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

SPONSOR Ezzell

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2-10-06

2-13-06 HB 570/aHEC

SHORT TITLE ROSWELL SCIENCE FESTIVAL

SB

ANALYST Lucero

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$27.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to

SB 169, HB 268, SB 555.

Duplicates Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA)

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HEC Amendment

The House Education Committee amended HB570 as follows:

On page 1, line 21, strike “or” and insert in lieu thereof “and”.

The amendment allows fifth and sixth-graders to participate in the program. The previous lan-

guage only allowed fifth or sixth-graders to participate.

This amendment will allow more children to participate in the Roswell Science Festival.

House Bill 570/aHEC – Page

2

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 570 appropriates $27.0 from the general fund to Children, Youth and Families De-

partment for the purpose of contracting with the city of Roswell’s recreation department to coor-

dinate an educational science festival for fourth-, fifth- or sixth-grad and other gifted students in

southeastern New Mexico that includes exhibits, workshops and hands-on activities and demon-

strations from state or national scientific organizations or museums.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $27.0 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.

There is no appropriation or fiscal impact on the Department of Cultural Affairs.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The Roswell science festival for upper elementary students in southeastern New Mexico began

six years ago by a parent organization to highlight engaging activities and exhibits for students.

Museums and scientific organizations (such as Johnson Space Center, the Science Place, Bureau

of Land Management and the oil industry) send exhibits and activities to enrich the educational

opportunities of those students. Six to seven hundred students attend and many of these students

are bused to Roswell. The funding supports primarily busing the students and transporting the

exhibits.

As a growing community, Roswell has many students eager to learn about science but not many

resources like museums, planetariums, nature centers, or other science-related business that are

found in more urban areas of the state like Albuquerque, Las Cruces, or Santa Fe. Goddard

Science Days is a community-based festival that seeks to bring the science enrichment resources

to students in Roswell and surrounding communities.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

This bill supports PED performance measures for student proficiency in mathematics and science

and the standards and benchmarks for mathematics and science.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

No administrative impact for the Department of Cultural Affairs. The science festival in Ros-

well, called Goddard Days, has been a successful event for several years. The administrative

infrastructure is in place, as the gifted students parents’ association has been the primary

organizer in the past, in cooperation with the Roswell Recreation Department.

CYFD would absorb any additional administrative costs associated with passage of the bill.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Relates to SB 169, HB 268, SB 555.

House Bill 570/aHEC – Page

3

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The festival is a free hands-on exhibit and science discovery festival, in the Roswell Convention

Center, designed to teach and delight with exhibits covering the topics of Physics, Chemistry and

Biology.

In previous years, The International Hall of Fame Center of Alamogordo, New Mexico exhibit

highlighted an exciting variety of Space Exhibits including but not limited to Space Suit protec-

tion, the International Space Station, Mercury Capsule, a Tour of the New Solar System, with

topics like: Galileo, Cassini Space Probe, Mars, Stardust Mission and many others. Explora! Sci-

ence Center and Children's Museum of Albuquerque exhibits emphasized the fun of learning and

critical thinking with such apparatuses as Jacob's Ladder, a Tornado Box, Lighting rods and

many more.

Many other activities such as an evening of star gazing with the Roswell Astronomy Club, a

rocket building workshop and a community Rocket Launch with the Roswell Parks and Recrea-

tion Department.

Extracurricular academic opportunities provide alternative activities to gang involvement and are

more generally associated with prevention of juvenile justice involvement. Science and mathe-

matics skills are increasingly important factors in the national job market and for statewide eco-

nomic growth.

ALTERNATIVES

Appropriate the funding to the Public Education Department or the Roswell school district.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

The Roswell city recreation department would have to seek funding from other sources.

DL/yr:nt