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

SPONSOR Picraux

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/14/07

2/21/07 HB 915

SHORT TITLE Digital Info Manager Training

SB

ANALYST Ortiz

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$125.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates to SB836

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Commission of Public Records (CPR)

General Services Department (GSD)

Public Education Department (PED)

Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO)

Corrections Department (CD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 915 appropriates $125 thousand from the GENERAL FUND to the Commission of

Public Records for the purpose of providing training scholarships to information professionals

employed by state agencies or institutions or by local or tribal governments to receive certified

on-line training on managing digital records.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $125 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.

House Bill 915 – Page

2

The Commission of Public Records adds

that the intent of the appropriate is two-fold: first, to

provide scholarships and second, to employ a consultant to conduct the feasibility study, since

the agency does not the staff to undertake the study in-house.

The present, per student cost of the University of Arizona certification program (May 2007 -

May 2008) is $20.0. The appropriation would enable the Commission to provide five

scholarships for a total of $100.0. The remaining $25.0 would be used to contract with a

qualified consultant to conduct the feasibility study and for any related, incidental costs.

The bill contains an emergency clause that would make the funds available immediately upon

signature by the governor, providing the bill passes with the requisite two-thirds votes.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to the Commission of Public Records increasing need for governmental entities to

share information with each other in order to conduct business has made the need for information

professionals to acquire training in managing digital information critical. More often than not,

this information is created or captured electronically and stored in IT systems. These systems are

generally structured to address the needs of a specific governmental entity and do not facilitate

the sharing of information with other entities.

This training would provide information professionals the ability to contribute to the planning

and implementation of future government IT projects to ensure the ability of these systems to

fulfill the needs of a specific governmental entity, share information with other governmental

entities and preserve historically significant information for future researchers.

According to GSD, this type of training is more appropriately provided by the Information

Systems Division (ISD) of GSD or, if HB 959 is enacted, by the new Department of Information

Technology.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The Commission of Public Records will provide administrative support to the scholarships and

planning activities; however, as discussed above, the intent is to hire a consultant to conduct the

feasibility study since the agency does not have the resources to perform the work in-house.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

The bill is closely related to SB836. The intent of the two bills is the same, but the wording is

slightly different. The Senate Bill has a less comprehensive title and does not define institutions

as "academic institutions."

TECHNICAL ISSUES

It is possible, says the Commission of Public Records, there could be a title sufficiency issue

with HB915. As mentioned above, the companion House bill carries a more comprehensive title

which includes reference to the required report.

House Bill 915 – Page

3

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

The University of Arizona’s certificate program is the only program in the Southwest for the

study of digital information management that provides students with the theoretical knowledge,

conceptual frameworks and practical skills required to create, maintain and preserve digital

records. If this bill is not enacted the ability of New Mexico's information professionals to

acquire this knowledge will be significantly restricted.

EO/nt