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 Armstrong
LAST UPDATED
ORIGINAL DATE 2/27/2025
SHORT TITLE Suicide Prevention License Plate
BILL
NUMBER House Bill 480
ANALYST Montano
REVENUE*
(dollars in thousands)
Type FY25 FY26 FY27 FY28 FY29
Recurring or
Nonrecurring
Fund
Affected
TRD $0 $1.2 $1.2 $1.2 $1.2 Recurring
MVD Suspense
Fund
HCA $0 $2.3** $5.3** $8.3** $11.3** Recurring
Behavioral
Health Services
Fund
Parentheses ( ) indicate revenue decreases.
*Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
**Revenue totals are reflected if a batch of 100 license plates is sold, and if every license plate buyer renews their
license plate every year.
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT*
(dollars in thousands)
Agency/Program
FY25 FY26 FY27
3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring or
Nonrecurring
Fund
Affected
TRD/MVD No fiscal impact $32.0 No fiscal impact $32.0 Nonrecurring
MVD Suspense
Fund
TRD/MVD No fiscal impact $0.8 $0.8 $1.6 Recurring
MVD Suspense
Fund
Total No fiscal impact $32.8 $0.8 $33.6
Choose an
item.
MVD Suspense
Fund
Parentheses ( ) indicate expenditure decreases. *Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
Relates to House Bill(s) 23, 474, 507, 580 and Senate Bill(s) 236, 327, 377, 501
Sources of Information
LFC Files
Agency Analysis Received From Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD) Health Care Authority (HCA)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of House Bill 480
House Bill 480 (HB480) establishes a Suicide Prevention Special Registration Plate, which will
be available for vehicle owners in New Mexico beginning January 1, 2026. The Motor Vehicle
Division (MVD) of the Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD) will design and issue this
specialty plate, which will feature a logo to express support for suicide prevention efforts. House Bill 480 – Page 2
Vehicle owners may apply for the Suicide Prevention Special Registration Plate for a one-time
fee of $35.00, in addition to standard vehicle registration fees. To retain the plate, an annual
renewal fee of $30.00 will be required. The bill specifies the distribution of these fees as follows:
$12.00 from the initial plate fee will be retained by TRD to cover manufacturing and
issuance costs.
The remaining initial fee and all renewal fees will be appropriated to the Behavioral
Health Services Division of the Health Care Authority to support suicide prevention
efforts across the state.
Additionally, the bill includes a review mechanism to determine whether the plate remains
available. Beginning July 1, 2031, and each subsequent year, MVD will compare the number of
plates issued and renewed in the previous fiscal year with the annual average of such plates
issued between fiscal years 2026 and 2031. If the number of plates issued and renewed falls
below 50% of the average annual issuance during this period, MVD may discontinue production
of the plate.
The effective date of HB480 is January 1, 2026.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
TRD cannot accurately predict how many of these plates will be requested. TRD can report the
total cost of manufacturing and distributing each license plate will be about $10, which is
covered by the $12 that TRD retains from the $35 initial fee. TRD highlights:
Creation of the new specialty plate must be in accordance with existing state statute under
Section 66-3-424D2 NMSA 1978, which states that entities registering a registration
plate with a logo “shall provide a prepayment to the division in an amount sufficient to
cover the plate and logo costs of the initial order.” Typically, the initial fee to purchase
plates is $800; $250 for design/artwork costs while $5.50 is charged for each plate in the
initial batch of 100.
If 100 of these plates were sold, then TRD would generate $1,200 dollars in revenue, which is
sufficient to cover the initial purchase of $800. A projection for the implementation of HB480 is
that TRD will gain $1,200 dollars in revenue and would gain more depending on how many
batches of license plates are required.
The Health Care Authority (HCA) will collect $23.00 in revenue per plate sold and an additional
$30 for the renewable license fee to use for BHSD. If TRD only creates one batch of 100 license
plates, then HCA will generate $2,300 in revenue from the initial fee and a subsequent $3,000
for every year if all 100 license plate owners renew their license plate. If TRD continues to sell at
least 100 license plates a year, then each subsequent year will experience $3,000 more of
renewable license fees compared to the previous year due to there being 100 new license plate
owners. This recurring source of revenue is just a floor, and HCA should project at least $2,300
of revenue generated for FY26, with a $3,000 increase for each subsequent year if all new
license plate owners renew. The limit of potential revenue generated for HCA is dependent on
the total number of batches of license plates TRD makes and sells.
House Bill 480 – Page 3
Regarding the implications for TRD’s operating budget, TRD said the following:
The Tapestry System’s general ledger and reporting will need to be updated for the new
distribution.
The estimated time to develop, test and implement the changes is approximately
480 hours or 3 months for an estimated $32 thousand of staff workload cost.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
New Mexico has at least 40 specialty license plates, including 10 plates for colleges and
universities, 11 related to military service, one for Santa Fe and one for Las Cruces, and plates
for autism, wildlife, fish, the children’s trust fund, pet care, breast cancer awareness, Route 66,
organ donors, Cumbres and Toltec railway, farm and ranch heritage, adoption, firefighters,
pollinators, Smokey Bear, and other causes.
HCA said:
The NM suicide death rate decreased by 9% in 2023 compared to prior year.
Additionally, the number of NM American Indian/Alaska Native residents who died by
suicide decreased 43% compared to the prior year.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
TRD said:
This bill requires application and configuration changes to the Tapestry system to create a
Suicide prevention license plate process, registration fee calculation and distribution for
MVD and the Behavioral Health Services Division (BHSD) of HCA.
HCA said:
HCA BHSD could utilize revenue collected to target specific suicide prevention efforts.
These funds could be used for targeted suicide prevention programs, awareness
campaigns, and crisis intervention services.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
House Bill 23 – “Iron Horse” Motorcycle License plates – Allow the “Iron Horse” license plate
to be distributed to Motorcycles.
House Bill 474 – Trail Life License Plate – Create a new license plate called the Trail Life
License plate to generate additional revenue for the State Parks Division of EMNRD.
House Bill 507 – ABQ Isotopes License Plate - Create a new license plate called the ABQ
Isotopes License Plate to generate additional revenue for the Carnegie Tingley Hospital.
House Bill 580 – Elk License Plate - Create a new license plate called the Elk License Plate to
generate additional revenue for the game protection fund.
Senate Bill 236 – Look Twice for Motorcycle License Plate - Create a new license plate called
the Look Twice for Motorcycle License Plate to generate additional revenue for the motorcycle
training fund. House Bill 480 – Page 4
Senate Bill 327 – Lowrider Capital License Plate - Create a new license plate called the Lowrider
Capital License Plate to generate additional revenue for DCA.
Senate Bill 377 – NM United License Plate - Create a new license plate called the NM United
License Plate to generate additional revenue for Department of Tourism.
Senate Bill 501 – Make-A-Wish License Plate - Create a new license plate called the Make-A-
Wish License Plate to generate additional revenue for the Department of Health.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
TRD said:
This bill does not specifically say that the Suicide Prevention Registration Plate can be
issued to motorcycles as well as passenger vehicles. If it is the intent is to allow the
issuance of the Suicide Prevention Registration Plate to motorcycles, a new statute
specifically addressing this addition should be enacted to be constant with other specialty
plates offered to both vehicles and motorcycles. An example would be the Children Trust
Fund plate, under Section 66-3-420 and 66-3-420.1 NMSA 1978.
NM/hj/sgs