NOTE: As provided in LFC policy, this report is
intended only for use by the standing finance committees of the
legislature. The Legislative Finance Committee does not assume
responsibility for the accuracy of the information in this report when used for
other purposes.
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SPONSOR: |
Nava |
DATE TYPED: |
02/04/03 |
HB |
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SHORT TITLE: |
NMSU Nursing Education Funding |
SB |
94 |
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ANALYST: |
Williams |
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APPROPRIATION
|
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
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|
|
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$500.0 |
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Recurring |
General
Fund |
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|
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|
|
|
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates to SB 291, HB
255, HB 385
Responses
Received
LFC
Files
Health
Policy Commission
New
Mexico State University (NMSU)
Commission
on Higher Education (CHE)
State
Department of Education
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 94 appropriates $500.00 from the
general fund to New Mexico State University for the purpose of maintaining
nursing faculty salaries and increasing the number of faculty positions to
maintain and expand student enrollment in the nursing program. Specifically, nursing faculty salaries are
targeted at the 50th percentile of peer institutions.
Significant
Issues
In 2002, the Nursing Shortage Statewide
Strategic Summit of the Commission on Higher Education and the University of
New Mexico Health Sciences Center noted the importance of expanding nursing
education program by increasing faculty and enhancing faculty retention through
salary adjustments. Specifically, the
Summit calls for an incremental 500 licensed nurse graduate per year (doubling
of current levels) beginning in three years and continuing for fifteen to
twenty years.
FISCAL
IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $500.0 contained in this
bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY
2004 shall revert to the general fund.
For FY 04, NMSU requested an additional $500.0
nursing expansion and ranked the proposal 7th of 17 new or expansion
research and public service projects submitted to CHE by NMSU. In its analysis, CHE notes the appropriation
would support up to eight new faculty FTE positions at current market salary
levels.
According to the LFC
budget document, over the past couple of years, the Legislature has appropriated
funds to institutions to address statewide nursing workforce needs. The Legislature appropriated a total of $2,569.8
in FY03 to provide market salary adjustments for nursing faculty, convert
nursing faculty from a nine-month contract to a 12-month contract, and expand
nursing student enrollments for two-year and four-year institutions, other than
the University of New Mexico. NMSU
received $419.2, of which 85 percent was allocated to provide market salary
adjustment for nursing faculty and 15 percent was allocated to expand nursing
student enrollment. NMSU Alamogordo
received $27.9, with 71.4 percent allocated to provide market salary
adjustments for nursing faculty and 28.6 percent allocated to expand nursing
student enrollment. NMSU Carlsbad
received $34.9 for market salary adjustment for nursing faculty. Finally, NMSU Dona Ana received $104.8,
equally split between market salary adjustments for nursing faculty and
expansion of nursing student enrollment.
For
those institutions that did not use the funds appropriated in FY03 to expand
nursing student enrollments, the LFC recommended institutions expand nursing
enrollment in FY04. The LFC budget
recommendation for FY04 includes $419.2 for NMSU nursing expansion, $27.9 for
NMSU Alamogordo nursing expansion, $34.9 for NMSU Carlsbad nursing expansion
and $104.8 for NMSU Dona Ana nursing expansion.
OTHER
SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
In their analysis, NMSU, Health Policy
Commission and State Department of Education note the national and state
nursing shortage, and NMSU notes partnership efforts between the Main and
branch campuses to address career development and retention in “rural/frontier
communities”. Further, NMSU discusses a
new distance education methodology for the nursing program initiated with
federal grant funds, which will require additional future funding “to allow
progression of admitted nursing students and to cover costs for the program
after (federal) funding ends.”
As a result of the appropriation, NMSU notes
annual enrollment in the four-year Bachelor of Science nursing program would
increase from 32 to 48 students per semester, with completion program enrollments
increasing to 40 per year in 2004 and 48 per year in 2005.
In its analysis, CHE notes it did not recommend
additional nursing expansion requests in FY04, but instead recommended the
revised education funding formula. The
Plus Incentives component of the new formula includes establishment of the
Program Development Enhancement Fund.
For this fund, the CHE recommended initial funding of $3 million, while
the LFC recommendation includes $1.5 million of general fund and $1.0 million
of federal funds in the form of temporary assistance for needy families block
grant.
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS