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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Papen
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
1/23/06
HB
SHORT TITLE NMSU Southwest & Border Regions Program
SB 263
ANALYST Earp
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY06
FY07
$200.0
Recurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates House Bill 94
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Higher Education Department (HED)
New Mexico State University (NMSU)
Department of Health (DOH)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 263 appropriates $200,000 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of New
Mexico State University (NMSU) to support the Southwest and Border Regions Health, Educa-
tion, Culture and Development Research Program.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $200,000 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.
NMSU indicates that this funding would be utilized to help support undergraduate and graduate
student involvement and to provide for effective coordination of interested institutions, agencies
and organizations from around the state and region.
pg_0002
Senate Bill 263 – Page
2
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
Information submitted by the Higher Education Department (HED) and NMSU indicates that the
Southwest and Border Regions Health, Education, Culture and Development Research Program
is designed to conduct research on the United States/Mexico border. The intention of the pro-
gram is to understand the key needs of culturally diverse populations on both sides of the border.
To facilitate this research, the program has been divided into clusters (health, education, culture
and development) to explore why the social and economic disparities persist along the United
States/Mexico border. The cluster model is intended to attract funding from state, federal and
private programs. The program will document needs, develop programs to address them, and
evaluate program success. Some issues that could be examined through the program include
health care, immigration, homeland security, pollution, drug trafficking, and trade.
This program was endorsed by the NMSU Board of Regents and submitted to HED for review.
However, HED did not recommend funding to the LFC and Executive branch, and funding for
this purpose is not included in those agency recommendations to the Legislature.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
NMSU would bear the administrative responsibility for managing the research program proposed
in this legislation.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
House Bill 94 and Senate Bill 263 are duplicate measures.
DE/yr