HB 155 New Mexico House · 2025 Regular Session

GAMING CONTROL BOARD DIRECTOR QUALIFICATIONS

HB 155 changes qualifications for New Mexico's Gaming Control Board Executive Director by removing the previous limit that capped the director's annual salary at the governor's pay. It also updates the required experience to include "regulatory agency or gaming industry" (removing the "governmental" qualifier). The bill directly affects the Gaming Control Board's leadership position and its hiring process. However, the bill was pocket-vetoed by the governor on April 14, 2025, meaning it did not become law and the salary cap remains in effect.
Bill status vetoed 4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
House Passage
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Mar 2025
Vetoed
Apr 2025
Introduced Jan 28, 2025 Vetoed Apr 14, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

introduced version Final Version · 3 edits
MINOR
This bill removes the salary cap for the Executive Director of the Gaming Control Board and clarifies the experience requirement by deleting the bracketed phrase 'governmental gaming' from the qualification criteria. The changes allow the board to set the Executive Director's salary without a limit and streamline the experience requirement to apply to any regulatory agency or gaming industry, not just governmental ones.
Scope change
The bill's scope regarding Executive Director qualifications was narrowed slightly by removing the 'governmental' restriction, while the salary provision scope was expanded by removing the cap.
REQUIREMENT

Removed the bracketed text 'governmental' from the experience requirement, allowing the Executive Director to qualify through experience in any regulatory agency or gaming industry, not just governmental ones.

Removed the salary cap that previously limited the Executive Director's annual salary to not exceed the Governor of New Mexico's salary, giving the Gaming Control Board full authority to set the salary.

TECHNICAL

Formatting and line numbering changes occurred throughout the document during the revision process.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 18, 2025 · House Mar 11, 2025

How they voted

370
Passed · 3 other
Total votes 40
Mar 18, 2025
D Democratic24
22 Yea 2
91% Yea
R Republican16
15 Yea 1
93% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
8
Key actions
5
Committee
3
Apr 14, 2025
Vetoed
Pocket Veto
executive
Mar 18, 2025
Upper · Passed
passed Senate
upper
Mar 16, 2025
Upper · Passed
DO PASS committee report adopted
upper
Mar 12, 2025
Introduced
Sent to Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee
upper
Mar 11, 2025
Lower · Passed
passed House
lower
Feb 24, 2025
Lower · Passed
DO PASS committee report adopted
lower
Feb 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
DO PASS committee report adopted
lower
Jan 28, 2025
Introduced
Sent to House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee & House Commerce & Economic Development Committee
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Martin Zamora
Martin Zamora
RRepublican
NM
63