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

SPONSOR Altamirano

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/22/2007

HB

SHORT TITLE Education Research Program

SB 1006

ANALYST Aguilar

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$1,000.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 1006 appropriates $1,000.0 from the general fund to the Public Education

Department for the purpose of establishing a research program entitled “the educated brain, an

opportunity for national impact."

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $1 million contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2008 shall revert

to the general fund.

Funds appropriated in this bill will flow to the University of New Mexico for the purpose of

establishing the research program.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Funds will be used to conduct critical research with children ages 10-14 and children ages two-

four (mostly siblings of the 10-14-year-old children) who are at risk in two areas: children with

reading disorders and children with autism. An interdisciplinary approach seeks to conduct

laboratory research and transform the results into criteria for making better matches between

reading-disabled children and available reading interventions. For the autistic children, research

Senate Bill 1006 – Page

2

will be conducted to identify diagnostic markers of autism, which can be seen earlier and are

more precise than current behavioral markers.

In recent years, the impact of learning and developmental disabilities on the education system

has become increasingly costly. The majority of children with learning and developmental

disabilities are educated within the public school system, placing a huge burden on the school

system logistically (e.g., having enough trained professionals to address these disorders) and

financially (e.g., the cost of paying for special services).

The costs of learning disabilities go far beyond poor academic performance in school.

Individuals with learning disabilities are more likely to drop out of school

PA/nt