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

SPONSOR Moore

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1-18-2008

HB 57

SHORT TITLE Statewide Humanities Program

SB

ANALYST Dearing

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$100.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Cultural Affairs Department (CAD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 57 appropriates $100 thousand from the general fund to the Cultural Affairs

department for the purpose of contracting for a statewide public humanities program.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $100 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the General

Fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY09 shall revert to

the General Fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The department of Cultural Affairs provides humanities programs throughout New Mexico by

contracting with the New Mexico Humanities Council (NMHC), a non-profit formally

recognized by the federal government as the primary provider of humanities programs in the

state. Only 25 percent of the council’s budget is provided through state funds. The department’s

collaborative effort with this organization provides historians and speakers to schools and

community groups statewide – to provide lifelong learning opportunities in history and

interpreting historical events. NMHC sponsors the state chapter of National History Day, and

House Bill 57 – Page

2

the winners of that competition go to Washington DC to represent New Mexico (approx. 40 - 50

children annually). The non-profit provides grants to other non-profit organizations statewide

for public programs in to bring scholars into contact with audiences for dialogue in current and

historic events and public policy. Programs impact all counties in New Mexico.

The program expansion will serve an additional 810 students and teachers statewide participating

in the historical speakers program (Chautauqua Program), and bring a Smithsonian Institution

traveling exhibition to six underserved rural New Mexico Communities, including Belen,

Ruidoso Downs, Hobbs, Columbus, Raton and Las Vegas.

According to the department, the appropriation of $100.0 includes $55.0 to sponsor and

coordinate History Day competition in schools throughout the state, reaching more than 3,000

students; $30.0 for the National History Day competition in Washington, D.C.; and $15.0 for

historical speakers, re-enactments and history presentations in schools statewide.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

According to the department, appropriation in House Bill 57 would provide funding for an

additional 30 Chautauqua programs to serve New Mexico schools. Currently, the allotted quota

for schools is not adequate to serve all requests. The amount requested for program expansion

will result in expanded services to 13,000 New Mexicans and an additional 810 students, serving

all 33 counties in New Mexico.

If enacted, the LFC recommends that the Cultural Affairs department submit a plan for program

evaluation with specific program goals and criteria for assessing the effectiveness and provides

suggested outputs, outcomes and performance measures to evaluate the performance of state

government programs as prescribed in the Accountability in Government Act.

PD/nt