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

SPONSOR Picraux

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1-18-2008

HB 209

SHORT TITLE Albuquerque Children’s Museum Programs

SB

ANALYST Dearing

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$150.0

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 209 appropriates $150 thousand from the general fund for expenditure in FY09 to

Cultural Affairs department for outreach programs at a science center and children’s museum in

Albuquerque.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $150 thousand contained in House Bill 209 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 House Bill 209 appropriation will provide support to contract with the Explora Science

Center & Children’s Museum, located on Mountain Road near Old Town in Albuquerque. The

center provides educational outreach and the program impact affects many communities

throughout the state.

House Bill 209 – Page

2

The funding would support outreach activities to rural communities statewide, focusing on

young children and educators. Specifically, Explora has outlined five areas of outreach

programming that will be assisted through this appropriation:

1. A school-based outreach program, which provides benchmarks and standards-based

presentations to classrooms throughout the state.

2. A program that brings school-groups from rural areas to Explora to visit its exhibit

facility and participate in standards-based lessons in its classrooms.

3. Overnight "camp-ins," which allow groups from distant communities to utilize the

Explora facility and participate in overnight programs.

4. A new program providing instruction to preschool-aged children and training their

caregivers in approaches to science-based activities.

5. Professional development programs for New Mexico educators.

Over the course of the initial first year, approximately 7,000 individuals would directly

participate. Because a portion of the funds will be used for the training of educators and

caregivers, the number of individuals indirectly impacted by these funds will continue to grow

each year.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The Cultural Affairs department would assume financial oversight as the contracting agency.

RELATIONSHIP

The appropriation in House Bill 209 relates to appropriation in the General Appropriations Act.

Regular contract funding in the amount of $100 thousand has been recommended through the

department’s program support division operating budget for FY09. The funding in House Bill

209 is in addition to the support provided through the department’s operating budget and could

significantly expand the service capacity of the state’s relationship with this children’s museum.

The House Appropriation and Finance Committee recommendation for the department of

Cultural Affairs also includes a recurring expansion of $45 thousand that was initially included

in the 2007 session’s Senate Bill 611 *(LFC recommendation scored this recurring based on the

nature of the children’s museum and science center’s statewide programming element.).

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

The funding will provide access to a variety of programs for young people and educators in rural

areas. If HB 209 is not enacted, audiences will have fewer opportunities to become engaged in

hands-on science education.

PD/mt