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Senate committee approves amendment raising marriage-license fee to $55, directs $5 to Children’s Trust Fund
Summary
The Senate Finance Committee approved an amended bill to raise the state marriage-license fee to $55, increasing revenue for county clerks and allocating $5 of the increase to the Children’s Trust Fund. The committee voted to pass the bill as amended.
Senate Finance Committee members voted to pass Senate Bill 290 as amended, increasing the statutory marriage-license fee to $55 and directing $5 of the higher fee to the Children’s Trust Fund.
The amendment — adopted in committee — raises the fee from the prior statutory level (historically $25, supporters said) to $55, with $20 remaining for county clerks and $5 redirected to the Children’s Trust Fund. Committee members voted 7-0 on a do-pass recommendation for the bill as amended.
Supporters told the committee the increase will fund preservation of county clerk records. “This bill simply upgrades makes a little bit higher the marriage license fees… The original bill had it raised up to $50… Our amendment raises it to $55 and puts $20 in the children's trust fund,” the sponsor told the committee. Catherine Clark, identified in committee testimony as a county clerk, said older records need preservation and a stable funding source. “A lot of the clerk's office's older records are in need of preservation, and we need a source of funding to do that,” Clark said.
Committee members asked about variations in license volume across counties; witnesses said issuance varies widely — Santa Fe and Sandoval counties issue many more licenses a year than smaller counties such as Hidalgo County, which was described as issuing “a little under, like, 30” marriage licenses in a typical year. Supporters estimated the increase would create a small, recurring revenue source that counties could use for document preservation and noted county clerks’ associations endorsed the change.
The committee moved the amendment and later the amended bill by voice and roll call. Senator Campos moved a do-pass recommendation for SB 290 as once amended; a second was recorded and the committee reported the bill forward with a 7-0 tally.
The bill as amended will proceed to the next stage of Senate consideration. The committee did not set an effective date in its remarks; implementation timing and whether any administrative rule changes would be needed were not specified in committee testimony.
