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

SPONSOR Garcia, M.J.

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/23/2006

HB

SHORT TITLE NMSU Waste Education Research Consortium

SB 129

ANALYST Dearing

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$200.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates HB 137

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

New Mexico State University (NMSU)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 129 appropriates $200,000 from the general fund to the New Mexico State University

Board of Regents to expand an outreach program for the waste education research consortium

(WERC).

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

SB129 appropriates $200,000 from the General Fund to the New Mexico State University Board

of Regents to expand outreach for the waste education research consortium.

This proposal was submitted to Higher Education Department by NMSU as an expansion request

for the FY07 budget in amount of $200,000. The WERC program has a current annual recurring

program budget of $497,000. Currently the Legislative Finance Committee does not support an

expansion of this project with this appropriation in the 2007 fiscal year.

Senate Bill 129 – Page

2

According to Higher Education Department, WERC is a statewide partnership administered

through NMSU with partner institutions consisting of UNM, NM Tech,, and Dine College in col-

laboration with both Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories. Primary funding is provided

through a multi-year $21.5 million cooperative agreement with the U.S. DOE.

According to the NMSU funding expansion request, the requested funds will be used to expand

training and outreach to middle and high schools, communities, businesses, & local and tribal

government entities throughout the state. The funds will be utilized to serve as matching funds

for over $900,000 in external grants & contracts. This results in a 4.5 to 1 leverage of these re-

quested expansion funds.

Additional funds are received from other federal, state, and local governments, foundations, and

the private sector. State funds are used to meet federal matching requirements.

To date WERC had leveraged State funds 10:1.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

WERC's mission is to develop human resources and technologies that assists various levels of

government, public, and private sectors to effectively address environmental issues.

The project’s goals are to:

1) Provide quality environmental programs and college courses for undergraduate through

graduate levels which meet student needs.

2) Select, direct, and conduct research projects among consortia members that advance state-of-

the-art and have the potential for deployment.

3) Assist government, industry, tribal agencies and communities on relevant environmental is-

sues.

4) Continue sponsorship of the college and high school environmental design contests.

5) Pursue new educational, research, outreach opportunities that will expand and institutionalize

primary sources of funding.

WERC serves more than 7,000 students and 30 teachers annually. In addition, the design contest

reaches more than 100 high school students and acts as college preparatory skill building. Stu-

dents are reflective of New Mexico's population in that approximately 50% percent of the par-

ticipants are Hispanic/Latina females, 15% are Hispanic/Latino males and approximately 10%

are American Indian males and females.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

NMSU shall submit a plan for program evaluation, including specific program goals and criteria

for assessing program effectiveness to the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) and the New

Mexico Higher Education Department (NMHED) by October 1, 2006. NMSU shall also submit a

Senate Bill 129 – Page

3

program evaluation to the LFC and NMHED by June 30, 2008 detailing the benefits to the State

of New Mexico from having this program implemented for a three-year period.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATION

This request will add a professional and support staff to the WERC program

.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

According to Higher Education Department, WERC outreach would target tribal populations

such as the Jemez and the Navajo Nation. The more students and WERC would like to add more

school districts. Rural areas within New Mexico would greatly benefit from expansion of this

program.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

WERC's ability to leverage state funds with federal dollars is critical. Should the bill not be en-

acted it could negatively impact the educational program by not reducing it’s ability to expand

into rural areas of New Mexico. NMSU could lose or face reversion of federal grant funds if

state or private funds are not identified as eligible for the match.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

Can these federal matching funds be matched through other sources of funding.

Can this program expansion be funded through the existing block-grant budget funding for spe-

cial projects expansion that is currently recommended by the Legislative Finance Committee in

fiscal year 2007.

PD/mt