Mar 21, 2024 –
Thank you to all of you who participated in this year’s 30-day legislation session, which ended in February. Here is a recap of some pieces of legislation that NMEPHN followed.
House Bill 41, the New Mexico Clean Transportation Fuel Standard, passed both Chambers. The Standard establishes a market-based approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuels, requiring fuel producers and importers to reduce the amount of carbon in fuels used in New Mexico — a 20% reduction by 2030 and a 30% reduction by 2040. If well utilized, this bill will decrease harmful transportation-related emissions and improve air quality. The Governor signed the bill on March 4, 2024, and a rule-making process at the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board will commence later this year.
A couple of tax credits passed that will continue to improve air quality in our state. The Clean Cars Tax Credit, HB 140, provides credits for the purchase of new and used clean cars and the purchase and installation of clean car charging units. The Solar Market Development Tax Credit Changes, Senate Bill 121, adds $20 million to provide credits to those New Mexicans who qualified but did not receive a credit (due to a previous cap) and adds $30 million annually to the aggregate amount of credits in subsequent years to ensure more credit resources are available to all New Mexicans installing solar. The Governor approved these as part of the larger tax package on March 6. Both tax credits will also involve a rulemaking process at the State level.
The Public Health and Climate Change Resiliency Program, House Bill 104, a priority bill for the Network, did not make it through the session. We were pleased that it was declared germane to the session, and it did pass one House Committee but did not further progress. The bill would have created a Public Health and Climate Resiliency Program at the Department of Health to build capacity and expertise, support development and implementation of response systems, and improve interagency collaboration. The bill also called for the establishment of a Public Health and Climate Resiliency Fund to assist and enable local and tribal communities to adapt to climate change and respond to public health emergencies from extreme weather events.
House Bill 75, which would have provided school districts with the option to replace school buses with electric or zero emission alternative fuel school buses was not heard this session. The legislation proposed a plan to retire diesel buses in favor of electric buses by providing state funds to match federal funds for the program providing school districts the option to replace school buses with electric or zero emission alternative fuel school buses. We expect to see both of these bills again.
Upcoming Opportunities
- The New Mexico Public Health Association’s Annual Conference is scheduled for May 16 and 17. For more information, see https://www.nmpha.org/event-5635388.
- Health Equity Week will be April 1 through April 4. The Center for Health Equity – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, is hosting a series of expert-driven conversations on health and health disparities. Events will take place virtually from April 1 through April 3, with in-person events on April 4. Registration information is forthcoming but interested parties can submit this save-the-date form.
