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

SPONSOR Salazar

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/23/08

HB 129

SHORT TITLE Northern NM State School Athletics Program

SB

ANALYST Haug

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$250.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 129 appropriates $250.0 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of Northern

New Mexico State School to establish an athletics program for campus life and recruitment

purposes.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $250.0 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.

The HED states that this request of $250,000 to increase the recurring base funding by an

additional amount of $150,000 was submitted by NNMC to the New Mexico Higher Education

Department for review but is not included in the Department’s funding recommendation for

FY09.

The HED’s evaluation table of FY09 Research and Public Service Projects provided to the LFC

classifies this project as a “does not fit within HED priorities for Higher Education" project.

Reasons for this classification decision are not provided. (LFC Report 07-20, Higher Education

House Bill 129 – Page

2

Department Review of Selected Research and Public Service Projects, January 12, 2008, Table

4, p75.)

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to the HED, many rural state institutions have athletic programs. NNMC recently

conducted a feasibility study for the athletic program and was funded $100,000 via the NMHED

athletics appropriation in 2007. NNMC plans to begin with men’s and women’s basketball

teams, joining NCAA as a Division II team. The primary athletic expenses for Division II teams

nationally are grants in aid to students and salaries for coaches. At NNMC, planning continues to

establish an athletic program. Funding would go to salaries for coaches and travel expenses.

With funding NNMC could increase its recruitment efforts with a viable athletic program, and

possibly improve campus life for the students it serves. Athletic programs tend to focus on

producing quality citizens who will make significant contributions to society. A sense of

community as well as school spirit is developed around sports teams and events.

The HED states that the Northern New Mexico College's (NNMC) Espanola campus offers about

65 certificate and degree programs such as Accounting, Business Administration, Computer

Science, Drafting, Early Childhood Education, Fine Arts, Human Services, Library Technology,

Micro Electronics, Management Information Systems, Nursing, Radiography, Science,

Substance Abuse Counselor, and Welding Technology. The El Rito campus offers classes that

reflect the cultural heritage and arts legacy of the region. According to the NNMC website, many

intramural sports are offered at the gym, and a tennis court is available to students and the

community. NNMC also offers a summer National Youth Sports Program for local youth ages

10-16.

GH/bb