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 Montoya
LAST UPDATED
ORIGINAL DATE 3/3/2025
SHORT TITLE
State Racing Commission
Nominating Committee
BILL
NUMBER House Bill 546
ANALYST Montano
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT*
(dollars in thousands)
Agency/Program
FY25 FY26 FY27
3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring or
Nonrecurring
Fund
Affected
SRC
No fiscal
impact
At least $174.5 At least $174.5
At least
$349.0
Recurring General Fund
Parentheses ( ) indicate expenditure decreases.
*Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
Sources of Information
LFC Files
SPO Roster of State Employees
Agency Analysis Received From
NM Tourism Department (NMTD) State Racing Commission (SRC)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of House Bill 546
House Bill 546 (HB546) proposes significant changes to the Horse Racing Act by modifying the
structure and governance of the State Racing Commission (SRC) in New Mexico. The bill
establishes a State Racing Commission Nominating Committee, which will be responsible for
selecting a list of qualified nominees for appointment to the commission. The governor will then
appoint commission members exclusively from this list.
The State Racing Commission Nominating Committee will be composed of nine members,
appointed by legislative and judicial leadership, including:
Six members appointed by the House Speaker, Senate President Pro Tempore, and
minority and majority legislative floor leaders from the House and Senate.
Two members appointed by the governor.
One member appointed by the Chief Justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court.
The nominating committee will actively solicit and evaluate applications and must provide a list
of at least two qualified candidates for each commission vacancy, ensuring geographic diversity
among nominees.
House Bill 546 – Page 2
HB546 further enhances executive oversight by requiring the commission to appoint an
executive director who must have at least five years of supervisory administrative experience in a
governmental gaming regulatory agency. The executive director will be prohibited from holding
financial interest in racetrack operations or licensed wagering.
The bill also requires that SRC members or “relatives of a member….to the first degree of
consanguinity” not have a financial interest in a licensee regulated by the commission.
The effective date of the bill is July 1, 2025.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
With the enactment of HB546, SRC would be able to appoint an executive director. Using the
State Payroll Office’s NM state roster of employees from July 2024, there are 10 executive
directors throughout all state agencies. The range of the hourly rate for these executive directors
is $39.19 to $75.64. However, omitting the lower bound due to it being an outlier, a more
appropriate range is $51.58 to $75.64. The average yearly salary of these 9 executive directors
including benefits is $174.5 thousand, which will be used to estimate a yearly salary for an
executive director for SRC.
SRC highlights that this bill does not specify what state government entity would be financially
responsible for paying the per diem and mileage for members of the newly created nominating
committee.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
SRC notes:
Regarding the creation of a "state racing commission nominating committee" to
recommend persons to the Governor for appointment to the Racing Commission:
Respectfully, the creation of such a commission, similar to the judicial appointment
committees, is not necessary given Section 60-lA-3 of the Horse Racing Act carefully
and fully details what the composition of the Commission must be and sets forth basic
qualifications. Unlike the judicial selection committees which play a role involving
hundreds of state judges at all levels of courts, the Racing Commission is comprised of
only five (5) members. Respectfully, creating such a committee could, and would,
needlessly inject politics and personal agendas into the process of reviewing candidates
for referral to the governor for appointment, which could unfortunately become
paramount over selecting commission members with knowledge of the industry to
oversee fair and reasonable administrative regulation of it. The creation of such a
nominating committee adds unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy to the appointment
process.
As noted earlier, the bill does not address what state entity is financially responsible for
the payment of per diem and mileage of the members. It is unclear what the language "A
member of the commission or relatives ... shall not have a financial interest in a licensee
regulated by the commission" means in terms of eligibility for serving on the Racing
Commission. Historically and currently, commission members have had and do have
extensive knowledge of horse racing given they are either racehorse owners and/or long- House Bill 546 – Page 3
time fans of the sport. If the previously quoted language restricts any commission
member from being currently involved in horse racing, the pool of applicants will be
significantly reduced and the commission may end up being comprised of persons with
zero to little knowledge of the industry and/or persons with political and/or personal
agendas not necessarily focused on the fair, legal and effective. administrative regulation
of the horse racing industry.
In terms of the selection of a commission executive director, it is more appropriate for the
applicant to have a minimum of five years' supervisory experience in horse racing rather
than gaming.
The Tourism Department notes:
It is unclear what duties or authority are encompassed in the role of the executive director
in relation to the commission. However, it would be imperative that the position adds to
the industry. Horse racing is a major attraction in New Mexico and events draw out-of-
state visitors who contribute to local economies.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
SRC notes:
As with every state agency, the Racing Commission has its supporters and its detractors.
The creation of a nominating committee for submission of names to the governor for
appointment could be detrimental, if not disastrous, to the effective functioning of the
commission and its staff. If people are placed on the commission, not because of their
knowledge of the industry and honest commitment to effective regulatory oversight, but
rather to promote personal and political agendas, the effective, statutory and rules-based
regulation of the state's entire horseracing industry will be the victim and will suffer as a
result.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
SRC said:
Throughout the bill, any use of the word "board" in reference to the Racing Commission
needs to be replaced with the proper term of "commission".
NM/rl/SL2