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

SPONSOR Altamirano

DATE TYPED 2/11/05

HB

SHORT TITLE Office of State Historian Programs

SB 399

ANALYST Medina

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

$755.0

Recurring

General

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates SB 404

Duplicates SB 598 in purpose, but not in appropriation amount

Duplicates SB 607

Duplicates HB 781

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Response Received From

Commission of Public Records

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 399 appropriates $755.0 from the general fund to the State Commission of Public

Records for the purpose of enhancing the New Mexico history web site project, enhance the New

Mexico history publications history series, implement a New Mexico history scholars program

for fellowships and a lecture program, and to implement the New Mexico centennial farms pro-

gram and employ its director.

Significant Issues

The Commission of Public Records did not submit an agency analysis for this bill because three

Senate Bill 399 -- Page 2

items in this bill are being addressed in three separate bills. However, the $120.0 appropriation

for the New Mexico centennial farms program is not addressed in any other bill.

•

NM History Website:

The bill would assist the Office of the State Historian staff in content development (research,

writing, editing, etc.). Given their other responsibilities, time to devote to content develop-

ment will inevitably be limited and realization of the purpose of the site – to provide an eas-

ily accessible, reliable and encompassing source for information about the state’s rich history

– will be deferred. The intent of the appropriation for the NM History web site is to contract

with a project manager and content researchers and reviewers as well as a web design firm to

provide workload relief to existing staff.

•

NM History Publication Series:

According to the Commission of Public Records, the availability of authoritative historical

works on various New Mexico themes that could be of use to educators and scholars could

potentially strengthen the teaching of New Mexico history at the secondary and post-

secondary levels. These works could also prove valuable sources of information on NM his-

tory for students and anyone interested in the state’s rich history.

•

New Mexico History Scholars Program:

According to the Commission of Public Records, the appropriation would be used to fund

fellowships that would encourage research in the State Records Center and Archives’ premier

collections by scholars. The agency would establish the criteria for award of the fellowships

through rule, although the appropriation is based on an average stipend of $2.5 per month.

The term of the fellowship would be a minimum of one month and a maximum of three. As

one requirement for holding a fellowship, each fellow would be asked to give a formal lec-

ture. The remainder of the appropriation (estimated at $15.0) would be used to meet opera-

tional expenses associated with the lectures.

ADMINSTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The intent of the appropriation for the publication series is to use the funds appropriated to pro-

duce the first three in a series of ten publications. The first three volumes then would be made

available for purchase (pursuant to the agency’s resale program authorized in Section 14-3-8.1

NMSA 1978). Revenue from sales would be deposited to the agency’s revolving fund and used

to defray costs of producing future volumes in the series.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $755.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any

unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2006 shall revert to the

general fund.

Continuing Appropriations

The LFC FY06 appropriation recommendation is balanced between revenues and expenditures

and any increase in recurring funding must be offset by reductions in other areas of the recom-

mendation. The Legislature must consider all priorities and funding requirements to find reve-

nue to support this legislation.

Senate Bill 399 -- Page 3

DUPLICATION

Duplicates SB 404 (State Historian NM History Website)

Duplicates SB 598 in purpose, but not in appropriation amount (NM History Website--$200.0)

Duplicates SB 607 (NM History Publication Series)

Duplicates HB 781 (New Mexico History Scholars Program)

ALTERNATIVES

The duplicate bills mentioned above could be considered individually.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL.

Further development of the New Mexico History Website would continue with current resources

available. The agency states that the breadth of historical material and the work it takes to inte-

grate this material into the web site (research, scanning and data entry) require an expanded

scope of work and additional resources. Furthermore, if the NM History Scholars Program is not

funded, the effort to promote research in the archival collections by scholars and realize the con-

comitant deeper appreciation and understanding of the state’s history would have to be deferred.

DXM/sb:rs