NM
New Mexico Senate Bill SB234

New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

New Mexico Senate Bill SB234 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
OldNewDifferences
11 underscored material = new
22 [bracketed material] = delete
33 1
44 2
55 3
66 4
77 5
88 6
99 7
1010 8
1111 9
1212 10
1313 11
1414 12
1515 13
1616 14
1717 15
1818 16
1919 17
2020 18
2121 19
2222 20
2323 21
2424 22
2525 23
2626 24
2727 25
2828 SENATE BILL 234
2929 57
3030 TH LEGISLATURE
3131 -
3232
3333 STATE
3434
3535 OF
3636
3737 NEW
3838
3939 MEXICO
4040
4141 -
4242 FIRST SESSION
4343 ,
4444
4545 2025
4646 INTRODUCED BY
4747 Shannon D. Pinto
4848 AN ACT
4949 RELATING TO PUBLIC EDUCATION; CREATING THE TRIBAL EDUCATION
5050 TRUST FUND; PROVIDING REPORTING REQUIREMENTS; CREATING THE
5151 TRIBAL EDUCATION TRUST FUND DISBURSEMENT FORMULA TASK FORCE;
5252 MAKING APPROPRIATIONS.
5353 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
5454 SECTION 1. [NEW MATERIAL] TRIBAL EDUCATION TRUST FUND--
5555 CREATED--PURPOSE--DISTRIBUTION--REPORTING REQUIREMENTS--PUBLIC
5656 EDUCATION DEPARTMENT DUTIES--APPROPRIATION.--
5757 A. The "tribal education trust fund" is created as
5858 a nonreverting fund in the state treasury. The tribal
5959 education trust fund shall be used for any purpose enumerated
6060 in Section 22-23A-2 NMSA 1978 or in an intergovernmental
6161 agreement between a New Mexico tribe and the public education
6262 department. The fund consists of distributions,
6363 .228977.1 underscored material = new
6464 [bracketed material] = delete
6565 1
6666 2
6767 3
6868 4
6969 5
7070 6
7171 7
7272 8
7373 9
7474 10
7575 11
7676 12
7777 13
7878 14
7979 15
8080 16
8181 17
8282 18
8383 19
8484 20
8585 21
8686 22
8787 23
8888 24
8989 25
9090 appropriations, gifts, grants and donations. Income from
9191 investment of the fund shall be credited to the fund. Money in
9292 the fund shall be expended only as provided in this section.
9393 B. The state investment officer shall invest money
9494 in the tribal education trust fund:
9595 (1) in accordance with the prudent investor
9696 rule set forth in the Uniform Prudent Investor Act; and
9797 (2) in consultation with the tribal education
9898 trust fund disbursement formula task force created pursuant to
9999 Section 2 of this 2025 act.
100100 C. The state investment officer shall report
101101 quarterly to the legislative education study committee and the
102102 state investment council on the investments made pursuant to
103103 this section. Beginning in fiscal year 2026, a report shall be
104104 submitted no later than October 1 each year to the legislative
105105 education study committee and any other appropriate interim
106106 committees.
107107 D. Beginning in fiscal year 2027, a distribution
108108 shall be made from the tribal education trust fund to the
109109 public education department on July 1 of each year in which
110110 adequate money is available in the tribal education trust fund
111111 in an amount equal to the greater of twelve million five
112112 hundred thousand dollars ($12,500,000) or five percent of the
113113 average of the year-end market values of the tribal education
114114 trust fund for the preceding five calendar years; provided that
115115 .228977.1
116116 - 2 - underscored material = new
117117 [bracketed material] = delete
118118 1
119119 2
120120 3
121121 4
122122 5
123123 6
124124 7
125125 8
126126 9
127127 10
128128 11
129129 12
130130 13
131131 14
132132 15
133133 16
134134 17
135135 18
136136 19
137137 20
138138 21
139139 22
140140 23
141141 24
142142 25
143143 the public education department shall distribute funding
144144 received pursuant to this subsection according to the formula
145145 developed pursuant to Section 2 of this 2025 act.
