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

SPONSOR Varela

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/29/06

HB 328

SHORT TITLE English as a Second Language Programming

SB

ANALYST Hoffmann

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$1,000.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates SB 54

Related to SB 52

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Human Services Department (HSD)

Public Education Department (PED)

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 328 appropriates $1,000,000 from the general fund to the Higher Education Depart-

ment for expenditure in fiscal year 2007 to provide more English as a Second Language (ESL)

programming.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $1,000,000 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.

According to the Human Services Department, these general fund dollars may be credited toward

the TANF Maintenance of effort (MOE) requirement for funds spent to serve TANF eligible

(100% of poverty) families. English as a Second Language (ESL) programs are considered

TANF non-assistance by definition; it would be advantageous to credit this as TANF MOE.

House Bill 328 – Page 2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The Executive budget recommendation included $400,000 from the general fund for Adult Basic

Education (ABE) to replace federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) funding

that was discontinued in fiscal year 2006. The LFC budget recommendation did not include any

line-item funding for this purpose.

If the legislature wishes to adopt this bill and obtain any available matching federal funds, the

Human Services Department recommends that the bill be amended to add language about TANF

MOE certification. The department also recommends amending the bill to clarify that this is sup-

plemental funding for ABE specific to ESL programming

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The Higher Education Department states that the $1 million appropriation will enable adult basic

education programs to reach more students and provide more ESL instructional services. They

claim that without this funding, HED will not be able to reach the following FY07 performance

goals for students:

•

32% will earn educational level gains

•

75% will retain or improve employment

•

10% will earn a high school equivalency diploma (GED)

DUPLICATION AND RELATIONSHIP

This is a duplicate of Senate Bill 54.

Senate Bill 54 is related to Senate Bill 52, which appropriates $500,000 to the Higher Education

Department to for Adult Basic Education (ABE).

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The Public Education Department notes that support for the English as a Second Language pro-

grams for adult learners may have a positive impact in closing the achievement gap between

them and English Language Learners in the New Mexico public schools.

The Human Services Department notes that individuals who do not speak English have a signifi-

cant barrier to meet employment goals in HSD work programs, including the TANF New Mex-

ico Works Program.

CH/mt