely to advance in the remaining ten days of the 30-day Legislative session. “New Mexico has the fourth lowest gas tax in the nation, and we have the third worst roads in the nation. And those two items are connected,” said bill sponsor and Democratic Rep. Matthew McQueen, who represents parts of Bernalillo, Santa Fe, Torrance and Valencia counties. HB 173 would create a new gasoline and special fuel surtax of 10 cents per gallon, which would take effect in Fiscal Year 2021. The surtax would then increase by 5 cents per gallon annually until 2026.

2020 Legislative Session

Grid modernization bill advances to House floor

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A bill aimed at updating the state’s aging electric infrastructure passed its second committee Monday. The proposal passed the House State Government, Elections and Indian Affairs committee without opposition or discussion. Albuquerque Democrat Rep. Melanie Stansbury presented HB 233 to the committee with Rep. Abbas Akhil, D-Santa Fe, and Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview. “I am one of the 17 co-sponsors,” Stansbury said. “This is fundamentally a good government bill.”

HB 233 directs the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department to develop a strategic roadmap for updating the state’s electric grid.

2020 Legislative Session

Transmission line bill passes House

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The State House passed a proposal over the weekend aimed at expanding electricity transmission lines in the state. The bill, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Nathan Small of Las Cruces, passed with bipartisan support with a vote of 48-21 on Saturday after a two-hour debate. HB 50 would make transmission line projects eligible for Industrial Revenue Bonds (IRBs) issued by counties and municipalities. The bill’s proponents argued during earlier committee meetings it would support more renewable energy development in the state and would help bring wind energy generated in New Mexico to western markets. “The Industrial Revenue Bond process, which is voluntary, allows our counties and municipalities to construct these local agreements in order to foster economic development,” Small said.

2020 Legislative Session

PRC reform bill advances with big concerns

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A bill to make big changes to the Public Regulation Commission (PRC) passed its first committee despite lingering questions over the proposal. After a length debate, the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee passed the bill Thursday with a vote of 8-5 along party lines. Democratic Reps. Nathan Small of Las Cruces and Rep. Linda Trujillo of Santa Fe presented HB 11 to the committee. The legislation would restructure the PRC with the aim of streamlining operations and improving efficiencies that Small and Trujillo contend are holding the state back and hurting New Mexico residents.

2020 Legislative Session

Community solar bill passes first committee

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A proposal to expand access to solar energy for New Mexico residents through the development of community solar projects passed its first committee Tuesday. Community solar projects, also referred to as “solar gardens,” are programs in which the energy generated by local solar systems are shared among energy subscribers. The power generation is typically located in a central location and distributed to subscribers in the area. Albuquerque Democrat and bill sponsor Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero presented HB 9 to the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee. Santa Fe Democratic Rep. Andrea Romero and the Speaker of the House Brian Egolf, who also represents Santa Fe, are co-sponsors of the bill, along with Albuquerque Democratic Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez.

2020 Legislative Session

Two versions of electric vehicle tax credit bills moving through committees

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Legislation that would establish income tax credit for New Mexicans looking to buy electric vehicles (EV) passed its first hurdles in the House and Senate over the weekend. The two versions of the bill are similar but do differ in key ways. The proposals would create personal income tax credits for New Mexico residents who purchase or lease plug-in hybrid vehicles or 100 percent battery electric vehicles, beginning January 1, 2020. The bills provide a $2,500 tax credit for residents whose annual income is above $50,000; but the tax credit jumps to $5,000 for residents who make less than $50,000 as well as for married couples filing separately who make less than $37,500 or married couples filing jointly that make less than $75,000 per year. The EV tax credits have an annual cap of $10 million.

2020 Legislative Session

Gas tax proposal with a clean infrastructure fund passes first committee

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A proposal to raise the state’s gasoline tax passed its first committee hearing Friday. The proposal, which would raise the gas tax by 10 cents next year, passed the House Taxation and Revenue Committee on an 8-5 vote along party lines. Democratic Rep. Matthew McQueen, sponsor of HB 173, said the bill would help improve New Mexico’s road infrastructure and would also create a clean infrastructure fund. New Mexico hasn’t raised its gas tax since 1993. “We happen to have the fourth lowest gas tax in the country,” McQueen said.

2020 Legislature

House energy committee signs off on push for federal support for New Mexico’s downwinders

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Members of the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee were visibly distressed during a presentation about radiation exposure in New Mexico stemming from the 1945 Trinity nuclear bomb test and subsequent uranium mining that supported the federal nuclear program during World War II and the Cold War. Rep. Angelica Rubio, D-Las Cruces, introduced House Memorial 5, which asks the congressional delegation to continue pushing for the state to be included in the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). “There was a lot of testing in our past, and New Mexicans have not been properly compensated, unlike other parts of the country,” Rubio said. “This memorial asks the legislature here to support us asking Congress to continue to push for this expansion and include our communities in the state of New Mexico.”

Downwind communities fight for recognition

RECA was enacted in 1990 to give financial assistance and healthcare to communities who were exposed to radiation through nuclear weapons testing in Nevada and other activities carried out by the federal government during that last half of the 20th century. The federal legislation offered assistance to “downwind” communities in Nevada, Colorado and Arizona, but not New Mexico — despite the fact that New Mexico’s Trinity bomb test exposed local communities to much higher levels of radiation than the nuclear bomb tests in Nevada in the 1950s and 1960s.

2020 Legislative Session

Bill aimed at expanding transmission lines in NM passes House committee

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A bill that would enable counties to issue special bonds to incentivize the expansion of power transmission lines in the state passed the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee Tuesday. HB 50, sponsored by Rep. Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces, would make transmission line projects eligible for Industrial Revenue Bonds (IRBs) issued by counties and municipalities. The bill’s proponents argued it would support more renewable energy development in the state and it would help bring wind energy generated in New Mexico to western markets. “That’s the holy grail in New Mexico,” said former state Sen. John Ryan, who now serves as executive director of the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project, a transmission line project currently being constructed near White Sands Missile Range. Ryan served as an expert witness for Small’s bill.