Welcome to CVNM’s 2023-2024 Conservation Scorecard. This year, we analyzed votes from the 2023 60-day and 2024 30-day sessions to produce a single combined score for each member of the New Mexico Legislature. Our annual Scorecard is your primary tool in holding legislators accountable for how they voted on climate, conservation and democracy issues during the past legislative cycle. It can be used to celebrate the steadfast leadership of our many conservation champions and to draw attention to those who have failed to act on the defining crises of our time.
The 2023 long session produced mixed results for CVNM’s priority issues. Notably, we were disappointed to see comprehensive climate action fail to pass through the Legislature. One of our priority bills, HB 188 (Economic Transition Division), aimed to provide important resources to support the economic transition necessary alongside the ongoing energy transition. Although the bill ultimately died in committee, $100 million was allocated in the budget for “Energy and Economic Transition” funding. We also supported SB 520 (Clean Future Act), which sought to lay the foundation for statewide climate action. Unfortunately, the bill was drafted late in the session after prolonged discussions with the Lujan Grisham Administration, climate action groups, and other stakeholders, and failed to garner widespread support. While a framework climate bill failed to pass, we celebrated the passage of HB 95 (Renewable Energy Office in State Land Office), which will help escalate the pace of renewable energy development on state lands.
The 2023 session was historic, though, in its passage of bipartisan-sponsored SB 9 (Create Legacy Permanent Funds), which laid the groundwork for New Mexico’s first-ever permanent conservation funding. For too long, state agencies and programs have been underfunded, and have not been able to advance conservation efforts to the best of their ability. The passage of SB 9 is a monumental step toward correcting this trend, and investing in New Mexico’s natural and cultural legacy for generations to come. The Legislature passed another historic piece of legislation in 2023: HB 4 (Voting Rights Protection Act), a suite of bills that made substantial changes to state election law. HB 4 established nation-leading standards to protect and expand voting rights, including the historic Native American Voting Rights Act that helps break down the systemic barriers to the poll that have left Native nations, tribes and pueblos out of the democratic process.
The pro-democracy momentum set by these bills carried forward into the 2024 budget session. This year, state leaders passed SB 5 (Firearms Near Polling Places) and SB 182 (Election Changes), both of which provide vital protections for voters and the electoral process. SB 5 makes it a petty misdemeanor to bring a firearm within 100 feet of a polling location and within 50 feet of a ballot drop box. Even with changes passed in the final minutes of legislative debate to exempt concealed carry permit holders, SB 5 squeaked through the House on a 35-34 vote. With the uptick in voter intimidation through the past several election cycles, this legislation is a significant step toward creating safer and more secure elections. HB 182 (Election Changes) is another important democracy bill that passed this session. It amends the Campaign Reporting Act (CRA) to require disclaimers on any election-related media produced by artificial intelligence. It also will regulate other materially deceptive media, which will instill integrity in campaigns across the state.
Far too often, climate and conservation funding is back burnered during legislative sessions, particularly in past 30-day budget sessions. However, this year we saw more than $400 million in historic state funding allocated for climate and conservation projects. CVNM and our partners were instrumental in working with bipartisan lawmakers to secure $300 million in additional funding for the Conservation Legacy Permanent Fund to ensure that land, water and wildlife projects will truly be funded in perpetuity. In a similar vein, the Legislature also passed the critical NM Match Fund, allowing communities to leverage unprecedented federal dollars made possible by the Biden Administration’s Investing in America agenda for a myriad of projects, from advancing the energy transition to habitat restoration and more.
This past session also saw several years-in-the-making bills finally make it across the finish line. This includes HB 41 (Clean Transition Fuel Standards), making New Mexico the fourth state in the country to adopt these kinds of standards. This legislation aims to reduce climate pollution by creating a market for alternative, low-carbon fuels in New Mexico, which will help improve public health and ease the transition to clean energy. Advocates of renewable energy and electric vehicle adoption have long sought a suite of tax credits to ease the clean energy transition for New Mexicans. In 2024, the Legislature approved at last an impressive tax omnibus bill that included HB 92 (Geothermal Electricity Generation Tax Credits), HB 140 (Clean Car Income Tax Credits), HB 274 (Advanced Energy Equipment Tax Credit), SB 121 (Solar Market Development Tax Credit Changes), and SB 232 (Energy Storage Industrial Revenue Bonds). By enacting these personal and corporate tax credits, New Mexico is making electric vehicles and our clean energy future more viable and accessible.
Following the devastating Sackett v EPA decision in May 2023, water advocates secured $7.6 million to the New Mexico Environment Department to design and implement surface water permitting and regulatory enforcement. Legislators also agreed to increase budgets of some of our most chronically underfunded state agencies and programs, with spending increases for projects such as species protection at the Department of Game and Fish, healthy forests initiative at the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, and other water resource management initiatives at the Environment Department.
As you explore the 2023-2024 Conservation Scorecard in the pages ahead, you are equipping yourself with the knowledge to make a difference. Your understanding of this legislation gives you the opportunity to inform legislators that you “know the score” – and won’t be forgetting it anytime soon. Your voice matters, and together we can build a future where our air, lands, water and wildlife are protected and all New Mexicans can thrive.
Thank you for being a Conservation Voter,
Demis Foster
CVNM Executive Director
