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

SPONSOR Hall

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/02/2007

HB 387

SHORT TITLE NMSU Animal & Range Sciences Judging Program SB

ANALYST McOlash

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$50.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

New Mexico State University – College of Agriculture (NMSU-COA)

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 387 appropriates $50,000 from the General Fund to the Regents of NMSU for

expenditure in FY 2008 to pay for the Animal and Range Sciences Judging Program.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $50,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the General Fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 2008 shall revert to the

General.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The Animal and Range Sciences Judging Program was established in the 1960s, phased out in

1991, and then reestablished in 2002. Current funding comes from Animal and Range Science

Department instructional dollars. Funding allows for 30 students to participate per year. HB 387

would expand the program to allow 60 students per year.

House Bill 387 – Page

2

NMSU has three fields of judging: Livestock, Wool and Horsing. In addition to being taught

how to evaluate for quality, students are trained to deliver oral reasons defending their decisions.

Skills such as public speaking, leadership, perseverance, and decisiveness are honed to a level

allowing team members to set and reach goals that would otherwise be unattainable. According

to the NMSU Animal and Range Science website, time and again, employers seek out college

graduates with previous judging experience to fill key industry positions.

This request in the amount of $50,000 was submitted by NMSU to the New Mexico Higher

Education Department for review, but is not included in the Department's funding

recommendation for FY08.

BM/csd