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

SPONSOR Trujillo

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1-24-2008

HB 212

SHORT TITLE Veterans Rape Crisis and Trauma Aid

SB

ANALYST Dearing

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$412.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 212 appropriates $412 thousand from the general fund to the Veterans’ Services

department for the purpose of establishing center for veterans and their families at a rape crisis

and trauma center in Santa Fe.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $412 thousand contained in House Bill 212 is a recurring expense to the

general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY09 shall

revert to the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

House Bill 212 specifies direction of the $412 thousand appropriation to an established Santa Fe

rape crisis and trauma center to provide therapy for veterans and their families, trauma treatment,

support groups and staff training for service to veterans. The bill directs the compilation and

analysis of trend data on needs of New Mexico veterans.

A significant increase in rape and traumatic sexual assault events in the military and veteran

community has been noted and addressed at the national level including discussion in

House Bill 212 – Page

2

subcommittees of the federal House of Representatives.

1

Accordingly, larger numbers of

veterans are affected by this issue as they leave the military for civilian life. House Bill 212

establishes funding to provide support services for the veteran population and their families for

those affected by rape and traumatic sexual assault.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

If enacted, the LFC recommends that the Veterans’ Services department submit a plan for

program evaluation with specific program goals and criteria for assessing the effectiveness and

provide suggested outputs, outcomes and performance measures to evaluate the performance of

state government programs as prescribed in the Accountability in Government Act. Performance

measurements to track the number of veterans provided service at the proposed trauma center

could be an accurate indication of intended program outcomes.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

House Bill 212 specifies that the service provider center receiving the appropriation to be

established for a period at least 34 years.

PD/mt

1

“

figures show that the total number of reported cases of sexual assault involving Army personnel increased by 19 percent from 1999 to 2002—

from 658 to 783—with annual increases ranging from 2 percent to 13 percent. During the same period, the number of reported rapes increased by

25 percent—from 356 to 445." The Washington Post; citing a Department of Defense study. On June 27, 2006 House Government Reform

Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations held a hearing on sexual assault and violence against women

in the military, including sexual assault at military academies; finding DoD statistics that acknowledge 2,374 reported cases of sexual assault in

2005, an increase of 40 percent over 2004.; according to The Source on Women’s Issues in Congress.