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

SPONSOR Gonzales

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/15/2007

HB 1135

SHORT TITLE Acequia Agricultural Youth Project

SB

ANALYST Moser

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$50.0

Recurring

General fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to: HB 745

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

NM Department of Agriculture (NMDA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 1135 appropriates $50,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of New

Mexico State University (NMSU) for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA) for

expenditure in FY08 to contract with a non-profit organization for an acequia agricultural youth

project.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $50,000 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.

House Bill 1135 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

This request was not submitted by NMSU to the New Mexico Higher Education Department

(NMHED) for review and was not included in the Department’s funding recommendation for

FY08.

HED indicates that this proposal requests needed funding to support the work of the New

Mexico Acequia Association’s (NMAA) Sembrando Las Semillas youth program. The NMAA

was founded in 1990 to build a united voice for acequia communities throughout the state. The

association is a grassroots, membership-based organization that has worked to protect and

strengthen acequias through community education, community organizing, and policy advocacy.

Sembrando Las Semillas is a high school youth project in its second year that aims to develop

media literacy, build critical thinking skills, improve leadership abilities, engage in natural

resource stewardship, and promote agricultural production. Currently, NMAA youth projects

take place in Embudo, Taos, Penasco, and Mora. Programs are designed and utilize mentorship

as a key teaching module.

Youth participants document and produce videos that highlight these efforts and have been aired

on various local radio programs such as the solar radio station located in Taos, K-Taos 101.9

FM. Other accomplishments of the Sembrando Las Semillas program include:

•

Participants in annual Bioneers Conference

•

Participants in Quivera Coalition

•

Presentations before local growers and ranchers meetings, legislative committees, and

local governing bodies.

•

Participants in Seeds Sovereignty Proclamation

•

Participants in a Literacy Program featuring Jimmy Santiago Baca

DHE indicates that this request will be used to expand service areas, provide funds for staff

members who serve as program educators, and supply educational materials to assist participants

in writing assignments that include creative writing, scripts, fact sheets, informational brochures

etc. Approximately 50 students are involved with this program and this appropriation will help to

increase the number of participants.

GM/csd