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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-

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