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

SPONSOR McSorley

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/24/08

HB

SHORT TITLE UNM Utton Transboundary Center

SB 123

ANALYST Haug

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$75.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to SB 249

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

Office of the State Engineer (OSE)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 123 appropriates $75.0 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of the

University of New Mexico to increase the operational budget for the Utton Transboundary

Resources Center at the School of Law.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $75.0 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.

A request was submitted by UNM to the New Mexico Higher Education Department for review.

The Department’s funding recommendation for FY09 is a continuance of FY08 recurring

funding in the amount of $431,000.

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

classifies this project as a “would not oppose if funding available" project. Reasons for this

Senate Bill 123 – Page

2

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

The HED states that according to UNM, the Utton Transboundary Resources Center (UTRC)

brings together experts from law, science, and public policy to resolve inter-jurisdictional natural

resources issues, with an emphasis on water resources along the US/Mexico border. The center

acts as a neutral partner in helping stakeholders gather and use data for sustainable resource

management plans, including assisting Sandia National Laboratories on a water-planning model

for the Middle Rio Grande Water Assembly. Since its inception in 1986, the center has promoted

preventive diplomacy to find solutions for both national and international resource issues.

Students participate as research assistants and project organizers on all of these activities.

RELATIONSHIP

Senate Bill 249 makes an appropriation to the UTRC in FY 2009 to support the UTRC in

sponsoring some expenses for a national conference on Indian Water Rights.

GH/bb