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

SPONSOR Lundstrom

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/01/06

HB 319

SHORT TITLE Indian Tourism Program

SB

ANALYST Earnest

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$300.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Tourism Department (TD)

Department of Indian Affairs (DIA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 319 appropriates $300 thousand from the general fund to the Tourism Department for

the Indian tourism program.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $300 thousand 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 319 – Page 2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

TD supports legislation that promotes tourism and educates visitors about the state. Given the

Tourism Department’s priorities for the use of money in the operating budget, the Indian tourism

program only meets these objectives with the help of supplemental funding. The current base

budget for Indian Tourism covers only operating expenses; supplemental money from prior year

special appropriations funds the marketing and promotional costs.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

TD indicates that increased tourism promotion and greater education resources for visitors may

result in more tourist visits in New Mexico, a key performance measure for the department.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

The Indian Tourism Program will not be capable of expanding current marketing and advertising

efforts to promote the 22 tribes, nations and pueblos of New Mexico. Areas most affected would

be: the NM Indian Tourism Marketing Collaborative effort to advertising in more media publica-

tions; the potential to conduct a statewide NM Indian Tourism conference with a customer ser-

vice training component; and expansion of the annual Native New Mexico guide that currently

educates visitors about NM tribal communities.

BE/nt