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SPONSOR: |
Stewart |
DATE TYPED: |
|
HB |
310/a HVEC/aSFl#1/aSFl#2 |
||
SHORT TITLE: |
School-related Constitutional Amendments |
SB |
|
||||
|
ANALYST: |
Chavez |
|||||
APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
$900.0 |
|
|
$300.0 |
Non-recurring |
General
Fund |
|
|
|
See
Narrative |
Non-recurring |
County |
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Secretary
of State (SOS)
State
Department of Education (SDE)
LFC
Files
SUMMARY
Synopsis of SFl
Amendment
Senate Floor
Amendment #1 strikes the House Voters and Elections Committee Amendment which
provided that the special election be held on the first Tuesday of
November. Thus the effect of this
amendment is to provide that the special election be held on the fourth Tuesday
of September 2003.
Synopsis of SF Amendment #2
Senate
Floor Amendment #2 includes a provision allowing for concurrent elections. The Amendment amends Section
Section
3-8-9 NMSA 1978 additionally provides that when concurrent elections are called
for, election matters shall be conducted to comply with all election
requirements for each such election as if it were held separately. Section
The Voters and Elections Committee strikes the “fourth Tuesday of September” and replaces it with “first Tuesday of November”.
Synopsis of Original Bill
House Bill 310 calls
for a special election to be held on the fourth Tuesday of September 2003 for
the purpose of voting on constitutional amendments relating to the public
school system proposed by the first session of the Forty-sixth Legislature.
Significant Issues
The bill appropriates $900.0 from the general
fund to the secretary of state for expenditure in fiscal years 2003 and 2004 to
pay the costs of the special election.
The bill states that any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at
the end of fiscal year 2004 shall revert to the general fund. It is difficult to fully determine the impact
on the general fund because at the present time the number of constitutional
amendments relating to the public school system is indeterminate. It is important to consider the cost
effectiveness of the bill. The number of
constitutional amendments from previous sessions relating to the public school
system and their urgency to take effect may help in assessing the cost effectiveness
of this bill. The bill contains an emergency
clause.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of
$900.0 contained in this bill is a non-recurring expense to the general fund.
Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 04
shall revert to the general fund. The
SOS indicates the proposed appropriation is insufficient to conduct a statewide
conventional election. It is determined
that a conventional election costs approximately $1.2 million and each
constitutional amendment costs approximately $32.0 for legal advertising,
compliance with the Federal Voting Rights Act and the publication of the Voter
Guide.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
The Secretary of State (SOS) indicates the administrative implications would be severe. The Bureau of Elections will be preparing candidate guides, nominating petitions, election calendars and other documents necessary for the beginning of the 2004 Presidential Election cycle from July through October 1. The SOS additionally stresses the impact of the implementation of the Help America Vote Act which is currently impacting available resources. The SOS feels the ability to properly serve the public, candidates and elected officials will be severely compromised. Moreover, there have been no new FTE increases in the Bureau of Elections. However, there have been incremental increases of duties assigned to the bureau, an increase in registered voters to nearly 1 million as well as new federal laws requiring compliance.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
On page 2, line 3, “provided for” should be
deleted because these words are duplicated on page 2, line 2.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
The SOS indicates that
the county governments will be impacted by this special election since it is
unlikely they have budgeted for it and may not have funds available.
The consequence of not
passing this bill would be that the constitutional amendments relating to the
public school system would appear on the November 2004 ballot.