Rep. Luis Terrazas

Maddy summarySB 209 requires owners or operators of renewable energy facilities (like solar, wind, or geothermal plants) in New Mexico to provide financial assurance before starting operations. This assurance, in forms like bonds or cash, must cover all costs for removing equipment, cleaning up sites, and remediating land after a facility stops operating. The bill creates a "Renewable Energy Decommissioning Fund" to manage these costs, which can be used by the state if a facility owner fails to cover decommissioning expenses. The fund also receives forfeited financial assurance when owners don’t comply, ensuring cleanup costs are covered without burdening taxpayers.

Maddy summaryHB 281 requires owners of solar and wind energy facilities to provide financial assurance (like bonds or insurance) totaling at least $250,000 per facility to cover future decommissioning costs. This applies to all new facilities starting July 1, 2026, and existing facilities by January 1, 2028. The bill creates a Solar and Wind Decommissioning Fund, which collects forfeited financial assurance if owners fail to comply or if decommissioning costs exceed the provided amount. The fund is used by the state to cover cleanup costs when facilities are shut down, ensuring sites are properly remediated without relying on taxpayer funds.

Maddy summarySB 224 sets a $750,000 maximum insurance payout for properties damaged by fire under New Mexico's Fair Plan program. It applies to properties in areas served by fire departments rated 1-10 based on national insurance service evaluations. The rating considers factors like staffing, equipment, emergency communications, water supply, and community risk programs. This policy change directly affects homeowners in communities using the state's Fair Plan insurance for fire coverage.

Maddy summarySB 227 creates a public registry for adults convicted of cruelty to animals or extreme cruelty to animals in New Mexico. It requires these individuals to register with their county sheriff, providing personal details like name, address, Social Security number, and a photo. The Department of Public Safety will maintain a central online registry displaying the person's name, aliases, conviction details, and photo for public access. This registry must be updated if the person moves to a new county within the state.

Maddy summaryHB 317 establishes a Special Permit Review Board within New Mexico's Department of Transportation to review applications from trucking companies that previously lost eligibility for special permits to operate oversized or overweight vehicles. It creates a new misdemeanor offense for operating such vehicles outside the time specified in their permit (e.g., $1,000 fine for a first violation, $2,000 for a second), with a third violation triggering automatic ineligibility unless the operator applies to the new board. The board, composed of transportation officials and a trucking association representative, will determine continued eligibility for repeat offenders. This bill directly affects commercial trucking companies hauling oversized or overweight loads who violate permit time limits.

Maddy summaryThis House Memorial (HM 37) requests New Mexico's Energy Department to study the costs of decommissioning solar and wind energy facilities and recommend financial assurance requirements for their owners. It directly affects solar/wind facility operators (who may need to cover removal and land restoration costs) and taxpayers (who could otherwise bear millions in unplanned expenses if facilities fail early). The study will evaluate decommissioning costs, compare state practices, and propose policies to prevent environmental harm or taxpayer burden. Currently, New Mexico lacks such requirements for renewables, despite a 2025 report warning of potential $974 million in unmet costs. The department must report findings by November 2026.

Maddy summaryHB 338 extends the expiration date for a tax deduction that health care practitioners can use to reduce their taxable gross receipts by certain patient payments, changing the deadline from 2028 to 2031. It expands the deduction to include coinsurance, copayments, and deductibles paid by patients for commercial health insurance plans (excluding Medicare and Medicaid services). This affects licensed health care professionals like doctors, dentists, nurses, and therapists who provide services under commercial contracts with insurers. The deduction must be reported separately and is only applied after other allowable tax deductions are taken.

Maddy summaryHB 298 creates a 50% tax credit for New Mexico railroads that spend on qualifying infrastructure projects, such as track repairs, new rail lines, or facilities serving new customers. The credit directly affects railroads classified as Class 2 or 3 by the federal government or owners/lessees of rail spurs in New Mexico, with limits of $5,000 per mile of track owned/leased and $1 million per new customer project. To claim the credit, railroads must first get DOT certification, and the total annual credits issued cannot exceed $6 million. The bill allows credits to be transferred between taxpayers but does not refund excess credit amounts beyond a taxpayer’s liability in a given year.

Maddy summaryHB 282 requires schools and juvenile probation services to collaborate on addressing student absenteeism under New Mexico's Attendance for Success Act. It mandates probation officers to review school attendance records for students with legal issues, initiate support for chronically absent students (missing 10%+ school days), and report persistent absences to children's courts. The bill also allows courts to suspend driving privileges for excessively absent students (20%+ absences) at probation's request and makes it a crime for parents to allow continued absences after probation is notified. These provisions directly affect students, parents, schools, and juvenile probation services by creating new pathways for intervention and enforcement.

Maddy summaryHB 275 authorizes the New Mexico Finance Authority to issue revenue bonds totaling up to $5.7 million to fund cancer center improvements at the Gila Regional Medical Center in Grant County and Nor-Lea General Hospital in Lea County. The bonds will finance specific projects including facility upgrades, equipment purchases (like PET scanners), electronic health records systems, and chemotherapy clean rooms. Local officials from Grant County and the Nor-Lea hospital district must certify the need for funding before bonds can be issued, with proceeds directed to the medical centers for these designated purposes. The bill focuses on direct infrastructure and equipment investments for cancer treatment services in two rural New Mexico counties.