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Senate advances bill to expand Legislative Education Study Committee jurisdiction to higher education and early childhood
Summary
Lawmakers advanced House Bill 193 to expand the Legislative Education Study Committee’s (LESC) scope to include higher education and early childhood, with supporters saying it will improve continuity of study and strengthen evidence for policymaking; the committee gave the bill a unanimous do‑pass vote.
The Senate Education Committee voted unanimously to give a do‑pass recommendation to House Bill 193, which would expand the Legislative Education Study Committee’s (LESC) authority to include higher education and early‑childhood issues in addition to K‑12 teacher preparation programs.
Sponsor Senator Soles told the committee the bill is an LESC‑endorsed measure that has been discussed for years. "If we're going to have good quality education, we need to make sure that the entire sequence of education ... we're able to study it," Soles said, arguing the committee should be able to bring higher education and early‑childhood topics to legislators with technical assistance from LESC staff.
Public testimony was uniformly supportive at the hearing. Carrie Robin Brunder of Public Charter Schools of New Mexico said, "Our education system does not start at kindergarten and end at twelfth grade ... we think this will be really helpful to study." Whitney Holland, president of AFT New Mexico, and Edward Webster of NEA New Mexico likewise urged support, saying higher education affects workforce development and the continuity of student pathways.
Committee members asked whether LESC can absorb the added work without new appropriations. Senator Soles and the LESC director said LESC has staffing capacity to begin the work and would request additional staff or funding later if needed; the transcript records a LESC budget request figure raised during questioning and discussion of coordination with other agencies. Representative questions voiced concerns that expanding jurisdiction could create duplicative reporting with the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) or duplicate existing evaluations, but LESC analysts said they work closely with LFC and view LESC’s role as a longer‑term, continuing study body.
The committee recorded a unanimous do‑pass vote; the clerk announced the motion carried with all present senators voting yes.
Why it matters: supporters said adding higher education and early childhood to LESC’s purview would give legislators more timely data and analysis across the full education pipeline, potentially informing funding and policy decisions earlier in the process.
Votes at a glance
- House Bill 193 — Motion to pass: Passed unanimously.
