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

SPONSOR Arnold-Jones

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/25/08

HB 296

SHORT TITLE NM Poison & Drug Info Center Program

SB

ANALYST Haug

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$300.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 296 appropriates $300.0 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of the

University of New Mexico to increase the base budget of the New Mexico Poison and Drug

Information Center of the College of Pharmacy.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $300.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any

unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2009 shall revert to the

general fund.

The HED states that 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 FY09.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to the HED, UNM administers the operation of the New Mexico Poison and Drug

Information Center (NMPDIC) through the College of Pharmacy, located on the Health Sciences

House Bill 296– Page

2

Center campus. It serves as a teaching site that exposes students, residents, and fellows to enough

clinical toxicology to provide a meaningful educational experience.

The HED states that the funding will allow NMPDIC to continue to provide 24-hour service to

all residents of New Mexico. It does not increase services provided. According to UNM, from

FY04 through FY07, NMPDIC has accumulated deficits, and the predicted deficit for FY07-

FY08 is $140,000. These deficits are primarily the result of annual leave, holiday, and on-call

expenses associated with telephone staff (9.17 FTE’s). When NMPDIC is fully staffed, its

budget will not support the true costs of providing service. NMPDIC has had to allocate nearly

all of the Materials and Services’ portion of its budget to cover salary expenses. As a result, the

Center does not have enough funding to provide public education materials, replace outdated

computer equipment, or to pay telephone expenses

GH/nt