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

SPONSOR Rawson

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

01/28/08

HB

SHORT TITLE NMSU Public Broadcasting Operations

SB 103

ANALYST Escudero

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$180.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

New Mexico State University – Public Broadcasting

Operation (NMSU)

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 103 would appropriate $180,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of

New Mexico State University (NMSU) for Improvement of the Universities Public Broadcasting

Operations.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $180.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any

unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of 2009 shall revert to the general

fund.

A request was submitted by NMSU in the amount of $561,900 to the New Mexico Higher

Education Department for review. SB103 appropriates $180,000. The Departments funding

recommendation for FY09 is a continuance of FY08 recurring funding in the amount of

$1,266,700 with no additional funding at this time.

Senate Bill 103 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to NMSU, the funding will assist the organization to fulfill the mission of the

providing educational and informational programs to meet the needs of our New Mexico

coverage area that is approximately the same size as the state of Maine. As the only available

over-the-air stations covering this significant portion of the state we will be able to continue to

provide service that will help meet the special needs of these residents with programs concerning

education, culture, news, public affairs and early childhood shows. Just as important, the

appropriation will support the effort of providing the professional staff, and professional

environment for the development of students enrolled at New Mexico State University,

continuing a thirty-year legacy.

Public broadcasting at NMSU plays a significant role in Southern New Mexico with

programming tailored to the local community as well as featuring issues of national importance.

The federally mandated conversion to digital operation plays a significant role as well, in that it

will enhance and expand the service provided. The request helps ensure that we will meet the

needs of our staff, the students of NMSU, an educational offering to the region, and the general

audiences served. It can not be overly stressed that these funds will also help to meet the future

federal requirements.

According to HED, New Mexico State Universities Public Broadcasting Operations offers

educational, cultural, news, public affairs and early childhood programming to a significant New

Mexico coverage area. This is the only available over the air station covering this significant

portion of the state. In addition, the operations support professional development of the staff and

students of NMSU.

Funding is intended to assist the organization to fulfill the mission of providing educational and

informational programming to New Mexico which included enhancing and expanding the

programming currently offered by the station.

There has been a recent federal mandate to convert all broadcasting operations to a high-

definition television (HDTV) which is a

digital television

broadcasting

system with greater

resolution

than traditional television systems. The department has acquired much of the

necessary equipment to convert the station however there is a lack of trained staff to operate the

facility. Funding is needed to recruit personnel with the technical expertise and experience

needed to meet the challenge of this digital broadcasting conversion.

The ability to recruit and retain highly skilled technical staff is crucial to remaining competitive

in the broadcasting industry and remaining competitive is an important measure of success.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

As stated by NMSU, failure to meet this funding request will adversely affect the ability to meet

the need of a very complex broadcast system.

Failure to meet this funding request will have an adverse impact on the ability to retain and

recruit personnel with the technical expertise and experience needed to meet the challenges

anticipated with the conversion to the federally mandated, and state supported conversion to

digital broadcasting scheduled for February 2009.

Senate Bill 103 – Page

3

Failure to meet this funding request will have a negative impact on the level and continuity of

service provided by University Public Broadcasting at NMSU, to the region it serves.

Failure to meet this funding request may impact the ability to provide service needs with regard

to state and federal emergency management requirements.

PME/mt