SB 262 New Mexico Senate · 2025 Regular Session

CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECTS

SB 262 proposes funding to support citizen science projects in New Mexico, where public volunteers collect wildlife data. It allocates $137,500 each to the State Parks, Environment, and Game & Fish departments for program coordinators, and $200,000 to the University of New Mexico to create web portals tracking these projects. The bill directly affects state agencies, universities, and public volunteers participating in wildlife data collection. It focuses on administrative support (coordinators and digital systems) rather than changing regulations or creating new programs.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 3, 2025 Last action Jun 3, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

introduced version → CO substitute · 4 edits

MODERATE

SB 262 was amended to increase funding amounts and extend the fiscal year coverage from 2026 only to 2026 and 2027. The bill now includes a new provision requiring unspent funds after 2027 to revert to the general fund, whereas the original version did not specify a reversion date. The act's title was also revised to better reflect the inclusion of web portal and information system creation and maintenance.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include fiscal year 2027 in addition to 2026, and the language was updated to clarify that unspent funds after 2027 must return to the general fund.

FISCAL

Funding amounts for program coordinators were increased from $137,500 per agency to $275,000 for the State Parks Division and Department of Environment, and from $200,000 to $400,000 for the University of New Mexico.

TIMELINE

The appropriation period was extended from fiscal year 2026 and subsequent years to specifically fiscal years 2026 and 2027.

REQUIREMENT

A new requirement was added stating that any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2027 must revert to the general fund.

SCOPE

The act's title was updated to explicitly include the creation and maintenance of web portals and information systems to track and evaluate citizen science projects.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 19, 2025

Upper · Passed

DO NOT PASS, replaced with committee substitute

upper

Feb 3, 2025

Introduced

Sent to Senate Conservation Committee & Senate Finance Committee

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors