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

SPONSOR Foley

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/7/2007

HB 406

SHORT TITLE Legislative Session & Meeting Broadcasts

SB

ANALYST McOlash

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$8,000.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 406 appropriates $8,000,000 from the General Fund to the UNM Regents for

expenditure in FY 2008 to broadcast legislative sessions and committee meetings on television in

order to promote open government.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $8,000,000 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 Fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) reports (February 1, 2007) that the

number of state providing broadcasts of their proceedings over the Internet and television

continues to grow. As of January 2007, live proceedings were available on the Internet from 40

states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands as a public service to the citizens. Many legislatures

House Bill 406 – Page

2

are also offering web casts of committee hearings. About half the states also archive floor or

committee proceedings. Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia provide television

broadcasts typically on state, educational, or public broadcasting channels.

This request was not submitted by UNM to the HED for review and is not included in the

Department’s funding recommendation for FY08.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

Presumably, KNME, a public television station housed at UNM, would be responsible for

identifying the infrastructure necessary to film legislative sessions and committee meetings,

purchasing the equipment, hiring appropriate personnel, and broadcasting the session and

meetings throughout the state. KNME would also have to develop a schedule for the airing of the

proceedings.

A detailed budget explaining the $8,000,000 has not been developed.

BM/nt