Summary:

  House Joint Memorial (HJM 2) requests the New Mexico Legislative Council to convene a task force to study combining standing and interim committees into committees that function during the legislative session and the interim. 

 

Legislation Overview:

 House Joint Memorial (HJM 2) requests the New Mexico Legislative Council to convene a task force to study combining standing and interim committees into committees that function during the legislative session and the interim. 

HJM 2 finds:
•	There were twenty-six standing committees for the 2024 regular session;
•	The house of representatives had seventeen standing committees for the 2024 regular session,
•	The senate had nine standing committees for the 2024 regular session;
•	There were twenty-four interim committees for the 2024 legislative interim;
•	The New Mexico Legislative Council (NMLC) creates interim committees;
•	Having the same committees function during the legislative session and the interim could increase the efficiency of the legislative process, provide a clearer demarcation and reduce overlap of subject matter, allow for continuity in membership and staffing, provide for more uniformity in references to committees in the law and make endorsements of legislation during the interim more meaningful.

HJM 2 requests:
•	The NMLC convene an eleven-member task force to review and study combining the standing and interim committees into committees that function during the legislative session and the interim;
•	The task force include four members from the house, two from the majority party and two from the minority party; four members from the senate with the same party breakdown; and three public members with legislative expertise in legislative matters;
•	The NMLC to appoint the chair of the commitee and to appoint three people from the NMLC to staff the task force and prepare a report;
•	The task force to include certain components in the study and to issue a report to the NMLC and the NMLC’s director by 30 November 2025; and
•	The co-chairs of the NMLC and the directors of the NMLC, the Legislative Council Service (LCS), the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) and Legislative Education Study Committee (LESC) each receive a copy of HJM 2.