Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance
committees of the Legislature. LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports if they
are used for other purposes.
F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Dow/Murphy
LAST UPDATED
ORIGINAL DATE 3/9/2025
SHORT TITLE
Law Enforcement Officer Loan Repayment
Act
BILL
NUMBER House Bill 304
ANALYST Jorgensen
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT*
(dollars in thousands)
Agency/Program
FY25 FY26 FY27
3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring or
Nonrecurring
Fund
Affected
HED No fiscal impact
Indeterminate
but minimal
Indeterminate
but minimal
Total
Indeterminate
but minimal
Indeterminate
but minimal
Indeterminate
but minimal
Parentheses ( ) indicate expenditure decreases.
*Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
Sources of Information
LFC Files
Agency Analysis Received From
Department of Public Safety (DPS) Higher Education Department (HED)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of House Bill 304
House Bill 304 (HB304) creates the Law Enforcement Loan Repayment Act to provide up to $25
thousand in student loan repayment for law enforcement officers employed by county or
municipal law enforcement agencies. HB304 would require a law enforcement officer to have
served for at least three years to be eligible to receive loan repayment and requires the Higher
Education Department (HED) to promulgate rules governing the amount and term of the loan
repayment disbursements. Finally, the bill creates the law enforcement loan repayment fund to
be administered by HED, although it contains no appropriation, and requires annual reporting to
the governor and the Legislature.
The effective date of this bill is July 1, 2025.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
HB304 does not contain an appropriation but does require HED to promulgate rules to
implement the sct. The department would need to utilize existing resources to carry out the
provisions of HB304. Therefore, the estimated additional operating budget impact is
indeterminate but minimal. House Bill 304 – Page 2
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
HED notes that law enforcement officers currently qualify for participation in the existing
federal public service loan forgiveness program (PSLF), which requires 10 years of public
service employment among other criteria. The department states that average student debt for
recipients of PSLF is $30 thousand to $40 thousand for bachelor's degree holders and that most
New Mexico law enforcement departments require between 32 and 60 college credits, or an
associate’s degree, to become a law enforcement officer.
State police officers would be ineligible to receive loan repayment under the provisions of
HB304. DPS reports:
[A]s currently written, the bill could face possible legal challenges. It could be argued
that the bill violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution and Article 2, Section 18, of the New Mexico Constitution since it only
provides loan repayment benefits to certain law enforcement officers. Additionally, an
argument could be made that the bill creates an arbitrary and capricious classification and
could be challenged on the grounds that it does not meet a rational basis test because
there may be no compelling governmental interest that justifies the exclusion of state
police officers from loan repayment assistance. Lastly, the bill could be challenged for
conflicting with federal policies that would provide loan repayment assistance to all law
enforcement officers, like the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
The short title of the bill states “making an appropriation” (page 1, line 15). HB304 does not
contain an appropriation.
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