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

SPONSOR Miera

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2-20-2007

HB 1041

SHORT TITLE Reimbursements for Transportation to School

SB

ANALYST Dearing

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

*$0.1

*$0.1

*$0.1 Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Attorney General’s Office (AGO)

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 1041 carries no appropriation. If enacted, House Bill 1041 would amend Section 22-

16-6 NMSA 1978 such that an additional extension of authority to the local school board is

granted that allows boards to provide mileage reimbursement to parents or guardians of children

for transportation to public schools. House Bill 1041 provides additional criteria to provisions

currently existing in statute under which these payments may be made.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The current statute contains two similar provisions allowing these payments. Existing provisions

require board approval. The enactment within this legislation will still require board approval to

allow payments in other cases.

*According to the Public Education department, there will be a minimal impact on local district

costs. The necessity of board approval implies that local district discretion will be a substantial

determinant of the actual cost difference through enactment of this proposal, however additional

costs will be absorbed at the district level.

House Bill 1041 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

NMSA Section 22-16-6 currently authorizes a local school board, subject to regulations adopted

by PED, to provide per capita or per mile reimbursement to a parent or guardian in cases where

regular school bus transportation is impractical because of distance, road conditions or

sparseness of population or in cases where the local school board has authorized a parent to

receive reimbursement for travel costs incurred by having a child attend a school outside the

child's attendance zone. This bill would expand that authority to include “other cases where

regular school bus transportation to and from the child's school is unavailable and the child is

required to use alternative methods of transportation."

The Public Education Department has adopted regulations governing the reimbursement

authorized by this section. NMAC 6.43.2.15. The regulations generally require an agreement

between the parent and local school board, proof of insurance, and allow the local school board

to establish the mileage reimbursement rate.

PD/mt