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

SPONSOR Nava

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

01/24/08

HB

SHORT TITLE NMSU Early Childhood Research

SB 88

ANALYST Hanika-Ortiz

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$271.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

New Mexico State University (NMSU)

Children, Youth & Families Department (CYFD)

New Mexico Higher Education Department (NMHED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 88 appropriates $271 thousand from the General Fund to NMSU for expenditure in

FY09 to pay for the Southwest Institute for Early Childhood Research and Development at

NMSU.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $271 thousand contained in this bill 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.

This request was submitted by NMSU to the NMHED for review, but was not included in the

Department’s funding recommendation for FY09.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

This bill appropriates funding to expand the Southwest Institute for Early Childhood Research

Senate Bill 88 – Page

2

and Development at NMSU. Early childhood professionals in New Mexico will have increased

access to teacher professional development through the Institute.

State agencies report that high quality early childhood education is proven to have a significant

impact on the development of skills for children living in poverty situations. Approximately

26% of New Mexico children under the age of 18 live in poverty. New Mexico children under

the age of 5 in poverty rank even higher at 29.8% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005). The years from

birth through age 5 are especially critical in developing basic knowledge, skills, and interests to

become literate. Pre-school teachers and childcare providers are an invaluable source of

information and experience for children who receive limited learning activities at home; and,

may better prepare them for elementary school.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

CYFD performance measures include the percent of children in state-funded Pre-Kindergarten

programs who demonstrate measurable progress on the preschool readiness for kindergarten tool.

This bill is consistent with that performance measure.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

Agencies report that the Southwest Institute for Early Childhood Studies will increase the quality

of early childhood educators and as a result increase student-learning outcomes by building on

the long-standing partnership among state agencies and higher education in New Mexico

committed to these goals. The primary partners are the New Mexico Public Education

Department, the Department of Children, Youth and Families, the New Mexico Office of Child

Development and Governor-appointed Child Development Board, the New Mexico Higher

Education Early Childhood Task Force, the New Mexico State University Early Childhood

Program,

the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), the New Mexico

Association for the Education of Young Children, and local educational agencies within the

state.

ALTERNATIVES

NMSU could seek federal grants, community based funding sources from private industry, or

funding from private foundations.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

NMSU stresses that potential consequences include continued limited growth in the quality of

development for early childhood educators in New Mexico and as a result, continued limitations

on student-learning outcomes for young children of our state in their first important years of

schooling.

AHO/mt