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 Steinborn
LAST UPDATED
ORIGINAL DATE 1/27/2025
SHORT TITLE Board of Regents Training Requirements
BILL
NUMBER Senate Bill 19
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
Indeterminate
but minimal
Recurring General Fund
Parentheses ( ) indicate expenditure decreases.
*Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
Sources of Information
LFC Files
Agency Analysis Received From
Higher Education Department (HED) New Mexico Independent Community Colleges (NMICC) University of New Mexico (UNM)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Senate Bill 19
Senate Bill 19 (SB19) requires the Higher Education Department (HED) to develop and provide
10 hours of training to regents in the first year of their term and all regents who have at least one
year left in their term as of the effective date of the bill. The training includes:
Two hours covering the New Mexico Constitution and state statute pertaining to post-
secondary education;
Two hours on financial management, budgeting, and fiduciary duties;
Two hours on student success and student support services;
Two hours on institutional governance, innovation, best practices and available federal,
state and nongovernmental resources to assist the boards of regents; and
Two hours on ethics and state statutes related to ethics oversight and public accountability to
include the procurement code, open meetings act, and the inspection of public records act.
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
HED states the department “would need to develop a series of eLearning modules in cooperation Senate Bill 19 – Page 2
with subject matter experts and instructional designers or develop in-person training retreats for
boards of regents across the state.” There will likely be a one-time cost related to development of
a training curriculum and regular costs of conducting the training. No cost estimate was provided
and the bill contains no appropriation so that any new costs would be absorbed by the HED
operating budget. However, HED already offers some training to boards of regents. Therefore,
the estimated additional cost is noted as indeterminate but minimal.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
HED reports training offered to regents through the department “currently covers fiduciary
responsibilities, legal responsibilities - including state and federal law - and oversight of tuition,
fees, and programs. Training also includes the role of HED as an executive and oversight agency.
Current training is offered periodically or upon request.”
The University of New Mexico notes that current policy provides “highly substantive training
and orientation to all new members of the Board of Regents and by making available to all
members of the Board of Regents training provided by one of the leading national organizations
on good governance practices, the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and
Colleges.”
SB19 addresses only the constitutionally identified higher education institutions, which are:
University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University, New Mexico Highlands University,
Western New Mexico University, Eastern New Mexico University, New Mexico Institute of
Mining and Technology, New Mexico Military Institute, New Mexico School for the Blind and
Visually Impaired, New Mexico School for the Deaf, and Northern New Mexico College. It
omits New Mexico Junior College, Central New Mexico Vocational Technical College, and all
the other independent (non-branch) community colleges.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
HED will need to reassess current training to incorporate the required time and completion of
trainings noted within SB19. Further, individual boards of regents may need to schedule
additional meetings to conduct the required training.
OTHER SUBSTANT IVE ISSUES
SB19 appears to build on the requirement for HED to provide orientation programs for regents
established under section 21-1-26(A)(3) which requires the department to: “develop and
maintain programs, on a regular basis, for the orientation and in-service education of members of
the boards of regents of the various educational institutions designated in Article 12, Section 11
of the constitution of New Mexico and the governing bodies of other public post-secondary
educational institutions in the state;”.
CJ/rl