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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

1/19/08

HB 58

SHORT TITLE ENMU Small-Museum Professional Program

SB

ANALYST Haug

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$260.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA)

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 58 appropriates $260.0 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of Eastern New

Mexico University to create a small-museum professional certification program.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $260.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any

unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2009 shall revert to the

general fund.

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

review and is not included in the Department’s funding recommendation for FY09.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The HED states The ENMU College of Fine Arts currently does not offer programs related to

small museum professional certification. To date the New Mexico Higher Education Department

(NMHED) has not received from ENMU such a program for consultation and review. New

House Bill 58 – Page

2

graduate degree programs are subject to NMHED consultation, review, and approval, as well as

State Board of Finance approval for state funding to the universities.

According to the DCA, an academic program focused on the needs of small museums is needed

to raise professional standards and practices, improve the care of their collections and enhance

the visitor experience, which will increase attendance and expand the potential of these museums

to play active roles in the quality of life, education, and economic vitality of the communities

they serve. There are more than 150 museums and museum-related institutions in New Mexico.

The majority of these institutions are small with fewer than ten staff people and annual budgets

under $1 million, and most are much smaller than that. Dotting New Mexico’s vast geographic

expanse, they serve communities that are culturally diverse and primarily rural, low-income and

traditionally under-served. They operate with few if any paid staff members—many are all-

volunteer organizations. These dedicated community servants have few opportunities for

professional training or professional development.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

Eastern New Mexico University in an email to the LFC Higher Education analyst has indicated

that House Bill 58 has no relationship to any ENMU campus.

GH/nt