HB 30 New Mexico House · 2026 Regular Session

TEACHER RESIDENCY ACT CHANGES

HB 30 modifies New Mexico's Teacher Residency Act by setting stipends for teaching residents as a percentage of the minimum salary for entry-level teachers (35% for undergraduates, 80% for those with bachelor's degrees). It allows teaching residents to work at any public school after completing their residency, not just the sponsoring district, and requires partner districts or charter schools to offer employment based on staffing needs and performance. This directly affects teaching residents, public school districts, and charter schools participating in the residency program. The bill updates payment structures and employment rules to increase flexibility for residents and districts.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

House Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

Signed into Law

Mar 2026

Introduced Jan 5, 2026 Signed Mar 9, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

introduced version → Final Version · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill modifies how teaching residency stipends are calculated and changes employment expectations for graduates. The main change is that stipend amounts are now based on a percentage of the statutory minimum salary for Level One teachers rather than fixed dollar amounts, with higher percentages for residents who already hold a bachelor's degree. Additionally, the bill clarifies that partner schools must offer employment to residency graduates based on staffing needs and performance rather than guaranteeing employment.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on teacher residency programs, but the applicability of stipend amounts has changed from fixed dollar amounts to percentage-based calculations tied to salary standards.

FISCAL

Stipend amounts for teaching residents are now calculated as a percentage of the statutory minimum salary for Level One teachers (65% for undergraduates, 80% for those with bachelor's degrees) instead of fixed dollar amounts of $35,000 and $2,000.

REQUIREMENT

Employment offers to residency graduates are now conditional on the partner school's staffing needs and the resident's performance, rather than being guaranteed.

DEFINITION

The bill clarifies that residency graduates may work at any public school after completing their residency, not just at the sponsoring school district.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 17, 2026 · House Feb 6, 2026

How they voted

35–0

Passed · 3 other

Total votes 38

Feb 17, 2026

D Democratic22

20 Yea 2

90% Yea

R Republican16

15 Yea 1

93% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 9, 2026

Signed into law

Signed

executive

Feb 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

passed Senate

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

DO PASS committee report adopted

upper

Feb 6, 2026

Introduced

Sent to Senate Rules Committee & Senate Education Committee

upper

Feb 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

passed House

lower

Feb 4, 2026

Lower · Passed

DO PASS committee report adopted

lower

Jan 30, 2026

Lower · Passed

DO PASS committee report adopted

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Introduced

Sent to House Education Committee & House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee

lower

Jan 21, 2026

Lower · Passed

not printed House Rules and Order of Business Committee

lower

Jan 5, 2026

Introduced

Sent to House Pre-file

lower

5 primary · 0 co-sponsors