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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

2/6/06

HB 509

SHORT TITLE Bureau of Geology Publications

SB

ANALYST Earp

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$25.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 509 appropriates $25,000 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of New

Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology to pay for the Bureau of Geology and Mineral Re-

sources publication expenses.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $25,000 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. These funds would augment the recurring operating appropriation provided

for the Bureau in the General Appropriation Act.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

This proposal was not included among the special program funding requests submitted by

NMTech to the Higher Education Department (HED) for review. Consequently, this proposal

House Bill 509 – Page

2

has not been included in the HED fiscal year 2007 funding recommendations to the Legislature.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

No significant administrative impact is apparent.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, established by legislation in 1927,

is a research and service division of NMTech. It is a non-regulatory agency that serves as the

geological survey for the State of New Mexico. The bureau's publishing program serves both the

professional geologic community and the public, including special publications

for more than 3,000 science teachers. Examples of publications include regional geologic guides

in the Scenic Trip series and a free, semi-annual newsletter New Mexico Earth Matters.

A broad bureau goal is to promote New Mexico geology and provide information about current

issues such as water, mining, reclamation, and earthquakes. This appropriation would supple-

ment the existing operating budget and the revenues generated from the sale of publications. It is

intended to aid the dissemination of printed materials such as Albuquerque basin maps and pub-

lications such as the Decision Makers series.

DKE/mt