Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports if they are used for other purposes.

Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are available on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us). Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not. Previously issued FIRs and attachments may also be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.

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

SPONSOR	Gonzales, RJ		DATE TYPED	2/9/04		HB	292/aHEC
SHORT TITLE		Middle & High School Super Computer Training				SB
					ANALYST		Baca

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained		Estimated Additional Impact		Recurring or Non-Rec	Fund Affected
FY04	FY05	FY04	FY05
	$160.0			Recurring	General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Commission on Higher Education Funding Recommendations for FY05 (CHE)

Responses Received From

New Mexico Department of Public Education (PED)

CHE

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HEC Amendment

The House Education Committee amendment adds the following language:

“The institution receiving the appropriation in this bill shall submit a program evaluation to the legislative finance committee and the commission on higher education by August 2007 detailing the benefits to the state of New Mexico from having implemented this program over a three year period.”

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 292 (HB292) appropriates $160 thousand from the general fund to the Board of Regents of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology for a statewide program that:

• Trains middle and high school students on the use of supercomputers,
• Improves the skills and technical knowledge of students,
• Improves teaching techniques in science, math, engineering and technology.

Significant Issues

Funding for this program is contained in the House adopted General Appropriation Act.

The PED reports that this bill will fund Adventures in Supercomputing Challenge (AiS), a program that began in 1990 as the New Mexico High School Supercomputing Challenge. The mission of the AiS Challenge is to improve students’ understanding and use of technology by developing their skills in scientific inquiry, modeling, computing, communications and teamwork.

The PED indicates that teams of students complete science projects using high-performance supercomputers. All interested New Mexico students in grades 7 through 12 may participate. There is a team competition with awards of savings bonds, scholarships and computer equipment for their schools.

Further the PED reports, Adventures in Supercomputing Challenge:

• Provides an opportunity for students to develop skills using advanced technology that contributes to a highly skilled workforce in New Mexico in the future.
• Enables schools that have limited computing capabilities to have the opportunity to have advanced computing capabilities.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $160 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY05 shall revert to the general fund.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

This request was not among those submitted for FY05 funding by the NMIMT Board of Regents. Consequently, the Commission did not review it.

AMENDMENTS

The following language is suggested for all new recurring higher education programs and expansion of current programs (assuming that funding will continue beyond FY05):

“The institution receiving the appropriation in this bill shall submit a program evaluation to the Legislative Finance Committee and the Commission on Higher Education by August 2007 detailing the benefits to the State of New Mexico from having implemented this program over a three period.”

LB/yr