Committee discusses moving equine rescue fund to New Mexico Department of Agriculture, no vote recorded

Senator Hamblin told the New Mexico Senate Agriculture Committee that a committee substitute to Senate Bill 358 would move the state's equine shelter and rescue expendable fund from the New Mexico Livestock Board to the New Mexico Department of Agriculture and allow up to 5% of annual distributions to be appropriated for administration.

The change, Hamblin said, is intended to increase accountability and provide more robust administration of a regularly funded program after consultations with the New Mexico Livestock Board, the Legislative Finance Committee, Animal Protection Voters and the Department of Agriculture. "This moves the expendable fund from the Livestock Board to the New Mexico Department of Agriculture to support more robust administration of a regularly funded program," Hamblin said.

The substitute also removes language from the original bill that Hamblin described as extraneous regarding the department's rulemaking and advisory authority. Hamblin said Deputy Secretary Owens of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture was present to answer questions and that, if the bill passes the committee, its next stop would be the Senate Finance Committee.

Senator Azel described past problems in the Ruidoso area in which horses impounded by the Livestock Board were temporarily held by volunteers and later released when promised feed funding did not arrive. The assistant director of the New Mexico Livestock Board said volunteers had held impounded horses under agreements that certain entities would pay for feed, but those payments did not materialize.

Azel stressed the ongoing cost of care for horses and cited figures discussed in the committee: alfalfa prices in excess of $280 per ton, an average farrier charge of about $60 per horse, and roughly two gallons of grain per day plus free-choice hay when managing weight and health. "It's very expensive to feed horses," Azel said, noting costs add up quickly for rescues that rely on private donations and grants.

Jessica Johnson Shelton, identified in the meeting as a senior program and policy strategist for an animal protection organization, and Nina Edelman of Animal Protection Voters attended to represent rescue interests. Hamblin said those stakeholders helped shape the committee substitute to address concerns the Livestock Board and others raised during earlier consideration of the bill.

No formal motion or recorded vote on the committee substitute for SB 358 appears in the provided transcript. The discussion closed with the committee considering whether to take public comment or proceed to committee comment; the transcript ends before any formal action was taken.

With additional consultation and a subsequent committee or finance hearing implied, committee members and stakeholders signaled interest in resolving administration and funding questions before any final committee action.