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 a vailable 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 Arnold-Jones, J.

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/30/06

HB 364

SHORT TITLE Emergency Planning for Certain Counties

SB

ANALYST Hoffmann

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$3,000.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Public Safety (DPS)

Higher Education Department (HED)

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMIMT)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 364 appropriates $3,000,000 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of the

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology for expenditure in fiscal year 2007 to develop

emergency operations preparedness and planning for small municipalities and counties with a

population of fifty thousand or fewer persons. NMIMT would also develop a template model of

emergency operations preparedness that could be customized to work in all small communities.

Of the total appropriation amount, $500,000 would be used to defray the expenses of planning

and participating in an exercise that will be conducted in the City of Deming in Luna County to

validate the emergency preparedness model.

The NMIMT will also be required to provide and interim report (no later than November 2006)

and a final report (no later than September 2007) to the relevant interim legislative committees

on progress, planning and model development.

House Bill 364 – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $3,000,000 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.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

This proposal was not included in NMIMT’s budget request to the Higher Education Depart-

ment, and was not reviewed or recommended. It was also not included in the Legislative Finance

Committee’s budget recommendations.

The Executive budget recommends $29,515,600 for the Emergency Management and Homeland

Security Program, and the LFC budget recommendation is $29,271,900. The mission of this pro-

gram includes the activities proposed by House Bill 364.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The Department of Public Safety, which currently administers the Emergency Management and

Homeland Security Program, identifies this proposed legislation as a potential conflict with the

program. They also raise the issue of the relevant resources and qualifications for emergency

management at NMIMT.

NMIMT trains emergency responders from all parts of the country through their Energetic Mate-

rials Research and Training Center. According to the Executive Budget Recommendation, DPS

has coordinated with NMIMT in emergency preparedness training in prior fiscal years.

CONFLICT AND RELATIONSHIP

If House Bill 314 (Homeland Security & Emergency Management Act) is adopted, coordination

of this initiative might fall under the jurisdiction of the proposed Office of Homeland Security

and Emergency Management. This may not be a conflict, since two of the responsibilities of the

proposed office are to “coordinate state agency and local government plans for prevention, pre-

paredness and response with a focus on an all-hazards approach” and “work with emergency re-

sponse and emergency management programs and provide assistance in developing and conduct-

ing terrorism response exercises for emergency responders, government officials, health care

providers and others.”

House Bill 364 would place NMIMT in the role of a potential service provider to the proposed

Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

According to the Higher Education Department, the bill's effort will address training for state and

local law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical personnel, and others involved in first

responder crisis management for small municipalities. Operations include training on how to

manage planning for emergency preparedness that may include terrorist weapons of mass de-

struction, including chemical, biological, and large-scale blast devices.

House Bill 364 – Page

3

ALTERNATIVES

The proposed appropriation could flow through the existing Emergency Management and Home-

land Security Program.

CH/mt