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

SPONSOR Hanosh

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/16/2007

HB 952

SHORT TITLE

NMSU GRANTS DEGREE IN FINE ARTS

SB

ANALYST Moser

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$191.5

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Nm Department of Higher Education (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 952 appropriates $191,500 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of New

Mexico State University (NMSU) to establish an Associates of Arts degree in Fine Arts.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $191,500 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

The primary purpose for this act is to offer a full program leading to an Associate's of Arts

degree in Fine Arts at the NMSU-Grants campus. While an arts program currently exists on the

campus there is no faculty fully devoted to the specific areas of concentration within the

department and very limited space and resources available to fully implement the program.

House Bill 952 – Page

2

The remodeling of an existing building on campus is scheduled to begin in May and will provide

the space for a broader range of courses and activities. The new space will include offices and

two art studio spaces. This appropriation would enhance and expand the underdeveloped

program by providing funds to hire staff, buy supplies and equipment, and administer a full

program that includes concentrations in studio arts, theater, creative media and creative writing,

and music.

This request was on the list of priority projects submitted by NMSU to the New Mexico Higher

Education Department (NMHED) for review and was not included in the Department's funding

recommendations for FY08. However, in FY07 there is recurring funding in the amount of

$2,868,000 set in place for this program.

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