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

SPONSOR Stewart

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/31/06

HB 243

SHORT TITLE UNM Sustainability Resource Center

SB

ANALYST Hoffmann

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$120.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to House Bill 244.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (ENMRD)

Office of the State Engineer (OSE)

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 243 appropriates $120,000 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of the Uni-

versity of New Mexico to support the Sustainability Resource Center.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $120,000 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.

House Bill 243 – Page

2

According to the Higher Education Department, the appropriation contained in HB243 would be

used as follows:

Executive Director: 1.0 FTE $90,000

Operating expenses $30,000

$120,000

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

This request does not appear on the University of New Mexico's institutional request for FY07

and is not included in the New Mexico Higher Education Department's recommendations.

According to the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, the University of New

Mexico’s goals for the resource center are to provide an outreach arm of the Sustainability Stud-

ies Program. This will provide UNM students the opportunity to apply their learning about sus-

tainable practices, better preparing them for this important new and integrated approach to busi-

ness across a spectrum of disciplines including energy technologies, architecture and construc-

tion, and transportation and water use.

RELATIONSHIP

This bill relates to House Bill 244, which appropriates $243,000 to the Board of Regents of the

University of New Mexico to support the Sustainability Studies Program.

House Capital Outlay Request 73 is a companion bill, requesting $35,000 for equipment to dem-

onstrate the production and uses of biodiesel fuels.

CH/nt