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committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

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

SPONSOR Balderas

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2-8-2006

2-15-06 HB 650/HEC

SHORT TITLE NMHU Political Science Dept.

SB

ANALYST Dearing

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$25.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HEC Amendment

The House Education Committee Amendment amends the bill’s title and directs the appropria-

tion to the NMHU Board of Regents for “a Discipline in the Department of Humanities”.

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 650 appropriates $25,000 from the general fund to New Mexico Highlands University

Board of Regents for the purpose of staffing and graduate assistantships for the Political Science

department.

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.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The New Mexico Higher Education Department (NMHED) is committed to the adequate and

equitable support of necessary instructional, student services, and academic support initiatives

House Bill 650/aHEC – Page

2

for all students in New Mexico. Activities to be funded in this proposal are currently recom-

mended for funding through the Instruction and General (I&G) higher education funding formula

within the General Appropriation Act. Funding of this program without consideration of similar

needs at all institutions could weaken the equitability and thus the integrity of the established

I&G formula funding process.

This request was not on the list of priority projects submitted by NMHU to the New Mexico

Higher Education Department (NMHED) for review and was not included in the Department's

funding recommendation for FY07.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

No performance measures are indicated in the bill. Possible measures include the number of staff

or graduate assistants funded and documentation of the work the funding enabled them to com-

plete.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

NMHU would be responsible for administering these funds through the institution’s established

methods.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

The Political Science department will exist in its current state.

PD/nt