Committee approves bill to expand education equipment-replacement fund to include radio and nonreverting status

The Senate Education Committee voted to advance Senate Bill 495, a measure that amends the state’s educational television equipment-replacement fund to include radio stations and to clarify the fund’s nonreverting status for higher-education institutions. The bill does not appropriate new money in this language but expands which entities can apply for equipment-replacement disbursements.

Michael Brasher of KANW and other witnesses described gaps created when a federal equipment-replacement program ended and said stations and translators serving rural areas need new funding paths to replace aging transmitters and interconnection equipment. Brasher and Lenia Montoya of UNM discussed specific equipment needs cited in UNM’s analysis: a Sandia Crest transmitter replacement ($150,000) and a 7-transmitter rural network replacement ($250,000) anticipated in 2027.

Committee members asked how much money is currently in the fund and whether HED can administer an expanded fund that includes K–12 applicants. Secretary-designate from Higher Education said HED and institutions routinely manage nonreverting funds and could administer the expanded program; HED staff agreed to provide a current fund balance to the committee outside the hearing. Supporters said the change would allow public radio and television stations, higher-education institutions and public schools to apply for equipment dollars that otherwise would be difficult to fund.

Senators discussed whether the change shifts capital burdens into the operating budget; sponsors said the bill expands eligibility and does not itself appropriate funds. The committee recorded a do-pass recommendation on the substitute.