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| SPONSOR: | Lopez | DATE TYPED: | 02/08/00 | HB | |||
| SHORT TITLE: | Coordinated Public Transportation Services | SB | SJM 27 | ||||
| ANALYST: | Valdes | ||||||
| Recurring
or Non-Rec |
Fund
Affected | ||||
| FY00 | FY01 | FY00 | FY01 | ||
| See Fiscal Implications Section | |||||
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates to HB 313
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
New Mexico Department of Labor
State Department of Education
State Highway and Transportation Department
State Agency on Aging
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
The joint memorial requests a memorandum of understanding be entered into between the New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department, the NM Department of Labor, the State Department of Education, the Human Services Department, the Children, Youth and Families Department, the Department of Health and the State Agency on Aging to provide cost-effective and coordinated public transportation services for New Mexico Works Act program participants and other clients requiring state subsidized transportation.
Significant Issues
State Department of Education
According to the State Department of Education, state law restricts the use of school buses to the sole purpose of transporting students to and from school. The department is willing to work with the New Mexico Works Act program and has offered to transfer transportation equipment that is no longer in use by the public schools for NM Works Act purposes.
State Agency on Aging
The success of the NM Works Program will have a positive impact on the state:
The agency annually requests funds to replace old or high mileage vehicles used by senior citizens programs throughout the state. Using senior vans for the purpose of this bill means van mileage would increase resulting in higher capital outlay requests to the Legislature.
The agency's 100+ service providers would contractually need to be bound to provide services in this joint venture.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
State Department of Education
The department's offer to transfer transportation equipment for use of the NM Works Act program would affect the General Fund by approximately $2.0 per transferred school bus.
State Agency on Aging
A reimbursement process would need to be developed to insure senior citizen programs would get timely reimbursements directly from the agencies utilizing senior vans. The costs associated with transporting NM Works Act program participants and other agencies' clients could be significant to agency network programs.
Salary for additional hours worked by van drivers, vehicle maintenance and additional record-keeping are only a few of the associated costs of participation in the NM Works program.
Increased oversight requirements service providers may result in the need for additional FTE. Additional van drivers at the local community may be necessary.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
Coordination and participation in the NM Works program by all applicable departments would impact administrative operations.
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