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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Nava
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
1/26/06
HB
SHORT TITLE Educational Tech Deficiency Fund
SB 452
ANALYST Aguilar
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY06
FY07
$94,400.0
Nonrecurring
General Fund
$24,200.0
Nonrecurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates House Bill 472
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)
FY06
FY07
FY08 3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
Total
$20.0
$20.0
$40.0 Recurring General
Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO)
Public Education Department (PED)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 452 appropriates $94.4 million from the general fund to the Educational Technology
Deficiency Correction Fund for the purpose making allocations to correct serious deficiencies in
educational technology infrastructure.
SB452 also appropriates $24.2 million from the general fund to the Public Education Department
for the purpose of making distributions to school districts to replace functionally onsolete com-
pg_0002
Senate Bill 452 – Page 2
puters and network devices.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
Given the scope of work that will be required to evaluate applications and provide oversight to
meet the requirements of this legislation, the Public Education Department notes an annual need
of approximately $20 thousand in added operating budget. These funds will be used to cover
staff time and reimbursements for travel and per diem.
The appropriation of $94.4 million contained in this bill is a nonrecurring expense to the general
fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall not
revert to the general fund.
The appropriation of $24.2 million contained in this bill is a nonrecurring 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 bill provides for continuing appropriations. The LFC has concerns with including continu-
ing appropriation language in statutory provisions as earmarking reduces the ability of the legis-
lature to establish spending priorities.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
Prior to expending funds for educational technology deficiency corrections, PED must receive
approval from the Council on Education Technology of the method used by the department to
prioritize projects and for proposed allocations.
Prior to distributing funds to districts for replacing functionally obsolete computers and network
devices, school districts must have a PED approved technology plan in place and agree to match
the distribution with an amount determined utilizing the same formula as used for Public School
Capital Outlay Council construction projects.
The department notes the following minimum adequacy standards for educational technology for
New Mexico schools, students and teachers:
One T1 Internet connection per school building
Fiber connection with high speed switches/routers for network distribution facilities.
Security measures: Anti-virus, Filtering, Firewall
Labs/Libraries/Offices: 100 mega byte connection for each computer/printer
Cafeteria/Auditorium/Gymnasium: wireless access points or network connection
Four network connections per classroom
While it is clear the appropriations contained in the bill for technology replacement will result in
updated equipment in the classrooms, it is unclear if the school districts will have the resources
to maintain this equipment as needed for long term use. Further it is unclear if school districts
are willing to allocate funds for establishing an equipment replacement cycle over time.
PA/nt