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

SPONSOR Varela

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/31/07

HB 723

SHORT TITLE NEW MEXICO FOOD BANK SYSTEM

SB

ANALYST Propst

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$1,100.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to an appropriation of $800.0 contained in the General Appropriations Act for FY08.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 723 appropriates $1,100.0 from the General Fund to DFA for the NM food bank

system, including the kids backpack program.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $1,100.0 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..

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) report published in November 2006, New

Mexico is number 1 out of 50 states for the percentage of people who are food insecure. That is,

16.8% of our population do not know where their next meal is coming from. In 2005 238,000

people received emergency food from food banks and pantries throughout the state. According to

the New Mexico Food Bank Association, there were approximately 81,200 people who were not

served.

House Bill 723 – Page

2

The Food for Kids program provides nutritious foods to children in low-income elementary

schools. Kids who do not get enough to eat at home are given a backpack filled with food each

week to help supplement the free breakfasts or lunches they receive at school. In FY06 62 low-

income schools throughout the state were able to help 1,000 children through the program. There

are currently 35 schools on the waiting list to join the program, and a total of 310 low-income

schools around the state that could be served.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

The LFC and the DFA included an appropriation for $800.0 in their budget recommendations.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

If this legislation is not enacted as many as 18,000 people who could be helped by this

appropriation will not have access to the NM Food Bank program.

WEP/mt