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

SPONSOR Begaye

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/29/2007

HB 96

SHORT TITLE NMSU Tribal Co-op Extension Centers

SB

ANALYST Schuss

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$1,200.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Indian Affairs Department (IAD)

Public Education Department (PED)

Higher Education Department (HED)

NMSU College of Agriculture and Home Economics (NMSU)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 96 appropriates $1,200,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of New

Mexico State University (NMSU) for expenditure in FY08 for the Cooperative Extension Center.

The appropriation will support the start up cost of five proposed tribal cooperative extension cen-

ters to provide a base for intercultural youth programs, health-based programs, and natural re-

source and agricultural information services not available in targeted tribal communities in New

Mexico. Any unexpended or unencumbered funds remaining at the end of FY08 shall revert to

the General Fund.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $1,200,000 contained in this bill is a Recurring expense to the General

Fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY08 shall revert to

the General Fund.

House Bill 96 – Page

2

The proposal of $1,200,000 was submitted to the New Mexico Higher Education Department

(NMHED) by New Mexico State University and is included in the departments funding recom-

mendation for FY08 as a portion within the NMSU Cooperative Extension Service appropria-

tion amount of $11,012,800.

According to the Indian Affairs Department, figures provided in the Fact Sheet, New Mexico

Tribal Extension Task Force, Dr. Samuel Suina, Director, IAD estimates start-up costs to de-

velop the five extension centers to be $1,870,000 and the appropriation request of $1,200,000

will cover only a portion of this cost.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The Tribal Extension Initiative will be comprised of the following four program areas: (1) Agri-

culture and Natural Resource Management, (2) 4-H, Youth Education, (3) Community Resource,

Economic, and Leadership Development, and (4) Strengthening Families through education in

Health, Nutrition, and Family Resource Management.

NMSU notes that the fallowing five (5) Tribal Extension Center locations have been identified

and commitments have been secured with each of the respective Pueblos and Tribes:

1.

Santa Ana Pueblo: Southern Pueblos (Santa Ana, Santo Domingo, Cochiti, Jemez, San

Felipe, Isleta, Zia, Isleta Del Sur and Sandia)

2.

San Juan Pueblo: Eight Northern Pueblos (San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Taos,

Picuris, Pojoaque, Tesuque, and Nambe)

3.

Crownpoint: East Navajo Chapters (Including, Alamo, Ramah, and To Hajiileehe)

4.

Shiprock: Central and Western Navajo Chapters

5.

Laguna and Acoma Pueblos ( Laguna, Acoma, and Zuni)

The Tribal Extension Initiative will be designed to reverse the negative patterns of cultural disin-

tegration by revitalizing traditional indigenous agricultural, family, and natural resource restora-

tion practices. The traditional Native culture serves as a foundation for strengthening commu-

nity, creativity, and pride. In many traditional Indian cultures, agriculture serves as an everyday

expression of cultural identity and a mechanism for continuing traditions and sustaining tribal

community. Extension programs will be designed to promote the development of strong, self-

assured youth through leadership experiences, training, creative self-expression, and community

service.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

NMSU has partnered with all 22 New Mexico Pueblo and Tribal Nations to plan for the estab-

lishment of tribal extension centers. This funding will support the establishment of all five cen-

ters. The centers sites have been strategically placed where all tribal communities will have in-

creased access to educational services.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The New Mexico Higher Education Department reports that

the fully funded Tribal Extension

Initiative calls for the addition of 22 full time employees, which includes extension agents, pro-

gram specialist, administrative, and technical support. Tribal extension staff and local volunteers

House Bill 96 – Page

3

will help to implement educational and community-based programs. NMSU tribal extension

agents will be linked with subject matter experts in the field and on campus to teach research

based education courses and serve as resources for tribal communities.

ALTERNATIVES

The HED lists the following alternative:

Higher education institutions receive indirect cost revenues from federal contracts and

grants. This money is unrestricted in the sense that the governing board of the institution has the

flexibility to choose which projects are supported with these funds. A great deal of this money is

used as seed money to develop new research and public services projects at institutions. A por-

tion of the indirect cost revenue, or earned overhead, is used to support items such as the salaries

of the accountants responsible for monitoring the contracts and grants, or for paying utilities and

other expenses required to maintain the space where the contract and grant activities are housed.

The higher education funding formula allows institutions to retain 100% of this indirect

cost revenue. One of the purposes of retaining these funds is to provide seed money and match-

ing funds for projects such as the one proposed in this bill.

BS/mt