Bill > SB484

This bill establishes the Government Accountability to Taxpayer Office as a new executive branch agency designed to improve government efficiency and transparency. The office will be led by an executive director appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate for a four-year term, who will have broad powers to manage the agency's operations, including hiring staff, preparing budgets, and delegating responsibilities. The primary duties of the office include conducting performance audits of state agencies and programs, recommending improvements to increase efficiency and reduce waste, monitoring the implementation of its own recommendations, and producing an annual report to the legislature detailing the state's fiscal health and administrative performance. The office will have the authority to access non-confidential agency records, employ experts and consultants, and even subpoena witnesses and documents as part of its auditing function. The bill specifies that the office will be created as an adjunct agency, with the executive director responsible directly to the governor, and sets an implementation timeline with the office becoming effective on July 1, 2025, and the first executive director to be appointed by October 1, 2025.

https://www.nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?chamber=S&legtype=B&legno=484&year=25