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

SPONSOR Gutierrez

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/31/06

HB 196

SHORT TITLE NMSU Durango & Zacatecas Microfilm Project

SB

ANALYST Hoffmann

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$75.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA)

Higher Education Department (HED)

New Mexico State University (NMSU)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 196 appropriates $75,000 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of New

Mexico State University for the purpose of microfilming historical documents in the Mexican

cities of Durango and Zacatecas.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $75,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2007 shall revert

to the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

This request was not in the list of priority projects submitted by New Mexico State University to

the Higher Education Department for review. Consequently, this request was not included in the

Department's funding recommendation for FY06-07.

House Bill 196 – Page

2

The New Mexico State University Library Archives has been involved in a project to preserve in

microfilm format historical records located in Durango, Mexico. Archival holdings located in

Mexico inform the study of the cultural heritage of the state of New Mexico because the south-

west portion of the United States was governed consecutively by Spain and Mexico. These mate-

rials provide historical details of the government, culture, and daily life of northern New Spain.

New Mexico State University Library Archives covers all expenses for the project, including

purchase of film stock, processing and duplication of the microfilms, salaries of camera opera-

tors, maintenance of the microfilm cameras, shipping, and travel expenses. In return NMSU is

allowed access to the materials for microfilming and NMSU retains the archival master negative

reels. One use copy of each reel is retained by the New Mexico State University Library Ar-

chives and one copy is deposited in the archival repository in Mexico.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

HB196 does not specify how the appropriation will be divided according to archival costs, mate-

rial, and staff support. This needs to be further clarified and researched on behalf of NMSU Li-

brary Archives.

According to the Department of Cultural Affairs, Mary Taylor, the wife of former Rep. J. Paul

Taylor, developed the close historical ties between New Mexico the two Mexican States while

doing historical research using their archives. The Department of Cultural Affairs and its Na-

tional Hispanic Cultural Center could incorporate some (or all) of the microfilm collection as

part of its library service.

CH/yr