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

SPONSOR Ezzell

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/5/07

HB 464

SHORT TITLE Roswell Science Festival

SB

ANALYST Lucero

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$27.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to HB 225, HB 367, SB 131

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 464 appropriates twenty-seven thousand ($27,000) from the general fund to Children,

Youth and Families Department for expenditure in 2008 to contract with the city of Roswell’s

recreation department to coordinate an educational science festival for fourth, fifth, or sixth

grade and other gifted students in southeastern New Mexico that includes exhibits, workshops

and hands-on activities and demonstrations from state or national scientific organizations or

museums.

House Bill 464 – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of twenty-seven thousand ($27,000) contained in this bill is a recurring

expense to the general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of

fiscal year 2008 shall revert to the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The Roswell science festival for upper elementary students in southeastern New Mexico began

seven years ago by a parent organization to highlight engaging activities and exhibits for

students. Museums and scientific organizations (such as Johnson Space Center, the Science

Place, Bureau of Land Management and the oil industry) send exhibits and activities to enrich

the educational opportunities of those students. Six to 700 students attend and many of these

students are bused to Roswell. The main purpose of the funding would be to support busing the

students and transporting the exhibits.

As a growing community, Roswell has many students eager to learn about science but not many

resources like museums, planetariums, nature centers, or other science-related business that are

found in more urban areas of the state like Albuquerque, Las Cruces, or Santa Fe. Goddard

Science Days is a community-based festival that seeks to bring the science enrichment resources

to students in Roswell and surrounding communities.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

PED states that: there is no impact on the PED’s performance measures; however, this does

support performance measures for student proficiency in science and the standards and

benchmarks for science.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The science festival in Roswell, called Goddard Days, has been a successful event for several

years. The administrative infrastructure is in place, as the gifted students parents’ association has

been the primary organizer in the past, in cooperation with the Roswell Recreation Department.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Relates to HB 225, HB 367, SB 131

TECHNICAL ISSUES

None at this time.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The festival is a free hands-on exhibit and science discovery festival, in the Roswell Convention

Center, designed to teach and delight with exhibits covering the topics of Physics, Chemistry and

Biology.

House Bill 464 – Page

3

In previous years, The International Hall of Fame Center of Alamogordo, New Mexico exhibit

highlighted an exciting variety of Space Exhibits including but not limited to Space Suit

protection, the International Space Station, Mercury Capsule, a Tour of the New Solar System,

with topics like: Galileo, Cassini Space Probe, Mars, Stardust Mission and many others. Explora!

Science Center and Children's Museum of Albuquerque exhibits emphasized the fun of learning

and critical thinking with such apparatuses as Jacob's Ladder, a Tornado Box, Lighting rods and

many more.

Many other activities such as an evening of star gazing with the Roswell Astronomy Club, a

rocket building workshop and a community Rocket Launch with the Roswell Parks and

Recreation Department. Extracurricular academic opportunities provide alternative activities to

gang involvement and are more generally associated with prevention of juvenile justice

involvement. Science and mathematics skills are increasingly important factors in the national

job market and for statewide economic growth.

CYFD states that: involvement in extracurricular academics has been identified as a “resiliency

factor" that, in conjunctions with other resiliencies, serves to protect youth from other risk

factors in their social environment.

ALTERNATIVES

Appropriate the funding to the Public Education Department, or the Roswell school district, or

the local government division of the Department of Finance and Administration.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

Status Quo.

DL/nt