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 Soules
LAST UPDATED
ORIGINAL DATE 1/24/2025
SHORT TITLE Public Office Travel Reimbursement
BILL
NUMBER Senate Bill 52
ANALYST Hilla
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT*
(dollars in thousands)
Agency/Program
FY25 FY26 FY27
3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring or
Nonrecurring
Fund
Affected
LCS
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
The U.S. General Administration Department
The U.S. Internal Revenue Services
Agency Analysis Received From
Administration Office of the Courts General Services Department Ethics Commission Agency Analysis was Solicited but Not Received From
Department of Finance and Administration
Attorney General
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Senate Bill 52
Senate Bill 52 (SB52) amends state law concerning legislators and legislative staff (Section 2-1-
9 NMSA 1978) and the Per Diem and Mileage Act (Section 10-8-4 NMSA 1978) to change both
the reimbursement rate for travel in a private automobile, now set at the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) rate, and the reimbursement rate for travel in a private airplane to the U.S. General
Service Administration rate (GSA) rates. The effective date of this bill is July 1, 2025.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
Pursuant to Section 10-8-4 NMSA 1978, the current reimbursement rate for travel with a
privately owned vehicle for public officers is based on the Internal Revenue Service standard
mileage rate, set January 1 each year, and 88 cents per mile for each mile traveled in a privately
owned airplane. In January 2025, the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA), which Senate Bill 52 – Page 2
follows the Internal Revenue Service’s per diem rates (IRS) by statute, set the rate for public
officers for 2025 at 70 cents per mile for travel in a privately owned vehicle. The GSA rate noted
in the table is 70 cents per mile for this same period. The IRS does not specify rates for airplane
mileage. This bill would only impact public officers who travel by private aircraft because the
rate would increase from 88 cents per mile to $1.76 per mile, double the current rate per mile for
aircraft travel. Because of the limited volume of private air travel, the change in rates is unlikely
to represent a significant fiscal impact.
U.S. General Services Administration 2025 Per Diem Rates
*Airplane nautical miles (NMs) should be converted into statute miles (SMs) or regular miles when submitting a voucher
using the formula (1 NM equals 1.15077945 SMs).
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
The IRS mileage rate of a privately owned vehicle is the same as the GSA mileage rate. For
2025, rates for privately owned airplanes would increase from 88 cents per mile referenced in
Section 8, Per Diem and Mileage, to the GSA standard mileage rate of $1.76 per mile. This bill
affects public officers traveling by private plane.
EH/rl/hg