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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Cisneros
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
1/20/06
HB
SHORT TITLE Technology Research Collaborative
SB 2
ANALYST Williams
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY06
FY07
$5,000.0
Recurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates House Bill 127
Relates to House Bill 51, House Bill 52
Relates to $1 million special appropriation in 2005 General Appropriation Act and $104.5 thou-
sand in Laws of 2005, Chapter 34 (Senate Bill 190)
Relates to Executive recommendation for general obligation bond funding of $10 million for bio-
technology equipment for research in nanotechnology, bioengineering and environmental engi-
neering at the University of New Mexico.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Response Received From
Higher Education Department
No Responses Received From
Economic Development Department
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 2 appropriates $5 million from the general fund to the board of regents of New Mex-
ico Institute of Mining and Technology for the purposes of:
1.
supporting the technology research collaborative and
pg_0002
Senate Bill 2 – Page
2
2.
providing state matching dollars for federal and private contributions to the collaborative
and centers of excellence at participating research and higher education institutions.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $5 million 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.
The specified funding purposes are vague. It is not clear to what extent funding would be used
for research activities versus administration. The mechanism or process to allocate funds be-
tween and among the TRC and the centers of excellence is not specified. A required match to
obtain state funds for research activities is not specified.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
Laws of 2005, Chapter 81 (Senate Bill 169) authorized in state statute the Technology Research
Collaborative (TRC), with the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology acting as fiscal
agent. The TRC was formed in 2003. TRC members include the state’s national laboratories,
major research institutes and three research universities: University of New Mexico, New Mex-
ico State University and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. General purposes of
the collaborative are:
•
Establishing advanced technology centers
•
Developing, creating and commercializing new intellectual property
•
Encouraging new opportunities for business and increased jobs
•
Creation of a workforce to support new enterprises based on intellectual property
Background information from the TRC website is shown on page 4.
PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS
The bill does not specifically place an emphasis on linking the initiative to the state’s strategic
plans for economic development and higher education and does not include performance ac-
countability components, such as outcomes-oriented performance measures.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
See Fiscal Implications above.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
Is the bill language sufficient to address the distinction between existing Centers of Technology
Excellence, Centers for Technical Excellence and proposed Advanced Technology Centers.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
This request for funding was not submitted to the Higher Education Department (HED) by the
Board of Regents of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
pg_0003
Senate Bill 2 – Page
3
ALTERNATIVES
In 2003, the legislation established the technology enhancement fund, administered by the com-
mission on higher education, to support innovative, applied research to enhance the state’s eco-
nomic growth pursuant to the recommendations of the blue ribbon task force on the higher edu-
cation funding formula. House Bill 391 (Chapter 367) identified specific research areas includ-
ing agriculture, biotechnology, biomedicine, energy, materials science, microelectronics, water
resources, aerospace, telecommunications and manufacturing science.
Grants from the technology enhancement fund are to be made available to the state’s research
universities collaborating with corporate and nonprofit organizations. The commission on higher
education is directed to award grant funds on a competitive basis with review by a panel of sci-
entific and business experts. The award process would consider excellence in research design
and innovation in cross-disciplinary, multi-campus and higher education-industry research col-
laboration. The university must have matching funds from non-state sources. To date, monies
have not been appropriated to the fund.
Higher education institutions receive indirect cost revenues from federal contracts and grants.
Further, this money is unrestricted in the sense that the governing board of the institution has the
flexibility to choose which projects are supported with these funds One of the purposes of re-
taining these funds is to provide seed money and matching funds for projects such as those pro-
posed in this bill.
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS
1.
What were the performance outcomes and economic impacts of the $30.9 million of state
funds previously provided to the state’s Centers of Excellence.
2.
Is this program related to existing state government and university initiatives.
3.
How does the this program compare/contrast with the BioTeP initiative task force.
4.
How are specific technology clusters being identified.
5.
Does the proposal incorporate best practices evident for economic development initia-
tives in other states. What examples can be provided.
6.
How would the proposed program impact the New Mexico economy. What is the time
frame for specific, achievable results.
7.
How would rural communities benefit.
8.
How are the 2005 appropriations to the TRC being utilized.
9.
What is the total estimated cost of the initiative and the state’s share.
10.
How would funding be allocated. What percentage for the TRC. For the centers of ex-
cellence.
11.
What percentage of funding would be used for administrative costs overall.
12.
Can a non-state funds matching requirement be included in the bill.
13.
How would planning and accountability be addressed. How would progress and out-
comes be measured and promulgated.
pg_0004
Senate Bill 2 – Page
4
According to
www.nm-trc.org
:
In 1983, the state of New Mexico had a vision to create five unique Centers of Technology Ex-
cellence, to develop new technology and job growth. The state provided the centers with $30.9
million over the course of six years, with the amount received by each center left to the discre-
tion of the advisory board. The centers were created by the state’s universities, and were funded
through them and private sources. The original five centers were, the Center for High Technol-
ogy Materials (CHTM), Center for Non-Invasive Diagnostics (CNID), Center for Explosives
Technology Research (CETR), Plant Genetic Engineering Laboratory (PGEL), and the Comput-
ing Research Laboratory (CRL).
The overall goal for the Centers of Technical Excellence was to enhance economic development
in New Mexico by creating an environment conducive to high technology activities. The concept
was to provide a platform for the development of new technology ideas and patents as a means to
attract and generate a strong high-tech industry. The centers would help to provide graduates
from the universities with challenging employment, making it more likely for them to stay in
New Mexico.
One of the initiatives adopted by the TRC is to support the creation of several Advanced Tech-
nology Centers (ATC), each center being affiliated with one or more of the state’s premier re-
search facilities and each one having collaborative research and development programs that in-
clude other TRC members. These new ATCs will serve industry and government in developing
new technologies and products.
Twenty years after the original centers were funded, the Technology Research Collaborative has
begun work on a next generation of the Centers of Technical Excellence. This legislative session,
the TRC will be seeking $42.9 million from the state of New Mexico to help develop six new
centers. The goal of the new centers remains the same, to create high-tech jobs and aid the state
in attracting and growing high-technology industry.
Other Information:
TRC identified six advanced technology centers from which advanced technologies will create
opportunities for private sector companies, research institutions, investors and entrepreneurs.
These are:
1.
Art, Research, Technology and Science Laboratory (ARTSLab)
2.
New Mexico Center for Isotopes in Medicine
3.
Center for Sustainable Natural Resources in the Southwest
4.
Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and End-User Technologies
5.
Center for Technology Translation, Integration of Security Technologies and De-
cision Support
6.
New Mexico Center for Options
pg_0005
Senate Bill 2 – Page
5