HIGHER EDUCATION RADIO

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Pete Campos

Expands the Educational Television Equipment Replacement Fund to include radio equipment and stations for public higher ed and schools, with rules for disbursement and future budge

Pocket Veto

#education #postsecondary

Main purpose

SB 495 expands the statutory purposes of New Mexico’s Educational Television Equipment Replacement Fund to explicitly include radio equipment and radio stations operated by state institutions of higher education and by public schools. The bill also clarifies administrative procedures for disbursing funds and expresses legislative intent that the executive budget include a specific line item for educational television and radio replacement.

Key provisions and changes

Adds "radio" (equipment and stations) to the eligible uses of the existing Educational Television Equipment Replacement Fund (a nonreverting state treasury fund).

Extends eligibility to radio stations operated by:

State institutions of higher education, and
Public schools (in addition to educational television stations).

Directs the Higher Education Department to:

Develop eligibility/disbursement criteria and promulgate rules for fund use.

Provides disbursement mechanics:

Payments are to be made by the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) by warrant upon vouchers signed by the Secretary of Higher Education.

Legislative intent language: the Legislature intends that the department’s budget recommendations include a specific line item for educational television and radio replacement.

Technical clarification: confirms the fund is nonreverting (money remains available until spent for the designated purpose).

Who is affected

Primary beneficiaries: public higher education institutions and public schools that operate educational radio and television stations (capital/equipment replacement needs).

Administrative impact: Higher Education Department (rulemaking and administration) and Department of Finance and Administration (disbursement processing).

Indirectly: communities and students served by educational radio/TV programming.

Fiscal and procedural notes

Fiscal impact: Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) analysis reports no additional operating budget impact and no appropriation included in the bill itself (i.e., bill makes radio eligible but does not allocate new funds). The bill contains intent language encouraging a line-item in future appropriations.

Effective date (per the fiscal note): Because the bill lacks an express effective date, it would take effect 90 days after adjournment of the legislative session — noted in the fiscal analysis as June 20, 2025, if enacted.

Status: user-provided status is “Pocket Veto.” (Documentation in the packet also includes fiscal and text materials; consult the official legislative history for final enactment/veto disposition.)

Practical impact

Enables higher education institutions and public schools to seek replacement funding from the established state fund for aging or obsolete radio broadcast equipment.

Formalizes administrative duties (rulemaking and voucher-based disbursement), improving clarity on how requests will be evaluated and paid.

Does not itself appropriate money; the proposed benefit requires future budget action to provide funds for replacements.

If you’d like, I can:
- Pull the exact statutory language that would be added, or
- Draft a short one-page memo for higher education administrators explaining how to apply for funds if (or when) appropriations are made.

Bill