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

SPONSOR Robinson

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/06/06

HB

SHORT TITLE Rolling Rain Forest

SB 422

ANALYST Earnest

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$35.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Tourism Department (TD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 422 appropriates $35 thousand from the general fund to the Tourism Department to

bring the Rolling Rain Forest Exhibit to New Mexico in 2007.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $35 thousand 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 Rolling Rainforest is a traveling exhibit mounted on a 53-foot tractor trailer owned by the

Discovery Creek Museum of Washington, DC. The exhibit educates New Mexicans on envi-

ronmental science and ecosystems. TD reports that the mobile exhibit has attracted large crowds

throughout the nation on its tour.

Senate Bill 422 – Page 2

The Legislature in 2005 appropriated funding for this purpose in FY06. The Rolling Rainforest

exhibit visited Santa Fe and six New Mexico elementary schools February 1 – 14, 2006. To

carry out the project the Tourism Department transferred the money via memorandum of under-

standing (MOU) to the Department of Cultural Affairs to contract with Discovery Creek Chil-

dren’s Museum and oversee the traveling exhibit.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The project supports both TD and DCA performance objectives by attracting in-state travel and

providing science and natural history educational opportunities, respectively.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

Enacting this bill will have a small administrative impact for DCA.

ALTERNATIVES

DCA recommends funding go directly to its department to eliminate unnecessary administrative

work in the creation of an MOU to transfer money and authority, as occurred in FY06.

BE/yr