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
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whereas HTML versions may not.
Previously issued FIRs and attachments may also be obtained from the LFC
in
|
SPONSOR |
Nunez |
DATE TYPED |
|
HB |
51/aHEC |
||
|
SHORT
TITLE |
Water Management Research and Education |
SB |
|
||||
|
|
ANALYST |
Baca |
|||||
APPROPRIATION
|
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
|
FY04 |
FY05 |
FY04 |
FY05 |
||
|
|
$500.0 |
|
|
Recurring |
General
Fund |
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)
Duplicates SB 10
Relates
to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act
LFC Files
Commission on Higher Education Funding
Recommendations for FY05.
Responses
Received From
No
response received from CHE.
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of HEC Amendment
The House Education Committee amendment adds a
program evaluation requirement that reads as follows:
“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
Synopsis of Original Bill
House Bill 51
appropriates $500 thousand from the general fund to the Board of Regents of New
Mexico State University to conduct water management research and education
programs. From this total, the
Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) is appropriated $200 thousand and the Cooperative
Extension Service (CES) is appropriated $300 thousand.
Significant Issues
As
water issues continue to grow, so must NMSU’s efforts to identify problems and
find sustainable solutions for all water users in the state. The NMSU analysis states that current AES/CES
water related activity exists because of grant funding which is short term and
project specific. However, CHE’s Funding
Recommendations for FY05 show that $506.5 thousand were appropriated from the
general fund for water management activities in FY04. And, the CHE recommends an appropriation of
$515.3 thousand for FY05.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $500
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.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
The
additional $500 thousand appropriation would allow NMSU to add six full time
positions and fund the support necessary to dedicate the proper level of
attention to an address water managements and water management education needs.
DUPLICATION
SB 10 duplicates HB 51.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
This program expansion
was not included in the NMSU Board of Regents funding recommendations for FY05. Consequently, the Commission did not include
it in its funding recommendations.
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
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS
1. In addition to general fund
appropriations, what other sources of funding are available for these activities?
RLG/yr:dm