A Senate committee voted to give House Bill 191 a do‑pass recommendation after a hearing in which sponsors and agency staff described the measure as a way to stabilize funding for wildfire response and recovery.

The bill would create two permanent funds administered by the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD): a wildfire suppression fund to help pay for active firefighting costs — including tools, equipment, training and emergency hired wildland firefighters — and a post‑wildfire fund to support activities such as slope stabilization, erosion control and reforestation following major fires.

Supporters told the committee the bill would provide more predictable finance and reporting for wildfire spending. “This is an LFC sponsored bill. There’s $12,000,000 currently in the GAA for the post suppression fund,” LFC staff member Austin said during the hearing. A bill presenter said an expert present had called it “the best bill that he’s seen in quite some time.”

Committee members asked how the new funds would interact with existing federal and state reimbursements. Laura McCarthy, the state forester and forestry division director at EMNRD, said wildfire response is an interagency effort governed by cooperative agreements between federal land managers and the state, and that the state responds when ordered through the interagency ordering system. “Whoever’s jurisdiction the fire starts on is in charge of the ordering of resources,” McCarthy said, adding that state crews respond when ordered through that system.

McCarthy and LFC staff said the new funds would not necessarily create new programs but would “enable further the current actions” of EMNRD by providing a clearer financial mechanism and reporting so the Legislature can see how much state money is used for suppression and post‑fire work. Committee discussion also covered eligibility: EMNRD would be the primary eligible entity for the accounts as written, but officials cited existing examples of the state directing appropriations to tribes by agreement. Committee members were told that the 2024 special session appropriated $10,000,000 through House Bill 1 and that EMNRD recently completed a $3,500,000 agreement with the Mescalero Apache Tribe for slope stabilization after the South Fork and Salt fires.

Members pressed for clarity on overlap with other funds and on how the bill would address fires originating on federal land. McCarthy said the bill’s reporting mechanism would help the Legislature track federal reimbursements and state dollars spent on incidents that start on federal lands. Senators also discussed mitigation, mapping and priority setting for projects; McCarthy and others noted separate bills and funds aimed at mitigation and home hardening are moving through the Legislature.

A motion for a do‑pass recommendation was moved on the floor of the committee and seconded; the committee recorded the recommendation as do‑pass with a recorded tally of 10 in favor and 0 opposed.

The bill will move to the full Senate for further consideration.