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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR McSorley
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
1/31/07
HB
SHORT TITLE Family Leadership in Policy Development
SB 349
ANALYST Hanika Ortiz
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
$950.0
recurring
general fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Department of Health (DOH)
Children, Youth & Families Department (CYFD)
Health Policy Commission (HPC)
Public Education Department (PED)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 349 appropriates $950,000 from the general fund to DOH to strengthen family
leadership in policy development and create effective ways for families to have a voice in policy
decisions that affect them. The funds will be used to collect information from families, develop
statewide collaboration and communication among programs committed to family involvement
efforts, educate family leaders for advocacy, develop a formal mechanism to get input on
policies that affect families and develop public awareness about issues and barriers for families
raising young children in New Mexico.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $950,000 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. The appropriation request in SB 349 is not included in the Executive Budget
Request for FY08.
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Senate Bill 349 – Page
2
DOH reports the administrative cost to DOH to administer the program is estimated at $114,000.
The appropriation requested will be used for 1 FTE (Line Manager at $58,981) plus
approximately $10,000 in start-up costs and administrative support and $45,000 for materials,
travel, and supplies.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
DOH shows that the strategy of having families provide input into state policy and state
programs serving families is a successful process. Family involvement and programs supporting
the ability of parents to cope with the demands of parenting are critical to the process of attaining
higher performance ratings in elementary and secondary schools.
PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS
The bill supports a systems approach of gathering and collecting of data from statewide agency
programs committed to family involvement thus creating a formal mechanism for soliciting input
on policies that affect families, but does not specify which other state agencies will be involved.
CYFD suggests that families outside of those served by DOH programs should also be
considered for Head Start and Early Head Start programs, Parents As Teachers programs, home
visiting programs, 619 (IDEA Part B) programs from PED; K-12 special education, etc.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
Relates to HM 3, Creating the Young Children and Family Continuum Group, Family and Youth
Resource Act
Relates to HB2, and the Executive recommendation of $1 million for parental training and
involvement.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
HPC reports that the New Mexico State University's Departments of Extension Home
Economics and Family & Consumer Sciences’s “Family Impact Seminar" provides the following
statistics related to New Mexico families:
On average, out of a population of 1,841,441 (2001 census estimate):
•
There are 25 divorces per day (2001)
•
There are 74 births per day which includes (2001):
o
3 out of 20 to teen mothers (2001)
o
2 out of 5 to single mothers (2001)
o
2 out of 25 with low birth weight (2001)
•
The per capita income is $23,155 (2000)
•
New Mexico ranked highest in poverty of the 50 states (2000) with 1 out of
4 children and 1 out of 5 persons below poverty
Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, New Mexico has been ranked:
•
51st for women getting prenatal care in their first trimester (data: 2002)
•
4th highest for teen birth rate (data: 2002)
pg_0003
Senate Bill 349 – Page
3
•
5th highest in violent crime offenses rate (data: 2002)
•
6th highest (with another state) for occupational fatality rate (2002)
•
6th highest (with another state) for diabetes death rate (data: 2001)
•
8th highest (with another state) in death rate due to firearms (data: 2001)
•
11th highest (with 2 other states) for motor vehicle death rate (data: (2003)
•
18th highest (with 7 other states) in percent of adults reporting no physical activity (data:
2001)
•
22nd highest for percent of adults reporting poor mental health during the past 30 days
(data: 2003)
The bill supports PED’s underlying philosophy that parents are our children’s first teachers and
parent/school involvement is critical to the success of the child.
WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL
Funding may not be available to strengthen family leadership in policy development and create
effective ways for families to have a voice in policy decisions that affect them.
AHO/nt