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Committee delays decision on SB290 after questions about marriage‑license fee splits
Summary
Lawmakers heard testimony on SB290, which would raise the marriage license fee to $55 and allocate funds to the county clerk recording and filing fund and the Children's Trust Fund; committee members asked for fiscal detail and contested allocation splits, and the bill was rolled to the next day for further review.
The Appropriations & Finance Committee heard extended testimony on Senate Bill 290, a proposal to raise the state marriage license fee to $55 and redirect part of the increase to clerk recording and filing needs and to the Children’s Trust Fund.
Representative Luhan presented the bill and said the amended Senate Finance Committee version sets the fee at $55, with $35 of each fee going to the county clerk recording and filing fund and $20 to the Children’s Trust Fund. Santa Fe County Clerk Catherine Clark and other county clerk representatives said the increase is intended to help preserve permanent records that are deteriorating on microfiche and to provide dedicated filing funds for counties.
Several county clerks and affiliate representatives testified in support, saying the measure represents an agreed division among stakeholders. Joey Dominguez and Rosangela Ortiz (identified in the hearing as chief deputy clerks and clerk‑affiliate leaders) stressed unanimous or broad support among the county clerks’ affiliate.
Committee members questioned whether all or more of the increase should go to county general funds — Representative Herrera urged sending more dollars to rural counties — and raised the existence of a separate, larger transfer into the Children’s Trust Fund elsewhere in the budget. Members requested more fiscal detail about past Children's Trust Fund expenditures and current balances. The fiscal information cited in the hearing indicated projected additional revenue in the committee fiscal information: approximately $121,162.50 to the clerk’s recording and filing fund and roughly $32,500 to the Children’s Trust Fund, according to testimony in committee.
Because members requested additional detail and time to review fiscal impacts and program history, committee leadership rolled SB290 to the next morning for further consideration rather than taking a vote that evening.