146146 E. In addition to the distribution pursuant to
147147 Subsection D of this section, money in the tribal education
148148 trust fund may be expended in the event that general fund
149149 balances, including all authorized revenues and transfers to
150150 the general fund and balances in the general fund operating
151151 reserve, the appropriation contingency fund, the state-support
152152 reserve fund and the tax stabilization reserve, will not meet
153153 the level of appropriations authorized from the general fund
154154 for a fiscal year. In that event, to avoid an unconstitutional
155155 deficit, the legislature may appropriate from the tribal
156156 education trust fund to the general fund only in the amount
157157 necessary to meet general fund appropriations for that fiscal
158158 year and only if the legislature has authorized transfers from
159159 the appropriation contingency fund, the general fund operating
160160 reserve and the tax stabilization reserve that exhaust those
161161 fund balances.
162162 F. The public education department shall enter into
163163 intergovernmental agreements with New Mexico tribes prior to
164164 the disbursement of funds pursuant to Subsection G of this
165165 section.
166166 G. Beginning in fiscal year 2027, on July 15 of
167167 each year, the public education department shall disburse money
168168 .228977.1
169169 - 3 - underscored material = new
170170 [bracketed material] = delete
171171 1
172172 2
173173 3
174174 4
175175 5
176176 6
177177 7
178178 8
179179 9
180180 10
181181 11
182182 12
183183 13
184184 14
185185 15
186186 16
187187 17
188188 18
189189 19
190190 20
191191 21
192192 22
193193 23
194194 24
195195 25
196196 received pursuant to Subsection D of this section to each New
197197 Mexico tribe that has entered into an intergovernmental
198198 agreement with the department. Money disbursed to a New Mexico
199199 tribe shall not revert and shall carry over to the next fiscal
200200 year for continued use by the New Mexico tribe. Money
201201 disbursed pursuant to this subsection shall be disbursed on
202202 warrants signed by the secretary of finance and administration
203203 pursuant to vouchers signed by the secretary of public
204204 education or the secretary's designee.
205205 H. The public education department shall create a
206206 disbursement formula, in consultation with the tribal education
207207 trust fund disbursement formula task force created pursuant to
208208 Section 2 of this 2025 act, that ensures that a New Mexico
209209 tribe receives nonreverting disbursements each year on July 15
210210 that the New Mexico tribe may use to carry out the purposes of
211211 the Indian Education Act.
212212 I. Prior to April 15 of each year, each New Mexico
213213 tribe shall submit to the public education department a summary
214214 of its operating budget and plan for the ensuing fiscal year
215215 based on tribally determined goals and needs. This summary
216216 shall include a brief narrative describing how the budget and
217217 plan will contribute to meeting the purposes of the Indian
218218 Education Act.
219219 J. Prior to October 15 of each year, each New
220220 Mexico tribe shall submit to the public education department a
221221 .228977.1
222222 - 4 - underscored material = new
223223 [bracketed material] = delete
224224 1
225225 2
226226 3
227227 4
228228 5
229229 6
230230 7
231231 8
232232 9
233233 10
234234 11
235235 12
236236 13
237237 14
238238 15
239239 16
240240 17
241241 18
242242 19
243243 20
244244 21
245245 22
246246 23
247247 24
248248 25
249249 spending report and an assessment of program impact, student
250250 engagement and student outcomes based on tribally determined
251251 criteria.
252252 K. The public education department shall report to
253253 the legislative education study committee, any other
254254 appropriate interim committee and the New Mexico tribes no
255255 later than November 15 of each year the total disbursements
256256 made pursuant to Subsection G of this section for the previous
257257 fiscal year, a summary of tribal reports received and a
258258 projection of available disbursements pursuant to Subsection G
259259 of this section in the following fiscal year.
260260 L. The public education department may:
261261 (1) establish procedures and adopt rules,
262262 after formal consultation with the New Mexico tribes, as
263263 required to administer and disburse money pursuant to
264264 Subsection G of this section; and
265265 (2) solicit, receive and report on tribal
266266 education budgets, plans and reports pursuant to this section.
267267 M. Nothing in this section shall interfere with the
268268 sovereignty of federally recognized New Mexico tribes.
269269 N. Beginning in fiscal year 2026 and in each
270270 subsequent fiscal year, the lesser of one percent of the tribal
271271 education trust fund or one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000)
272272 is appropriated from the tribal education trust fund to the
273273 public education department for expenditure in the fiscal year
274274 .228977.1
275275 - 5 - underscored material = new
276276 [bracketed material] = delete
277277 1
278278 2
279279 3
280280 4
281281 5
282282 6
283283 7
284284 8
285285 9
286286 10
287287 11
288288 12
289289 13
290290 14
291291 15
292292 16
293293 17
294294 18
295295 19
296296 20
297297 21
298298 22
299299 23
300300 24
301301 25
302302 in which it is appropriated to administer the tribal education
303303 trust fund. Administrative costs include staff salaries and
304304 expenses related to administration of the tribal education
305305 trust fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining
306306 at the end of a fiscal year shall revert to the tribal
307307 education trust fund.
