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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T





SPONSOR: Papen DATE TYPED: 02/13/01 HB
SHORT TITLE: Parenting Education Program SB 591
ANALYST: Gilbert


APPROPRIATION



Appropriation Contained
Estimated Additional Impact
Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY01 FY02 FY01 FY02
$ 556.2 Recurring GF



(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)



Duplicates House Bill 147



SOURCES OF INFORMATION



LFC Files

CHE Files - Special Funding Requests Submitted by NMSU



SUMMARY



Synopsis of Bill



Senate Bill 591 appropriates $556.2 from the general fund to New Mexico State University (NMSU) to create a family strengthening partnership parenting educational program.



Significant Issues



This educational program is intended improve the parenting skills of approximately 4,000 low-income families which have high rates of substance abuse in Dona Ana, Luna, Otero, and Sierra counties.



FISCAL IMPLICATIONS



The appropriation of $556.2 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY02 shall revert to the general fund.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPACT



Additional FTE may be necessary at NMSU to administer this program.



OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES



The following is provided for information only. It is not intended as a commentary on the merits of the program/project:



This program was not included in the NMSU budget request to the NMSU Board of Regents, and thus was not submitted by NMSU to the Commission on Higher Education (CHE) for review.



The CHE did not recommend funding this program.

According to the CHE, higher education institutions receive indirect cost revenues from federal contracts and grants. A great deal of this money is used as seed money to develop new research and public service projects at institutions. This money is unrestricted in the sense that the governing board of the institution has the flexibility to choose which projects are supported with these funds.



The state higher education funding formula allows institutions to retain 100% of this indirect cost revenue. One of the purposes of retaining these funds is to provide seed money and matching funds for projects such as the one proposed in this bill.



LG/prr