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

SPONSOR Tripp

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/17/2007

HB 1097

SHORT TITLE NM Tech Border Security System

SB

ANALYST Moser

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$770.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicate to SB 1070

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

NM Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 1097 appropriates $770,000 from the General Fund in FY08 to the Board of Regents

of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMT) for the Energetic Materials Research

and Testing Center (EMRTC) to develop a border security system for the tracking of human and

animal movements.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $770,000 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.

Senate Bill 1097 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

HED provides per information from the EMRTC Director, it is estimated that the funding will be

used as follows:

•

Equipment and special instrumentation ($175,000-$270,000)

•

Salaries/benefits of existing personnel and/or contractors ($300,000)

•

Infrastructure support ($200,000)

According to information on the NMT website, the EMRTC is a major component within the

overall complex of research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) activities at NMT.

EMRTC is a world-class RDT&E complex of more than 30 test facilities located within its 40

square-mile field research complex. The center has more than 100 highly experienced,

technically proficient professionals who perform in-depth scientific investigations and studies in

a number of technology areas in conjunction with and/or for: the Departments of Defense, State,

Energy, Justice, and Transportation; the Environmental Protection Agency; Los Alamos National

Laboratory; Sandia National Laboratories; and other academic institutions across the country.

Additionally, NMT was one of nine research universities in the southwest border-states that have

announced the formation of the Southwest Border Security Consortium (SBSC), an alliance that

will develop and promote scientific and policy solutions to issues affecting the U.S.-Mexico

border region.

A request for the recurring amount of $766,800 was submitted to the New Mexico Higher

Education Department (NMHED) by NMT and included in the Department’s funding

recommendation for FY08. Also, a request for an additional sum ($568,500) was submitted to

NMHED by NMT but is not included in the Department’s funding recommendation for FY08.

GM/csd