SB 49 RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE CRISIS RESPONSE ACT

Sen Siah Correa Hemphill

Actions: [1] SCC/SIRC/SFC-SCC

Scheduled: Not Scheduled

 Senate Bill 49 (SB 49) enacts the Rural Infrastructure Crisis Response Act; creates the Rural Infrastructure Crisis Response Fund (RICRF) and establishes eligibility requirements; creates the Bureau of Rural Infrastructure Crisis Response and provides duties; amends the Tribal Infrastructure Act to make the Tribal Infrastructure Board the fiscal agent for assistance from the RICRF for projects owned or operated by Indian nations, tribes and pueblos, and makes an appropriation. 

 Senate Bill 49 (SB 49) enacts The Rural Infrastructure Crisis Response Act, and definitions are provided, including:

•	“bureau”, meaning the bureau of rural infrastructure crisis response of the local government division of the department of finance and administration; 

•	"crisis event", meaning an unforeseen power surge, weather or other event that disables the use of critical public infrastructure;
 
•	"critical public infrastructure", meaning public infrastructure or durable equipment that is required for public health, safety or welfare of individuals or communities and including dams, transportation infrastructure and infrastructure essential to the delivery of utility services; 

•	"durable equipment", meaning equipment of a permanent or non-depletable nature that is necessary in the use of critical public infrastructure; 

•	"eligible project", meaning a project that is eligible for financial assistance pursuant to Subsection A of Section 3 of the Rural Infrastructure Crisis Response Act;
 
•	"fund", meaning the rural infrastructure crisis response fund; 

•	"local authority", meaning: (1) a municipality that has a population of less than twenty thousand according to the latest federal decennial census; (2) a county that has a population of less than one hundred fifty thousand according to the latest federal decennial census; (3) an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo located wholly or partially in New Mexico; or (4) a mutual domestic water consumers association or a water and sanitation district that maintains local roads or provides utility services to fewer than six thousand billed customers; 

•	"relief request", meaning a request for financial assistance for a project to repair or replace critical public infrastructure that has experienced a crisis event; 

•	"repair or replace", meaning repair or replacement of critical public infrastructure to the same level of functionality or service as the infrastructure provided prior to a crisis event; 

•	"secretary", meaning the Secretary of Finance and Administration; and 

•	"utility services", meaning broadband, electricity, natural gas, solid waste, water or wastewater services. 

Procedures and rules regarding eligibility for infrastructure repair are provided, along with bureau and secretary responsibilities, and procedures for approval. It is noted that the secretary shall not issue a total of awards worth more than one million dollars ($1,000,000) for rural infrastructure crisis response projects within any given county in a calendar year. 

The rural infrastructure crisis response fund is created in the state treasury. The Department of Finance and Administration is to administer the fund and disbursements are to be made by warrant of the secretary pursuant to vouchers signed by the secretary or the secretary’s designee. Money in the fund is not to revert at the end of a fiscal year, and may be used to make grants to eligible projects.

By November 30 of each year, the Department of Finance and Administration must provide a report to the appropriate interim legislative committee on the status of the fund, the status of the eligible projects for which grants have been made from the fund, and the outstanding demand for assistance. 

The Tribal Infrastructure Act is amended to make the Tribal Infrastructure Board the fiscal agent for assistance from the RICRF for projects owned or operated by Indian nations, tribes and pueblos.

One hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Finance and Administration to implement the Rural Infrastructure Crisis Response Act. The money from this appropriation shall be distributed as follows: A. one million six hundred thousand dollars ($1,600,000) to the bureau of rural infrastructure crisis response within the local government division of the Department of Finance and Administration, provided that no more than four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) shall be expended in any one fiscal year. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2028 shall be deposited in the rural infrastructure crisis response fund; and B. ninety-eight million four hundred thousand dollars ($98,400,000) to the rural infrastructure crisis response fund for the purposes of the fund for expenditure in fiscal year 2025 and subsequent fiscal years. Any unencumbered or unexpended balance at the end of a given fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund.
 

 New Mexico does not currently have a Rural Infrastructure Crisis Response Act, nor a specific fund to support related directives. If the bill does not pass, this will remain the status quo. 

 Senate Bill 43 (SB 43), Enacting Public Easements for Broadband Act
Senate Bill 45 (SB 45), Broadband Infrastructure
Senate Joint Memorial 1 (SJM 1), Support National Infrastructure Bank
House Bill 232 (HB 232), Infrastructure Planning Development Division