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

SPONSOR Chasey

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/15/2007

HB 1151

SHORT TITLE UNM Student Mass Transit

SB

ANALYST Moser

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$35.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

NM Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 1151 appropriates $35,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of the

University of New Mexico (UNM) for expenditure in FY08 for students to use mass transit to

attend the university.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $35,000 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

HED indicates that HB 1151 is a collaborative pilot program between UNM and the

Albuquerque Transportation Department to allow UNM students to use public transportation in

the Albuquerque Metro Area free of charge upon presenting a student ID.

House Bill 1151 – Page

2

UNM accommodates tens of thousands of students and faculty members on a daily basis, which

presents a transportation challenge. This bill would encourage students to use mass transit

instead of private automobiles.

This request was not submitted by UNM to the New Mexico Higher Education Department for

review and is not included in the Department’s funding recommendation for FY08.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

HED states that HB 1151 is a pilot program. Assessments of its success will be evaluated based

on the relief on congested roads and parking lots and the number of students accessing public

transit. These will be important factors in determining the continuation of this program.

GM/csd