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

SPONSOR Stapleton

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/15/2007

HB 1172

SHORT TITLE

UNM Senior Scholar African American Studies

Program

SB

ANALYST Moser

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$125.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to: SB385, SB709, HB1170

Companion to: HB1105, HB1171, HB1173

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

NM Department of Higher Education (HED)

NM Office of African American Affairs

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 1172 appropriates $125,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of the

University of New Mexico (UNM) for expenditure in FY08 for a Senior Scholar at the Charlie

Morrissey Research Hall in the African-American Studies Program.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $125,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to theFY08 shall

revert to the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The Charlie Morrissey Research Hall was established in 1990 to respond to the research interests

House Bill 1172 – Page

2

and needs related to African Americans. The mission of the Research Hall is to become the

southwest's best repository of documents about African American people of the southwest. The

Research Hall's collections include rare books, rare manuscripts, rare magazines and other

publications, old photographs, audio and video tapes, deeds and titles to lands, oral histories, and

other archival artifacts that document the presence of Africans and African Americans in New

Mexico specifically, and southwest in general.

The Charlie Morrissey Research Hall organizes public lectures and panel discussions to address

the presence in and the contributions of Africans and African Americans to the southwest.

Periodic exhibitions of rare photographs and artifacts are included in the activities of the hall.

The senior scholar in residence in the African American Program would remain in residence

at UNM for two years with the option of extending their residency one additional year. The

scholar would participate in the distinguished lecture series, conduct research, and teach classes

in the African American Studies Program. The appropriation would be used to fund the Visiting

Scholars in Residence program initiative and related activities.

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

review and is not included in the Department’s funding recommendation for FY08.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Companion bills are:

HB1105 appropriates $190,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of the University

of New Mexico (UNM) for expenditure in FY08 for the Charlie Morrissey Research Hall to

repair and maintain existing archival facilities and display space, and provide base resources for

faculty led student research focusing on the Black Diasporas at the national and international

levels.

HB1171 appropriates $100,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of the University

of New Mexico (UNM) for expenditure in FY08 for a Visiting Scholars in Residence program at

the Charlie Morrissey Research Hall in the African-American Studies Program.

HB1173 appropriates $300,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of the University

of New Mexico (UNM) for expenditure in FY08 to build a core faculty in the African American

Studies Program to expand the department, create distance learning coursework, conduct

research, and support undergraduate and graduate students.

Relationship bills are:

SB385 appropriates $25,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of the University of

New Mexico (UNM) for expenditure in FY08 to support the African-American Studies Program.

SB709 is a related bill that appropriates $75,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents

of the University of New Mexico (UNM) for expenditure in FY08 for the African-American

Student Services Program and operations.

HB1170 appropriates $100,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of the University

House Bill 1172 – Page

3

of New Mexico (UNM) for expenditure in FY08 to bridge the achievement gap for African

American high school students and first year students to prepare them for university course work

and provide fellowships and assistantships and a distinguished lecture series in the African

American Studies Program.

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