New Mexico § 2-5-1 - Legislative finance committee created; terms; vacancies

§ 2-5-1. Legislative finance committee created; terms; vacancies

A. There is created a continuing joint interim committee of the legislature to be

designated the “legislative finance committee”. The committee shall be composed of sixteen members, eight members from the house

of representatives and eight members from the senate. The chairmen of the house appropriations and finance and house taxation and revenue

committees and the senate finance committee or members of their respective committees

designated by each of them from time to time shall be members. The minority party shall be represented on the committee by at least one member

from each house. Six of the remaining members shall be appointed from the house of representatives

by the speaker, and the seven remaining members shall be appointed from the senate

by the committees' committee or, if the appointments are made in the interim, by the

president pro tempore after consultation with and agreement of a majority of the members

of the committees' committee. An appointed member may designate a member of his party to serve in his place at

a committee meeting at which the regular member is going to be absent if the member

notifies the chairman of the legislative finance committee of his anticipated absence

and his designee at least twenty-four hours before the committee meeting. The appointed members of the committee shall be appointed from each house so as

to give the two political parties having the most members in each house the same total

proportionate representation on the committee as prevails in that house; provided

that in the computation, major fractions shall be counted as whole numbers. Minority members from the house shall be appointed by the speaker only from recommendations

made by the minority floor leader, although the speaker shall retain the right to

reject any such recommendations. B. Members shall be appointed for terms of two years and shall serve from the time

of their appointment until the end of the next session of the legislature. The term of any member shall terminate when the member ceases to be a member of

the legislature. C. Vacancies in the committee may be filled for the unexpired term by appointment

from the house or senate respectively by the respective appointing authority that

makes the original appointments and subject to the same recommendations; provided

the new members shall be from the same house of the legislature and the same party

from which their predecessors were appointed. The committee shall elect from its membership such other officers as may be deemed

necessary. The officers shall be appointed for terms coterminous with their membership on the

committee. Each office shall be alternated between the respective houses each two years. For the terms beginning in 1979, the chairman shall be a senate member and the vice

chairman, if any, shall be a house member. The appointing authority of each house shall exercise its appointing authority by

naming the chairman or vice chairman, respectively, on this alternating basis. D. No action shall be taken by the committee if a majority of the total membership

from either house on the committee rejects the action.