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 Serrato
LAST UPDATED
ORIGINAL DATE 2/12/25
SHORT TITLE Digital Age Verification Act
BILL
NUMBER House Bill 313
ANALYST Chavez
REVENUE*
(dollars in thousands)
Type FY25 FY26 FY27 FY28 FY29
Recurring or
Nonrecurring
Fund
Affected
Fines and
Forfeitures
No fiscal
impact
See fiscal
implications
See fiscal
implications
See fiscal
implications
See fiscal
implications
Recurring
General
Fund
Parentheses ( ) indicate revenue decreases.
*Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT*
(dollars in thousands)
Agency/Program
FY25 FY26 FY27
3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring or
Nonrecurring
Fund
Affected
NMAG
No fiscal
impact
At least $329.5 At least $659.0 At least $988.5 Recurring General Fund
Parentheses ( ) indicate expenditure decreases.
*Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
Relates to Senate Bill 11
Sources of Information
LFC Files
Agency Analysis Received From
Public Regulation Commission (PRC) Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) Department of Health (DOH) Agency Analysis was Solicited but Not Received From
New Mexico Attorney General (NMAG)
Agency Declined to Respond
Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of House Bill 313
House Bill 313 (HB313) creates the Digital Age Verification Act, which would mandate internet
capable device manufacturers, operating system providers, and application stores to equip each House Bill 313 – Page 2
device with a mechanism to determine or estimate the age of the device’s user or users when the
device is initially activated. These entities are then mandated to provide websites, applications,
and online services with a digital signal that indicates whether the user is under the age of 13,
between the ages of 13 and 15, between the ages of 16 and 17, or over the age of 18 through an
interface that would update in real-time. The bill would mandate that application stores obtain a
parent or guardian’s consent prior to allowing a person under 16 years of age to download an
application and to connect the developer of the application with the parents or guardians to
facilitate supervision tools. HB313 would mandate device manufacturers to update devices sold
prior to January 1, 2026, to ensure compliance with the act and have these changes as a default
update ninety days for mall devices after the effective date of the bill.
HB313 would make violations of the act actionable under the Unfair Practices Act.
The effective date of this bill is January 1, 2026.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) reports that the department would be
required to replace internet-capable devices, expand staff, and purchase new technology to
comply with regulations. It would also increase legal and training costs for foster parents and
staff. HB313, however, requires the entities that either manufacture internet capable devices or
deal with applications or software to adhere to the regulations. If CYFD holds devices or
applications older than the effective date of the bill, the affected entities would have to make
those changes, not CYFD.
HB313 is actionable under the Unfair Practices Act, meaning that the New Mexico Attorney
General (NMAG) would have to develop methods to ensure compliance among affected private
entities such as application stores and device manufacturers; this would require a significant
increase in agency staff. The average salary in the legal services program (which holds the
consumer protection division, the division most impacted) is $131.8 thousand per year. This
large undertaking would be estimated to increase staff by five FTE, totaling a recurring yearly
cost of at least $659 thousand.
Since HB313 is actionable under the Unfair Practices Act for any violations, it would call for a
civil penalty of $5 thousand per violation. To conservatively estimate, if the Apple application
store failed to request parental consent on 1 percent of the apps projected to exist in 2026, or 56.6
thousand apps, the resulting violations would equate to $283.1 million in penalties. The revenue
generation could therefore be substantial; however, recovering these possible monies is
contingent on the extent to which NMAG enforces HB313.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
HB313 imposes the largest fiscal burden on the private sector, specifically device manufacturers
and application developers and stores. Manufacturers would needed to implement changes
physical changes to their products to enable devices to determine or estimate a user’s age as well
as digital changes to make sure devices can have a “real-time application programming
interface” that delivers the segmented age data. HB313 does not specifically define what “real-
time application programming interface;” this lack of clarity could create confusion for device House Bill 313 – Page 3
manufacturers.
Application stores would required to obtain parental or guardian consent and connect the
developer of an application with the parents or guardians to facilitate supervision tools for a
person under 16 years of age. These mandates would be significant and resource-intensive
undertakings for application stores. Considering only Apple’s application store, there were 4.86
million apps and games listed on the store in 2023
1
and, based on the average growth since 2019,
there could be as many as 5.66 million by 2026. This means that the Apple application store
alone would have to obtain parental or guardian consent as well as facilitate communication
between the parents or guardians in question for at least 5.66 million apps and games. Although
many apps come from the same developer, the number of apps is still very burdensome.
Requiring device manufacturers and other internet related entities to adhere to the regulations of
HB313 could be burdensome, as the mandated update on all devices sold before the effective
date could be exceedingly costly. There are devices still in circulation that may not have all the
capabilities to receive updates or other necessary items to adhere to the bill. Manufacturers
would also have to develop a method to track whether every new and existing device adheres to
the regulations.
DOH explains that HB313 would address the potential harms and risks of social media and
technology on the youth. The U.S. Surgeon General and the American Academy of Pediatrics
have highlighted the risks, including negative impacts on mental health, sleep, and social
development, and have called for design changes for safer online spaces. Studies show that youth
who use social more frequently face increased risks of bullying, anxiety, and depression.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
NMAG would have to take on a sizeable effort to develop the most efficient way to make sure
regulations are being met in the large web of internet and device entities involved as well as
maintaining these efforts for the long term.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
The Department of Health (DOH) notes HB313 relates to Senate Bill 11 (SB11):
HB313 is related to SB11. SB11 would appropriate funds for school districts and charter
schools to store devices of youth during school time and is a different approach at
regulating youth access to online services, as it pertains to the school environment.
ALTERNATIVES
DOH provides the following:
Education campaigns and resource development may be useful to protect children’s
safety yet allow them to succeed in a quickly changing virtual world. The European
Union recently adopted the Digital Services Act which requires digital platforms to ban
advertising and algorithmic content that targets children.
FC/hj
1
Number of apps from the Apple App Store 2023 | Statista