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SENATE BILL 509
57
TH LEGISLATURE
-
STATE
OF
NEW
MEXICO
-
FIRST SESSION
,
2025
INTRODUCED BY
George K. Muñoz
AN ACT
RELATING TO PUBLIC BENEFITS; ENACTING THE PATHWAY ACT TO
PROVIDE, WITHOUT A GUARANTEE, TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS ($2,000) TO
EVERY ELIGIBLE FOSTER CHILD TO USE FOR HOUSING, EDUCATION OR
WORKFORCE TRAINING; CREATING THE PATHWAY PROGRAM; CREATING THE
PATHWAY PROGRAM FUND; PROVIDING THAT BENEFITS SHALL NOT BE
GUARANTEED AND A PROPERTY INTEREST SHALL NOT BE CREATED BY THE
PATHWAY ACT; EXEMPTING MONEY TRANSFERRED TO OR SPENT ON BEHALF
OF A BENEFICIARY PURSUANT TO THE PATHWAY ACT FROM TAXATION;
MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--Sections 1
through 5 of this act may be cited as the "Pathway Act".
SECTION 2. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the
Pathway Act:
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A. "beneficiary" means a person whose primary
residence is in New Mexico and who is eligible for the pathway
program;
B. "department" means the department of finance and
administration;
C. "foster care" means twenty-four-hour substitute
care for a child placed away from the child's parents or
guardians and for whom the children, youth and families
department has placement and care responsibility; and
D. "primary residence" means the domicile where a
person physically resides for most of the time and the address
of which the person uses for purposes of a driver's license or
state-issued identification card.
SECTION 3. [NEW MATERIAL] PATHWAY PROGRAM--ELIGIBILITY--
ENROLLMENT--DUTIES.--
A. A person is eligible to be a beneficiary of the
pathway program who:
(1) has spent at least eighteen months
cumulatively in foster care;
(2) reaches eighteen years of age on or after
January 1, 2026; and
(3) has successfully completed a financial
literacy course, either in high school, as evidenced by a
transcript, or that is approved by the department.
B. Upon request by a beneficiary to the department,
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the department shall transfer two thousand dollars ($2,000)
from the pathway program fund to the beneficiary's personal
bank account to be used only for housing, education or
workforce training expenses. A beneficiary shall be allowed
only one transfer pursuant to this subsection.
C. The department shall:
(1) create and administer the pathway program
in consultation with the children, youth and families
department;
(2) collaborate with the children, youth and
families department to automatically enroll beneficiaries and
communicate to beneficiaries who become eligible of the
availability and use of funds pursuant to the Pathway Act; and
(3) verify a beneficiary's successful
completion of a high school financial literacy course or, when
a beneficiary indicates that the beneficiary has not taken a
high school financial literacy course, provide a list of
approved financial literacy courses and reimbursement to the
beneficiary for completion of the course.
D. The children, youth and families department
shall share with the department of finance and administration
at regularly agreed intervals information necessary for the
department to identify and enroll children in foster care in
the pathway program.
SECTION 4. [NEW MATERIAL] PATHWAY PROGRAM FUND.--
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A. The "pathway program fund" is created as a
nonreverting fund in the state treasury. The purpose of the
fund is to provide beneficiaries with money for housing,
education or workforce training. The fund consists of
distributions, transfers, appropriations, gifts, grants,
donations and income from investment of the fund. Money in the
pathway program fund shall be invested by the state treasurer.
B. Money in the pathway program fund is
appropriated to the department for the purposes specified in
the Pathway Act. The department shall administer the fund, and
expenditures from the fund shall be by warrant of the secretary
of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers signed by
the secretary or the secretary's authorized representative.
SECTION 5. [NEW MATERIAL] NO GUARANTEE OF BENEFITS OR
ENFORCEABLE INTEREST.--The provisions of the Pathway Act do not
guarantee any benefits and shall not be construed to create an
interest in property that:
A. does not otherwise exist; or
B. is enforceable under state law.
SECTION 6. A new section of the Income Tax Act is enacted
to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] EXEMPTION--PATHWAY ACT.--
A. Money transferred to or spent on behalf of a
beneficiary pursuant to the Pathway Act is exempt from state
income taxation.
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B. As used in this section, "beneficiary" means a
New Mexico resident who is eligible for the pathway program
pursuant to the Pathway Act."
SECTION 7. APPROPRIATION.--Four million dollars
($4,000,000) is appropriated from the early childhood education
and care fund to the pathway program fund for expenditure in
fiscal year 2026 and subsequent fiscal years for the purposes
of administering the Pathway Act. Any unexpended or
unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year
shall not revert to the early childhood education and care
fund.
SECTION 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the
provisions of this act is January 1, 2026.
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