New Mexico Senate bill authored by Sen. Padilla on IT equipment and software planning passes House and Senate

Passed bill authored by State Sen. Michael Padilla aims to expand the Department of Information Technology’s equipment replacement planning to include software, following approval in both House and Senate, according to the New Mexico Legislature.

SB 132 passed both chambers as of Wednesday, Feb. 18, clearing the House by a vote of 62-0 and the Senate by a vote of 38-0.

In the House, 37 Democrats and 25 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, with no opposition.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, 22 Democrats and 14 Republicans voted in favor, also with no opposing votes.

Michael Padilla introduced the bill in the New Mexico Senate on Monday, Jan. 26 during the 57th Legislature.

Padilla graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1994.

Padilla, a Democrat, was elected to the New Mexico State Senate in 2013 to represent the state’s 14th Senate district, replacing previous state senator Eric Griego.

According to the New Mexico Legislature website, the bill’s title was officially listed as: ‘Doit Software Replacement Plan & Funding’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill expands the Department of Information Technology’s existing equipment replacement planning system to also cover software and renames the related revolving funds as equipment and software replacement revolving funds. It requires the department to maintain a replacement plan for each enterprise function, submit the plans and an annual reconciliation report by Sept. 1, and use the revolving funds only for acquiring and replacing capital equipment and associated software used to provide enterprise services. The bill keeps investment income in the funds, prevents reversion at the end of a fiscal year and directs that initial balances be established as of July 1, 2008.

The bill was co-sponsored by Rep. Pamelya Herndon (Democrat – District 28) and Sen. Jay Block (Republican – District 12).

In New Mexico, the legislative process involves multiple steps: a bill is introduced in either the House or Senate, assigned to a committee for review, debated and voted on in both chambers, and, if approved, sent to the governor for signature or veto. The Legislature meets annually, commencing on the third Tuesday in January, with 60-day sessions in odd-numbered years and 30-day sessions in even-numbered years. While numerous bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully navigate the process to become law. You can read more about bills and other measures here.