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

SPONSOR:	Nava		DATE TYPED:	3/17/03		HB
SHORT TITLE:		Western States Education Initiative				SB	SJM 70
					ANALYST:		Segura

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained		Estimated Additional Impact		Recurring or Non-Rec	Fund Affected
FY03	FY04	FY03	FY04
	N/A

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

State Department of Education (SDE)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Joint Memorial 70 endorses the Western States Education initiative and requests that New Mexico Legislative Council appoint two members to sit on a committee to prepare the initiative for Congressional consideration.

Significant Issues

According to SDE, SJM 70 states that New Mexico and other western states face funding conditions exacerbated by projections that public school enrollment will increase in the western states while declining in the rest of the nation; that despite wide disparities in expenditures per pupil and pupil-per teacher ratios western states tax themselves at a rate comparable to other states and allocate as much of their budgets to public education as do the other states; that the ability of a western state to fund public education is directly related to the amount of federal land within the state; that a federal policy change ended the sale of federal lands and resulted in a corresponding loss of proceeds to western states; that the ability of New Mexico and other western to fund public education is affected by the fact that state and local property is significant; that land transferred to the western states as trust is difficult to administer and make productive because it is often surrounded by federal land; that the federal government should compensate western states for the significant impact of federal land; that an initiative to increase the level of education revenue in the 13 western states including New Mexico, has been established by the Utah Legislature; and that a resolution urging the United States Congress to compensate western states for the impact of federal land ownership for state education has been endorsed by the council of state governments.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Senate Joint Memorial 70 does not contain an appropriation.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

SDE may be asked to provide technical support.

RS/njw