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 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	Nava		DATE TYPED	02/18/04		HB
SHORT TITLE		Lottery Scholarship Enrollment Requirements				SB	274
					ANALYST		Williams

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained		Estimated Additional Impact		Recurring or Non-Rec	Fund Affected
FY04	FY05	FY04	FY05
			Indeterminate Increase in Costs (see text)	Recurring	Lottery Tuition Scholarship
			Indeterminate Increase in Costs (see text)	Recurring	Other State Funds

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to HB 109, HB 179, HB 226, HB 426, SB 98, SB 145, SB 274, SB 331

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Public Education Department (PED)

No Responses Received

Commission on Higher Education (CHE)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 274 would authorize students to count a course toward full-time enrollment status for purposes of tuition scholarships paid from the lottery tuition fund when an academic program of a technical and vocational institute requires a student to enroll in a course at or through another educational institution.

Significant Issues

The bill would provide students ten days to appeal a CHE denial of a tuition scholarship based on a student’s change in full-time enrollment status. If eligibility is denied, the educational institution would be required to reimburse the student the complete cost, including tuition, books and fees, of each course for which the student was enrolled. CHE would be required to hear appeals within 20 days.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The bill would result in two components of fiscal impact as noted above; however, the magnitude of these costs is currently indeterminate due to the lack of CHE input on underlying student counts and related data for each component of the cost.

The fiscal components of the bill are as follows:

1. the bill would authorize students to count a course toward full-time enrollment status for purposes of tuition scholarships paid from the lottery tuition fund when an academic program of a technical and vocational institute requires a student to enroll in a course at or through another educational institution; and

2. if CHE denies lottery scholarship eligibility for the student, the educational institution would be required to reimburse the student the cost of tuition, books and fees for each course for which the student was enrolled.

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