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

SPONSOR Morales

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/22/08

HB

SHORT TITLE WNMU Nursing Program

SB 77

ANALYST Haug

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$664.7

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to SB104, HB66 and HB185

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

Department of Health (DOH)

Health Policy Commission (HPC)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 77 appropriates $664.7 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of Western

New Mexico University to expand the nursing program and to adjust nursing faculty salaries in

order to retain qualified staff.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $664.7 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 a request was submitted by WNMU in the amount of $982,958 to the New

Mexico Higher Education Department (NMHED) for review. This is an increase of $664,658 to

the base funding of $318,300. The Department’s executive funding recommendation for FY09 is

a continuance of FY08 recurring funding via both the established appropriations directly

Senate Bill 77 – Page

2

allocated to WNMU as well as appropriations thru NMHED to the institution out

of the Performance Development Enhancement Fund and the Supplemental Nursing

Compensation appropriation.

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

classifies this project as a “breach" of the Higher Education Formula. Reasons for this

classification decision are not provided. (LFC Report 07-20, Higher Education Department

Review of Selected Research and Public Service Projects, January 12, 2008, Table 4, p76.)

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to the HED, the WNMU nursing program seeks to adjust all nursing faculty to their

target salary and assist faculty with costs of Advanced Degrees in Nursing (ADN). WNMU

nursing department prepares nursing care providers to meet the needs of patients and providers.

The program emphasizes rural health, cultural competence and evolving models of health care

delivery. The aim of the project is to increase numbers of nursing personnel at all levels: nursing

assistants, registered nurses and bachelor prepared registered nurses. The focus of the project is

on the local area and learning centers including Catron, Grant, Hidalgo, Luna and Sierra

counties. Although the focus is on southwest New Mexico, the project is aligned with statewide

goals of increasing registered nurses and increasing the ratio of Bachelor Science in Nursing

prepared nurses to ADN prepared nurses. According to the 2006 NM Board of Nursing Report,

currently the statewide BSN to ADN ratio is 35%; however in the four counties named above,

the ratio is 24%.

The HPC states that the 2002-2012 Occupational Outlook projections from the New Mexico

Department of Labor (2004) predicts that the state will need an additional 4,520 RNs and 680

LPNs by 2012. Source: New Mexico Heath Policy Commission Quick Facts 2008.

The HPC adds that the most critical issues faced by schools of nursing for Academic Year 2006-

2007 are:

• limited pool of doctorally prepared faculty,

• noncompetitive salaries,

• lack of qualified applicants,

• finding faculty with the right specialty mix,

• finding faculty willing/able to teach clinical courses,

• finding faculty willing/able to conduct research, and

• high faculty workload.

Source: New Mexico Health Policy Commission HM17/SM 18 Nurse Recruitment and

Retention in New Mexico Hospitals October 2007

Finally, the HPC states that it costs an employer approximately 100% of a nurse’s annual salary

to fill a vacated nursing position. As an example, a turnover rate of 16-20% could result in a

hospital employing 600 nurses and spending $5.5 million a year in replacement costs alone.

Source: New Mexico Health Policy Commission HM17/SM 18 Nurse Recruitment and

Retention in New Mexico Hospitals October 2007.

RELATIONSHIP

SB 77 relates to:

Senate Bill 77 – Page

3

SB 104, which would appropriate $1,925.0 from the general fund to the board of regents of New

Mexico State University to improve the nursing education program;

HB66 which would appropriate $100,0,0 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of New

Mexico State University to expand the Carlsbad Campus Nursing program;

HB 185 which would appropriate $2,237.0 from the general fund to the board of regents of the

University of New Mexico for the college of nursing to expand enrollment and alleviate the

shortage of nurses in NM.

GH/mt