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
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SPONSOR: |
Romero |
DATE TYPED: |
|
HB |
|
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SHORT TITLE: |
Benefits for Certain Armed Forces Members |
SB |
933/aSFl |
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ANALYST: |
Williams |
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APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
|
|
Could be large; see text |
Recurring |
General
Fund – refunds plus free tuition to surviving children |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
REVENUE
Estimated Revenue |
Subsequent Years Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
|
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
|
No
Significant Revenue Impacts; Timing
Issues |
|
Recurring |
General
Fund – Personal Income Tax |
|
(75.0-150.0) |
|
Non-Recurring |
Game
Protection Fund |
|
(75.0-150.0) |
|
Non-Recurring |
Federal
Funds |
|
No
Significant Revenue Impacts; Timing Issues |
|
Recurring |
State
Road Fund |
|
|
|
|
|
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)
LFC Files
Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD)
Department of Game and Fish
Department of Military Affairs
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Senate Floor Amendment
The Senate Floor amendment restricts the
provisions of the bill to
Synopsis
of Original Bill
Senate Bill 933
extends to members of the
In Section 2,
four-year tuition waivers at state post-secondary institutions are authorized
for the surviving children of the qualified individuals killed in the line of
duty.
The bill carries an
emergency clause.
Significant Issues
Department of Military Affairs notes the agency
“wholeheartedly supports Senate Bill 933.”
The agency continues….”The entitlement for surviving children of a
deployed member is the hallmark of Senate Bill 933….Our New Mexico National
Guardsmen are proud to be citizens in peace and soldiers in war and Senate Bill
933 is exactly the type of legislation needed to show our soldiers that (they)
are very much appreciated.”
However, CHE notes the federal Veterans Benefits
and Services administer the following educational benefit programs:
·
Tuition
Assistance "Top-Up" On
·
Survivors'
and Dependents' Educational Assistance Program (DEA). DEA provides education and training
opportunities to eligible dependents of veterans who are permanently and
totally disabled due to a service-related condition, or who died while on
active duty or as a result of a service related condition. The program offers up to 45 months of
education benefits. These benefits may be used for degree and certificate
programs, apprenticeship, and on-the-job training. Surviving spouses may take a
correspondence course. Remedial, deficiency, and refresher courses may be
approved under certain circumstances.
CHE notes 21-21F-1 through 21-21F-5 NMSA 1978
provides a scholarship program for the survivors of fire fighters and peace
officers which is not funded.
Game and Fish notes currently only 100 percent
disabled veterans residing in
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The fiscal impact and
its associated timing depends on the duration of and casualties suffered during
the emergency call-up. According to the
University of New Mexico Bureau of Business and Economic Research website (http://www.unm.edu/~bber/statabst/labfsumm.htm),
there are approximately 11,600 individuals in
According to TRD, the
bill would have no significant impacts on state or local revenue sources. The major impacts on state general fund
revenues would be a delay in filing of tax returns, but not necessarily a lower
amount paid. TRD notes penalty would be
waived, but not interest per the personal income tax statutes. See technical issues below.
Game and Fish notes
the potential loss of $75.0 to $150.0 for the one free year of free hunting and
fishing licenses. The Pittman Robertson
Act and the Dingle Johnson Act authorize federal matching money to be received
based on a formula which includes these types of license sales. Therefore, the bill would result in an equal
amount of lower federal funds.
CHE “in time, this
bill could have a large fiscal impact.”
The fiscal impact would take two forms: 1) the refund of tuition paid at the time of
call-up and 2) extension of four years
of tuition waivers at state post-secondary education institutions for surviving
children. As noted below in significant
issues, current law provides for a credit for tuition if the student is
deployed during the semester. It is not
clear the number of reserves and National Guard currently deployed who are also
students, but the net incremental fiscal impact from requests for refunds is
not expected to be large. The second
component is expected to have a large fiscal impact over time.
The number of
potential eligibles for extending four years of tuition waivers to surviving
children is not estimatable. However,
the general fund cost of each student per the higher education formula during
FY03 can be used to determine a cost per student. This analysis was calculated assuming
full-time attendance. Tuition was
assumed to increase by 3.5 percent in FY04.
Both I&G formula dollars per FTE student and tuition were then
conservatively held flat thereafter.
The legislation would
increase General Fund appropriations by $3.8 million in the first year for
every 500 students eligible. This cost
would rise exponentially to $12.5 million by the fourth year. The total number of surviving children
claiming this entitlement could be large.
The website http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2002/iraq/deployment.map/chart.html
notes more than 220,000
It should be noted
this legislation extends a higher education entitlement program; thus,
potential cost would be driven by the number of qualified applicants each
year. The Legislature might consider
explicit language to allocate a specific amount of funding among qualified
applicants as a mechanism to cap annual costs.
CHE notes a financial
aid program created for dependents of military veterans who die in the line of
duty would create a significant impact on agency staff.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
Both LFC and CHE note language is needed to
ensure the measure applies to individuals with
TRD notes under
TRD suggest a provision similar to the Federal
Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act, where time to file and pay is extended for the
time the member is deployed plus 180 days.
This amendment would address potential unintended consequences regarding
timing of return and timing of tax return due date.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
According to 21-1-4.1
NMSA 1978:
Educational institutions under the exclusive control
of the state shall forgive any tuition payments owed by residents of
Department of Game and
Fish notes a projected deficit in the cash balance of the Game Protection Fund
over the next few years due in part to the purchase of
AW/njw/ls