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

SPONSOR Heaton

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/28/08

HB 328

SHORT TITLE NM TECH Summer Science Program

SB

ANALYST Haug

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$50.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates

SB 295

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 328 appropriates $50.0 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of New Mexico

Institute of Mining and Technology to support the summer science program.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $50.0 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 was not submitted by NM Tech to the New Mexico Higher

Education Department for review. The NMHED funding recommendation for FY09 is a

continuance of FY08 recurring funding in the amount of $72,000.

House Bill 328 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The Summer Science Program is operated by Summer Science Program, Inc., an independent

non-profit corporation, and established in cooperation with California Institute of Technology,

Harvey Mudd College, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, New Mexico Tech, Pomona College, Stanford

University, and UCLA. It is an accredited observing affiliate of the Harvard/Smithsonian Center

for Astrophysics (summerscience.org). The SSP is a six-week residential enrichment program in

which small teams of gifted high school students apply physics, calculus and programming to

determine the orbit of an asteroid from their own observations. This prestigious program has

drawn young scientists from around the world for 45 years, accelerating their academic and

personal development, and inspiring them to seek equally challenging educational and career

paths. Many SSP alumni have gone on to distinguish themselves at selective universities.

Established at Thacher School in 1959, SSP now takes place at two campuses: New Mexico

Tech in Socorro and Besant Hill School in Ojai, California (northwest of Los Angeles). The

curriculum is identical at the two campuses.

The Summer Science Program receives support from these sources:

•

Contributions from individual alumni, parents of alumni, former faculty, and other

friends of the Program, and matching grants from their employers.

•

Grants and in-kind donations from foundations, corporations, and other institutions,

including: New Mexico Institute of Technology, Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation,

Mitchell Kapor Foundation, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lockheed Martin / Sandia

National Laboratory, and High Tide Foundation.

•

Program fees paid by participants, net of need-based financial aid (which covers less than

half of SSP's operating costs).

DUPLICATION

House Bill 328 duplicates Senate Bill 295.

GH/mt