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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Anderson
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
1/27/2007
HB 162
SHORT TITLE UNM Institute for Aerospace Engineering
SB
ANALYST McOlash
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
$777.2
Recurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates to SB 221/HB 253, SB 8/HB 79, HB 284/HB 215
Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act (SB 2/HB 7)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Higher Education Department (HED)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 162 appropriates $777,200 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of the
University of New Mexico for expenditure in FY 2008 to expand the Institute for Aerospace En-
gineering.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $777,200 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the General Fund.
Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 2008 shall revert to the
General Fund.
UNM indicated in its request that $473,600 is for recurring and $923,600 for non-recurring ex-
penses. However, HB162 appropriates funding of $777,200.
pg_0002
House Bill 162 – Page
2
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SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
The Higher Education Department reports that this request supports the development of new in-
terdisciplinary Aerospace Engineering (AE) programs. Funding is sought for faculty, laboratory
equipment, and associated research infrastructure. New academic programs in AE will be cre-
ated, but not new degree programs. The new academic programs in AE will comprise: 1) a cer-
tificate at the undergraduate level using courses cross-listed in the graduate program; 2) a new
concentration at the graduate level; and 3) a summer school for high school students.
This proposal was submitted to HED by the University of New Mexico for review, but was not
included in the Department’s funding recommendation for FY08.
PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS
HED Analysis
UNM shall submit a plan for program evaluation, including specific program goals and
criteria for assessing program effectiveness to the Legislative Finance Committee and
NMHED by August 1, 2007. The institution shall also submit a program evaluation to the
Legislative Finance Committee and NMHED by June 30, 2010 detailing the benefits to
the State of New Mexico from having this program implemented for a three-year period.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
SB 221/HB 253 – authorizes New Mexico Finance Authority to provide financing assistance for
an aerospace technology warehouse facility in Bernalillo County, an aerospace technol-
ogy project in Grant County, and an aerospace technology project in Sandoval County.
SB 8/HB 79 – funding for aerospace engineering at New Mexico State University.
HB 284/HB 215 – authorizes the State Investment Officer to invest in certain New Mexico aero
space businesses.
General Appropriation Act (SB 2/HB 7) – make appropriations for NMSU aerospace
engineering.
ALTERNATIVES
An alternative is to assess whether an accredited AE degree program should be established to
accord with UNM's stated goals in AE education, research, and development.
BM/sb