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

SPONSOR Taylor

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/16/2007

HB

SHORT TITLE NMSU Viticulture Program

SB 1100

ANALYST Moser

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$85.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

NM Department of Higher Education (NMHED)

New Mexico State University (NMSU)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 1100 appropriates $85,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of New

Mexico State University (NMSU) to pay for the Viticulture Program.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $85,000 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.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

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

(NMHED) for review. The Department’s funding recommendation for FY08 is a continuance of

FY07 recurring funding in the amount of $71,900.

Senate Bill 1100 – Page

2

With 2005 funding, NMSU hired its first viticulturist. The Viticulture Program has conducted

surveys of vineyards statewide to prioritize problems producers face, soil testing, and chemistry

experiments on New Mexico wines to see how growing techniques affect quality. The primary

goal of this bill is to increase agricultural research and grower assistance programs at NMSU

with the aim of boosting wine production statewide.

Currently, the program works with one viticulturist to conduct limited outreach programs with

New Mexico wineries and vineyards to work on new varieties and research. This appropriation

would be added to the current operating budget for program expansion.

GM/csd