308308 O. As used in this section, "New Mexico tribe"
309309 means an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo located wholly or
310310 partially in New Mexico in which Native American students are
311311 being educated in New Mexico.
312312 SECTION 2. TEMPORARY PROVISION--TRIBAL EDUCATION TRUST
313313 FUND DISBURSEMENT FORMULA TASK FORCE--CREATION--MEMBERSHIP--
314314 DUTIES--REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.--
315315 A. The "tribal education trust fund disbursement
316316 formula task force" is created within the public education
317317 department. The task force shall function from the date of its
318318 appointment, which shall be no later than December 1, 2025,
319319 until July 1, 2032. The assistant secretary of Indian
320320 education of the public education department shall serve on the
321321 task force in an advisory function. The task force shall be
322322 supported by the public education department. The task force
323323 consists of the following nine members:
324324 (1) three representatives from the Navajo
325325 Nation nominated by the leadership of New Mexico's Indian
326326 nations, tribes and pueblos and appointed by the public
327327 .228977.1
328328 - 6 - underscored material = new
329329 [bracketed material] = delete
330330 1
331331 2
332332 3
333333 4
334334 5
335335 6
336336 7
337337 8
338338 9
339339 10
340340 11
341341 12
342342 13
343343 14
344344 15
345345 16
346346 17
347347 18
348348 19
349349 20
350350 21
351351 22
352352 23
353353 24
354354 25
355355 education department's assistant secretary of Indian education;
356356 (2) two representatives, one from the
357357 Mescalero Apache Tribe and one from the Jicarilla Apache
358358 Nation, nominated by the leadership of New Mexico's Indian
359359 nations, tribes and pueblos and appointed by the public
360360 education department's assistant secretary of Indian education;
361361 (3) three representatives, one from the
362362 southern pueblos, one from the northern pueblos and one from
363363 the western pueblos, nominated by the leadership of New
364364 Mexico's Indian nations, tribes and pueblos and appointed by
365365 the public education department's assistant secretary of Indian
366366 education; and
367367 (4) the chair of the Indian education advisory
368368 council.
369369 B. The task force shall develop a disbursement
370370 formula that the public education department shall use for the
371371 disbursement of funds from the tribal education trust fund.
372372 The task force shall ensure that the disbursement formula is
373373 equitable for each Indian nation, tribe and pueblo located
374374 wholly or in part in the state. The task force shall consider
375375 tribal needs and tribal size, including both a base and student
376376 count elements, for the disbursement formula.
377377 C. The task force shall report its recommendations
378378 for a disbursement formula to the governor, the legislature and
379379 the secretary of public education prior to July 1, 2026.
380380 .228977.1
381381 - 7 - underscored material = new
382382 [bracketed material] = delete
383383 1
384384 2
385385 3
386386 4
387387 5
388388 6
389389 7
390390 8
391391 9
392392 10
393393 11
394394 12
395395 13
396396 14
397397 15
398398 16
399399 17
400400 18
401401 19
402402 20
403403 21
404404 22
405405 23
406406 24
407407 25
408408 D. The task force shall reconvene on July 1, 2031
409409 to review and assess the equity and functionality of the
410410 disbursement formula and provide additional recommendations, if
411411 necessary, to the governor, the legislature and the secretary
412412 of public education prior to July 1, 2032.
413413 E. Members of the task force may receive per diem
414414 and mileage as provided for nonsalaried public officers in the
415415 Per Diem and Mileage Act and shall receive no other
416416 compensation, perquisite or allowance.
417417 SECTION 3. APPROPRIATION.--One hundred million dollars
418418 ($100,000,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the
419419 tribal education trust fund for expenditure in fiscal year 2026
420420 and subsequent fiscal years to carry out the purpose of the
421421 tribal education trust fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered
422422 balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert
423423 to the general fund.
424424 SECTION 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the
425425 provisions of this act is July 1, 2025.
426426 - 8 -
427427 .228977.1