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

SPONSOR Miera

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/30/08

HB 541

SHORT TITLE UNM Latin American Resources Center

SB

ANALYST Haug

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$40.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

University of New Mexico (UNM)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 541 appropriates $40.0 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of the

University of New Mexico for programs at the Center for Latin American Resources and

Outreach.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $40.0 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 UNM to the New Mexico Higher

Education Department for review and was not recommended by the Executive.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The HED states:

House Bill 541 – Page

2

CLARO is the educational and community outreach unit of the Latin American Iberian

Institute (LAII). According to UNM’s website, CLARO's mission is to disseminate and

expand awareness, knowledge, and understanding of the Ibero-American world through

collection, production, and distribution of educational multidisciplinary materials to

teachers, students, businesses, corporations, educational institutions, government entities,

and community organizations. In addition, CLARO serves the private and public sectors

by offering workshops, seminars, and conferences.

CLARO's goals are:

•

to reach an audience beyond the borders of the United States of America;

•

to interact with Ibero-American universities in the production of on-line

interactive workshops, classes, symposia, and seminars; and

•

to establish an international clearinghouse for the development and distribution of

instructional materials.

To better disseminate CLARO's programs and services, CLARO actively develops

collaborative partnerships and resource sharing with government entities, educational

institutions, and community organizations.

According to Dr. Maria Kelly, Director of CLARO, the funding requested in HB541 will

be used to expand the program and services to the community. Research and

development of educational materials for classroom teachers are the primary activities of

the project. With globalization comes the need to further understand perspectives of

people from other cultures, especially in relation to their views of the United States. In

addition to fostering an appreciation of others, primarily our Latin American neighbors,

CLARO attempts to bridge the cultural gaps by demonstrating that there are often more

commonalities than differences among peoples.

GH/mt