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

SPONSOR HTPWC

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/14/2007

HB CS/901/aHFL#1

SHORT TITLE

Create State Transit Fund

SB

ANALYST Moser

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates to SB 854

Relates to General Appropriations Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

NM Department of Transportation (NMDOT)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HFL Amendment #1

House Floor Amendment to #1 to House Transportation and Public Works Committee Substitute

for House Bill 901 removes from the title the designation “MAKING AN APPROPRIATION".

Additionally, the amendment strikes the language that appropriated any monies in the fund to

NMDOT and substituted that these balances would be subject to appropriation by the Legislature

for public transit purposes.

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Transportation and Public Works Committee Substitute for House Bill 901 create the

State Transit Fund in the State Treasury, to be administered by the Secretary of the NMDOT.

Money in the Fund shall be used by the NMDOT for public transit purposes. Any unexpended

or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall remain in the Fund.

CS/House Bill 901/aHFL #1 – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

This bill creates a new fund and appears based upon its purpose to be reliant upon continuing

appropriations.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

This bill provides for the disbursement of funds for public transit purposes. There is no

clarification of what this means. It is assumed that this would allow for the provision of

assistance to local governments and transit services with matching funds required to obtain

federal funding. Additionally, commuter rail also falls within the definition of public transit.

It is recommended that clarification be given as to the intent behind this bill in that

appropriations may be required to sustain fund viability in other fiscal years.

GM/nt