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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

2-9-2006

HB

SHORT TITLE UNM Works Progress Administration Art

SB 430

ANALYST Dearing

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$30.0 Non-Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

New Mexico Higher Education Department (NMHED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

SB430 appropriates $30,000 from the General Fund to the University of New Mexico (UNM)

Board of Regents in fiscal year 2007 for expenditure to manage the UNM's works progress ad-

ministration art collection, including cataloging, appraisal, and preservation.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $30,000 contained in this bill is a non-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.

This request was not on the list of priority projects submitted by UNM to the Higher Education

Department for review and was not included in the Department's funding recommendation for

FY07.

Senate Bill No. 430 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

In the 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated the New Deal, to help pull the United

States out of the Great Depression. The initiatives of the New Deal relieved much economic

hardship. While the New Deal focused primarily on helping farmers, industry, investors, and dis-

advantaged, it also bolstered the arts by providing work for artists, writers, actors and musicians

through a program called the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Between 1933-1943, 167

known artists lived in New Mexico, all struggling to sell art in a time when many Americans had

little money available even for necessities. The New Deal's Works Progress Administration Art

Project provided an opportunity for artists to create artwork for public buildings, allowing them

to remain independent, support their families, and enrich and enhance the community. The works

of New Mexico's best-known artists involved in the New Deal program remain in private and

public collections today. The University of New Mexico in collaboration with the New Mexico

Chapter of the New Deal Preservation Association are working to catalog, appraise, and preserve

almost 1,800 pieces of artwork from the New Deal Era.

The mission of the New Mexico Chapter of the New Deal Preservation Association is to identify,

preserve, document, and educate people about the legacy of the New Deal (1933-42) visual and

performing arts, literature, crafts, structures and environmental projects.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The New Mexico Chapter of the New Deal Preservation Association, a 501 CR non profit coor-

dinates with UNM to administer the funds for this proposal.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

UNM and The New Mexico Chapter of the New Deal Preservation Association will have to seek

other funding sources.

PD/nt