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 Borrego
LAST UPDATED
ORIGINAL DATE 1/24/2025
SHORT TITLE Closed Captioning Act
BILL
NUMBER House Bill 49
ANALYST Hernandez
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
$150.0 $150.0 $300.0 Recurring General Fund
Total
No fiscal
impact
$150.0 $150.0 $300.0 Recurring General Fund
Parentheses ( ) indicate expenditure decreases.
*Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
Sources of Information
LFC Files
Agency Analysis Received From
New Mexico Attorney General (NMAG) Governor’s Commission on Disability Commission for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Persons (CDHH) Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) Agency Analysis was Solicited but Not Received From
Developmental Disabilities Council (NMDDC)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of House Bill 49
House Bill 49 (HB49) creates the Closed Captioning Act for the purpose of requiring places of
public accommodation, defined as a place that is open to the public and where commerce is
carried out, such as hotels, restaurants, theaters, or department stores, to provide closed
captioning on televisions. This bill requires a person that owns or manages a place of public
accommodation to activate closed captioning on all television receivers that are turned on and
operating in public areas during regular hours with some exceptions. HB49 requires enforcement
from the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office (NMAG) and establishes a complaint process
where members of the public may file complaints against a place of public accommodation for
violating the terms of HB49. HB49 provides a civil penalty not to exceed $250 for an initial
violation and $500 for subsequent violations; all revenue from the civil penalties would go to the
general fund.
House Bill 49 – Page 2
This bill does not contain an effective date and, as a result, would go into effect 90 days after the
Legislature adjourns if enacted, or June 20, 2025.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
NMAG did not submit fiscal analysis for HB49 and stated it is “unclear how many, if any
additional Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs) may be needed in order to monitor complaints, conduct
investigations across the state, and issue civil penalties.” However, when a nearly identical bill
(HB288) was introduced in the 2023 legislative session, NMAG analysis stated they would need
an additional two FTE, one coordinator and one assistant, which would have a total operating
budget impact of $150 thousand.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
HB49 makes NMAG solely responsible for enforcing the provisions laid out in the bill.
According to previous LFC analysis, NMAG, and the Governor’s Commission on Disability,
HB49 does not clarify the investigations process or provide any detail on any shared
responsibilities to other regulatory agencies—which may lead to difficulties around enforcement.
NMAG states that placing the entire enforcement and compliance process under the agency may
create a significant enforcement challenge, as the “number of businesses subject to HB49 is
likely tens of thousands.”
Previous LFC analysis indicates that the Alcohol and Beverage Control Division (ABC) of the
Regulation and Licensing Division handles establishments that have been licensed with
televisions visible to patrons and will therefore need to comply with the requirements established
within the bill. However, HB49 does not authorize ABC to enforce the Closed Captioning Act.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
NMAG notes:
HB49 contains a lengthy definition of “place of public accommodation,” which includes
a non-exhaustive list of businesses to be considered “public accommodations” under the
Act. The definition used in HB49 closely mirrors the definition of “public
accommodation” in the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12181(7).
However, other New Mexico laws have uniformly defined the term “public
accommodation” as “any establishment that provides or offers its services, facilities,
accommodations or goods to the public, but does not include a bona fide private club or
other place or establishment that is by its nature and use distinctly private”. NMSA 1978,
§ 28-1-2(H) (New Mexico Human Rights Act) and 28-24-2(C) (Gender-Free Bathrooms
Act). The use of a different definition of the term in the Closed Captioning Act may lead
to confusion or possible litigation about whether certain businesses are considered
“public accommodations” under some laws but not others.
The Department of Cultural Affairs stated that the “definition of closed captioning in Section 2
does not specify which language(s) are required.”
AEH/hj/SL2