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

SPONSOR HEC

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/17/2007

2/28/2007 HB CS/359/aHAFC

SHORT TITLE Geospatial Resources Act

SB

ANALYST Moser

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$300.0 $300.0

$600.0 Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates Executive Budget Recommendation FY 08, Information Technology (IT)

Appropriation Recommendations

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

New Mexico Department of Higher Education (DHE)

Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HAFC Amendment

House Appropriation and Finance Committee amendment for House Education Committee

Substitute for House Bill 359 removes the appropriation from the Bill.

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Education Committee Substitute for House Bill 359 makes substantial revisions to the

original bill, but does not change the original intent or structure of the bill, which is to establish a

Geospatial Coordinator in the Office of the Chief Information Officer to work with what is now

the Geospatial Resources Clearinghouse (formerly called the Geospatial Resources Office) to be

created within and operated by University of New Mexico. Significantly, it reduces the

appropriation from $550,000 to $150,000 to University of New Mexico for the development and

initial operation of the clearinghouse. It also eliminates the Geospatial Resources Advisory

Committee which was to have been appointed by the Information Technology Commission.

CS/House Bill 359/aHAFC – Page

2

It adds a section defining “clearinghouse" and “coordinator" as described above, and which

defines geospatial as “the synthesis of geographic, demographic, statistical, mapping and other

data sets in an electronic format."

It adds a July 1, 2007 deadline for the coordinator’s development of the Geospatial Information

Technology Strategic Plan, with annual updates required by July 1 of each year, and also adds

that the coordinator’s duties now include applying for and administering grants.

The clearinghouse is specifically designated a collaborative center for “geospatial maps, images

and data and to provide support." It is now required to ensure compliance with the Public

Records Act for geospatial data that originates with a state agency or local government, and

make an annual report not only to the Information Technology Commission, but also the

Legislative Finance Committee, and an appropriate interim legislative committee. The list of

clearinghouse duties is expanded, but is basically similar in type and substance to those duties

contained in the original bill. Substitute now goes to HAFC.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $300,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY08 shall revert to the

general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The OCIO offers that if the bill is enacted, it would statutorily create a GIS coordinator in the

Office of the Chief Information Officer. The OCIO suggests that it may be prudent to charge the

State CIO, a cabinet level Governor’s appointee with the duties rather than assigning the duties

statutorily to the GIS coordinator position. This would enable greater flexibility into the future

as Geospatial Technology continues to grow and expand.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The Bill assigns duties to EDAC to serve New Mexico in a collaborative manner. EDAC will

need to coordinate closely with the OCIO to ensure that its efforts are consistent with the

Statewide efforts. It may serve the State well to include language that requires Information

Technology Certification (approval) of clearinghouse activities, thereby ensuring statewide

collaboration and adherence to Statewide technological standards and project management

requirements.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

The OCIO submitted to the Governor a “Multi- Agency" C-2 request to fund “Geospatial

Coordination Services" some of which are duplicated in HB359 initiatives. The OCIO

sponsored request, which has been endorsed and recommended in the Executive Budget, is the

result of a collaborative effort and consensus vision of wide ranging stakeholders including

Federal, State, County, City, Educational, and private entities. In addition to providing services

to support statewide geospatial initiatives, the OCIO request creates a GIS Coordinator position

in the OCIO for the State of New Mexico. The OCIO request provides inclusive participation

and consensus building among all stakeholders by using existing structures; These include the

CS/House Bill 359/aHAFC – Page

3

OCIO/Geospatial Advisory Committee (GAC) and the Governor’s Geospatial Data Acquisition

Advisory Committee (GDACC) (Executive Order 2003-018).

The OCIO provides that the Substitute Bill, as written, allows for the development and

maintenance of a long-range geographic information system strategic plan, approved by the ITC,

and requires the GIS coordinator to update the ITC annually on July 1. The OCIO is already in

the process of generating a Geospatial Strategic Plan for the State of New Mexico. This

Strategic Plan will follow National Initiatives as set forth by the Federal Geographic Data

Committee. Federal funding was secured by the OCIO/Geospatial Advisory Committee to

support this first phase.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The Bill designates the Earth Data Analysis Center (EDAC) at the University of New Mexico to

host the Geospatial Resources Office. EDAC currently functions as a clearinghouse for

Geospatial Data within the State and is considered a premier and respected operation both within

the state and nationally. Any consideration for providing integrated and collaborative geospatial

services for state and local requirements should include EDAC. Both the OCIO request and this

Substitute Bill correctly reference these services.

GM/nt