SANTA FE, N.M. – It was just three months ago when state auditors released a bombshell report detailing wasteful spending by Western New Mexico University leaders.

In that time, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez assembled a plan for state lawmakers to lay down the law on public university leaders. But state lawmakers are only willing to go so far.

A House committee did approve Torrez’s proposed constitutional amendment, adding new fiduciary responsibilities for university regents and making it easier to remove problematic regents.

“We also need to clarify fundamentally what their responsibility is, and their responsibility is to the taxpayers of New Mexico, but fundamentally, the students who go to these institutions,” said Torrez. 

A bill adding new training requirements for university regents also cleared the state Senate with unanimous support. But it seems that’s as far as some state lawmakers are willing to go, at least right now.

The debate over Torrez’s other higher education reform proposal, which would require the state to review and approve contracts for university regents and other administrators, faced significant pushback from the Senate Education Committee Monday morning.

“I think this guardrail will be counterproductive to the quality of education, higher education in the state,” said state Sen. Martin Hickey. 

Despite testimony from the AG’s office, and the higher education secretary, the committee still voted to kill the bill. That same committee got pretty heated over a funding bill for UNM and New Mexico State University.

The proposal would give both universities an extra $2.5 million to help fund their athletics programs. But it specifically stated New Mexico State’s funding must be used to hire a new athletics director with at least five years of experience in name image and likeness policies.

The committee got rid of that requirement and eventually approved the funding bill.