HOUSE BILL 397
50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011
INTRODUCED BY
Thomas A. Anderson
AN ACT
RELATING TO STATE AIRCRAFT; TRANSFERRING STATE AIRCRAFT FROM THE GENERAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT TO THE AVIATION DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 15-8-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1994, Chapter 119, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:
"15-8-2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.--The legislature finds that centralized control of state vehicles is in the best interest of the state because it permits the state to use its transportation resources in the most efficient and effective manner. The primary purposes of the Transportation Services Act are to:
A. provide a centralized agency to purchase state vehicles and to control their use; and
[B. implement and administer the State Aircraft Act; and
C.] B. provide authorization for administration of the state's state and federal surplus property programs."
SECTION 2. Section 15-9-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1994, Chapter 135, Section 2) is amended to read:
"15-9-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the State Aircraft Act:
A. ["department"] "division" means the [general services department] aviation division of the department of transportation; and
B. "state aircraft" means all state airplanes used primarily to transport passengers."
SECTION 3. Section 15-9-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1994, Chapter 135, Section 3) is amended to read:
"15-9-3. AIRCRAFT CONSOLIDATION--[DEPARTMENT] DIVISION DUTIES.--
A. All state aircraft shall be consolidated in the [department] division for the use of the state's agencies, departments, branches and institutions.
B. The [department] division shall:
(1) adopt and file in accordance with the State Rules Act rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of the State Aircraft Act;
(2) own, operate and maintain the state's aircraft fleet;
(3) provide centralized statewide scheduling of aircraft;
(4) designate destination airports;
(5) determine travel charges for state aircraft services;
(6) determine use requirements, including the number of required passengers per flight and under what conditions persons other than state officers and employees are allowed to travel in state aircraft; and
(7) determine other requirements it deems appropriate or fiscally responsible.
C. The [department] division may refuse a request for state aircraft scheduling."
SECTION 4. Section 15-9-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1994, Chapter 135, Section 4, as amended) is amended to read:
"15-9-4. TRAVEL CHARGES.--The [department] division shall charge for the use of state aircraft. Charges shall be sufficient to offset the costs of operation, maintenance and depreciation of state aircraft. Money collected for travel charges shall be deposited in the aviation services fund."
SECTION 5. Section 15-9-4.1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1995, Chapter 49, Section 3) is amended to read:
"15-9-4.1. AVIATION SERVICES FUND.--There is created in the state treasury the "aviation services fund". Money in the fund is appropriated to the [general services department] division for the purpose of operating, maintaining and repairing state aircraft, including fuel, insurance, pilot compensation and other basic support costs. Disbursements from the fund shall be made only upon warrant drawn by the secretary of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the director of the [motor pool] division [of the general services department]. Money in the fund shall not revert at the end of any fiscal year."
SECTION 6. Section 15-9-5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1994, Chapter 135, Section 5) is amended to read:
"15-9-5. [TEMPORARY PROVISION] TRANSFER OF AIRCRAFT, PERSONNEL, MONEY, APPROPRIATIONS, FURNITURE, SUPPLIES AND OTHER PROPERTY AND CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS.--On [the effective date of the State Aircraft Act] July 1, 2011, the passenger aircraft owned by the [state corporation commission, the energy, minerals and natural resources department and the state highway and transportation department shall be transferred to the] general services department and title to the aircraft shall be transferred to the [general services department] division. On [the effective date of the State Aircraft Act] July 1, 2011, the personnel, money, appropriations, furniture, supplies and other property attributable to the ownership, operation or maintenance of passenger aircraft in the [state corporation commission, the energy, minerals and natural resources department and the state highway and transportation department shall be transferred to the] general services department shall be transferred to the division. On [the effective date of the State Aircraft Act] July 1, 2011, contractual obligations related to the ownership, operation or maintenance of passenger aircraft of the [state corporation commission, the energy, minerals and natural resources department and the state highway and transportation] general services department shall be binding on the [general services department] division."
SECTION 7. Section 64-1-13 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1963, Chapter 314, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:
"64-1-13. AVIATION DIVISION--POWERS AND DUTIES.--The division shall:
A. cooperate with all public and private agencies and organizations, state, local and federal, to encourage and advance aviation in this state;
B. assemble and distribute to the public information relating to aviation, landing fields, beacons and other matters pertaining to aviation and may accept federal money made available for the advancement of aviation;
C. authorize expenditures of money from the state aviation fund for construction, development and maintenance of public-use airport facilities, except airports serving regularly scheduled interstate airlines using aircraft with a maximum passenger capacity of more than one hundred seats or a maximum payload capacity of more than twenty-five thousand pounds, including rural landing fields and airstrips. Expenditures shall be made according to the need for airport facilities as determined by the division;
D. operate under a director, appointed by the secretary, with the approval of the governor, who shall have an aviation background and meet other qualifications prescribed by the secretary;
E. establish policies for operation of the division;
F. promulgate rules for proper enforcement of aviation laws, except for those relating to common carriers;
G. provide for a surety bond, paid from the state aviation fund, issued by a corporate surety company licensed to do business in New Mexico, in an amount set by the state board of finance, on a form approved by the attorney general, conditioned upon the faithful performance of the duties of the personnel of the division who expend or authorize the expenditure of state funds;
H. own, operate and maintain the state's aircraft fleet;
[H.] I. have the following powers with respect to state airports:
(1) the division may, on behalf of and in the name of the state, out of appropriations and other money made available for such purposes, plan, construct, enlarge, improve, maintain, equip and operate airports and air navigation facilities, including the construction, equipment, maintenance and operation at such airports of buildings and other facilities for the servicing of aircraft or for the comfort and accommodation of air travelers. For such purposes, the division may, in the name of the state, by purchase, gift, devise, lease or otherwise, acquire property, real or personal, or any interest in property, including easements in airport hazards or land outside the boundaries of an airport or airport site, as are necessary to permit safe and efficient operation of the airports or air navigation facilities. The division may enter into any contracts necessary to the execution of the powers granted it by this paragraph; and
(2) the division may accept, receive, receipt for, disburse and expend federal money and other money, public or private, made available to accomplish, in whole or in part, any of the purposes of this subsection. All federal money accepted under this subsection shall be accepted and expended by the division upon such terms and conditions as are prescribed by the United States. The division, on behalf of the state, may enter into contracts with the United States or with any person that may be required in connection with a grant or loan of federal money for airport or air navigation facility purposes. All money received by the division pursuant to this subsection is appropriated for the purpose for which the money was made available, to be disbursed or expended in accordance with the terms and conditions upon which the money was made available; provided that nothing contained in this section shall affect the power of a local government to contract with the United States or any person in connection with a grant or loan of money for airports or air navigation facilities in accordance with the terms and conditions upon which the funds were made available; and
[I.] J. have the power to engage in planning for the development of a system of public airports within the state."
SECTION 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2011.
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