A pair of relatively brief presentations and committee motions produced due‑pass recommendations for two gaming bills that lawmakers said modernize state oversight of slot machine standards and background checks.

Senate Bill 303 would remove an obsolete requirement that New Mexico gaming machines default to standards set in Nevada and New Jersey, letting the state rely on its own rules and update standards to match the New Mexico market. "Our state's gaming industry has matured over the past 25 years and now operates under [an] independent regulatory framework," Terry McGaha, acting executive director of the New Mexico Gaming Control Board, told the committee.

Senate Bill 302 would codify into statute the Gaming Control Board's authority to obtain national criminal-history information for contractors with unescorted access to gaming facilities and to extend certain suitability/permit background checks to a three‑year renewal cycle rather than annual renewals. McGaha said the changes respond to a Department of Justice audit that found the agency's rules lacked explicit statutory authority to access criminal-history data for some categories of applicants.

Nut graf: the bills are technical statutory fixes that the gaming board said are needed to bring New Mexico into formal compliance with federal requirements and to reduce administrative burdens for licensees.

Committee action: both bills received due‑pass motions from senators after the board’s testimony and were forwarded with recommendations; members signaled general support and asked minor clarifying questions about implementation and interagency compliance.

Ending: The committee forwarded the gaming-control updates with due‑pass recommendations; sponsors and board representatives said the measures mostly codify existing practices and reduce regulatory friction for licensees operating across multiple jurisdictions.