Committee OKs NMFA public projects revolving fund transfer with unanimous recommendation

The Senate Finance Committee voted to recommend do-pass on House Bill 64, the annual transfer from the New Mexico Finance Authority (NMFA) public projects revolving fund into three identified funds, totaling approximately $13,250,000.

Representative Kathleen Cates presented the bill and said the package and amounts mirror past practice. Marquita Russell, NMFA executive director, told the committee the transfer is authorized by statute and comes from the public project revolving fund, not the general fund.

The bill designates roughly $6.25 million for the drinking water state revolving loan fund, $2 million for the local government planning fund administered by NMFA, and $5 million for cultural affairs facilities and capital improvements. Russell said the program is used to address capital improvements to cultural sites and museums statewide and that the list of needs exceeds the annual allocation.

Senators asked standard oversight questions; Senator Padilla noted the NMFA oversight committee had endorsed the bill in interim work. After discussion, senators moved and seconded a do-pass recommendation and the clerk recorded roll-call votes with multiple "yes" votes recorded in the hearing transcript. The committee announced its recommendation to forward the bill to the next stage.