A. It is the intent of the legislature to authorize the New Mexico finance authority to issue state transportation bonds for projects specified in Sections 27 and 28 of this 2003 act in the total aggregate principal amount of one billion five hundred eighty-five million dollars ($1,585,000,000) in annual increments of three hundred fifty million dollars ($350,000,000), beginning with the appropriation for 2003 provided for in Subsection B of this section.

B. After the effective date of this act, the state transporation [transportation] commission may authorize the New Mexico finance authority to issue and sell state transportation bonds. The proceeds of the bonds are appropriated to the department of transportation for projects listed in Sections 27 and 28 of this 2003 act.

C. The department of transportation shall provide to the legislature and the governor a report on transportation priorities and progress. The report shall include:

(1) justification of priority ranking of projects, including the following for each highway project enumerated in Sections 27 and 28 of this 2003 act:

(a) traffic counts and accident rates and the expected improvements to traffic flow, health and safety;

(b) the ranking of the pavement and substructure conditions;

(c) an assessment of economic development impacts; and

(d) other information deemed significant by the department;

(2) the expected life of the proposed improvement;

(3) sufficiency of revenue to pay the principal and interest of all outstanding and proposed bonds based on a five- and twenty-year financial forecast for the state road fund and the effect of the bond program on the department's construction and maintenance program;

(4) status report of ongoing major construction;

(5) the relationship between the requested projects and the statewide transportation improvement program; and

(6) any other information requested by the legislature or the executive.

D. The department of transportation shall provide quarterly progress reports to the department of finance and administration and the legislative finance committee.

E. The department of transportation shall adopt and enforce rules with the goal that no less than seventy percent of the work force of an exclusively state-funded project authorized in Sections 27 and 28 of this 2003 act shall be residents of New Mexico.

History: Laws 2003 (1st S.S.), ch. 3, § 26.

Effective dates. — Laws 2003 (1st S.S.), ch. 3, § 26 has no effective date provision, but, pursuant to N.M. Const., art. IV, § 23, is effective on February 3, 2004, 90 days after adjournment of the legislature.

Cross references. — For New Mexico Finance Authority Act, see Chapter 6, Article 21 NMSA 1978.

Temporary provisions. — Laws 2003 (1st S.S.), ch. 3, § 29 provides that nothing in the act shall be deemed to impair state highway revenue bonds previously issued by the Transportation Commission, and authorizes the inclusion in subsequently issued bonds of such terms as may be required to avoid impairment of previously issued bonds.

Bracketed material. — The bracketed material in the first sentence of Subsection B was inserted by the compiler for clarity. It was not enacted by the legislature and it is not part of the law.

Meaning of "this act". — The term "this act," which appears in the first sentence of Subsection B, refers to Laws 2003 (1st S.S.), ch. 3, which is compiled in 7-1-6.10, 7-1-6.39, 7-15A-2, 7-15A-6, 7-15A-7, 7-15A-12, 7-15A-13, 7-15A-14, 7-16A-3, 66-3-3.1, 66-6-1, 66-6-2, 66-6-3, 66-6-4, 66-6-5, 66-6-8, 66-6-9, 66-6-10, 66-6-12, 66-6-23.1, 66-7-413, 66-7-413.4, 67-3-59.2, 67-3-59.3, 67-3-59.4 and 67-3-65.1 NMSA 1978.

Meaning of "Sections 27 and 28 of this 2003 act". — The term "Sections 27 and 28 of this 2003 act," which appears throughout this section, refers to Laws 2003 (1st S.S.), ch. 3, §§ 27 and 28.

Compiler's notes. — Laws 2003 (1st S.S.), ch. 3, § 26, as enacted by the legislature, included the provisions "as appropriated by the legislature each year" following "($350,000,000)" in Subsection A, "in an amount not to exceed three hundred fifty million dollars ($350,000,000) for the 2003 annual increment" at the end of the first sentence of Subsection B, "for the 2004 and subsequent annual appropriation requests" at the beginning of the introductory language of Subsection C, and "for which the department is seeking authorization and appropriation" following "projects" in the introductory language of Paragraph (1) of that subsection; however, such provisions were vetoed by the governor.

Laws 2003 (1st S.S.), ch. 3, §§ 27 and 28 list the authorized transportation projects for which the Department of Transportation may use the net proceeds of state transportation project bonds issued by the New Mexico Finance Authority pursuant to this section and 67-3-59.3 NMSA 1978.