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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Lujan, B
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
1/24/08
HB 402
SHORT TITLE State Historian Digital History Project
SB
ANALYST Ortiz
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY08
FY09
$15.0 Non-Recurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)
FY08
FY09
FY10 3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
Total
$5.0*
$5.0*
$10.0 Recurring General
Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
* Costs to the agency to administer the contracts, review research and digitize documents for this project averages to about $5.0
per year.
Relates to SB4, SB172, SB216, SB390, HB14, HB18, HB69, and HB82
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Commission of Public Record (CPR)
Attorney General’s Office (AGO)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 402, making an appropriation to the state commission of public records for the state
historian’s digital history project, appropriates $15 thousand from the GENERAL FUND to
Commission of Public Records for the purpose of the state historian’s land grant digital history
project.
This bill will allow the Commission of Public Records to contract with qualified researchers,
archivists or historians to research land grant records located at the State Records Center and
pg_0002
House Bill 402 – Page
2
Archives and to digitize original documents, and also to transcribe and translate these documents
and make them more accessible through the New Mexico Digital History Project (NMDHP).
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $15 thousand contained in this bill is a RECURRING expense to the
GENERAL FUND. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of 2010
shall revert to the GENERAL FUND.
Additional operating expenses include indirect costs such as the time necessary to establish and
review the contracts, time spent reviewing deliverables, and IT support. While the Commission
fully supports the NMDHP it is concerned about the agency's ability to absorb additional
administrative responsibilities. The resources of both the Office of the State Historian and
administrative services division are already stretched; additional administrative staff and IT
support to maintain the website may be necessary if the agency is to administer the NMDHP
effectively.
It should also be noted that HAFC adopted the LFC budget recommendation, which included an
expansion for $18.3 thousand and
0.5 FTE to convert an existing 0.5 FTE to full time. The
position would provide administrative support to the Office of the State Historian and relieve the
state historian and the deputy historian of administrative duties.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
According the Attorney General’s Office, The title of the bill and the appropriation do not
reference the same project. The New Mexico State Historian is implementing a “New Mexico
Digital History Project". See
http://newmexicohistory.org/digital_history.php
. The title of the bill
refers to that project. However, this bill states that the appropriation is for the “Land Grant
Digital History Project".
The state historian notes that one of the most pressing policy issues of the 20
th
century in New
Mexico has been the question of land tenure following the U.S. annexation of New Mexico in
1848. Full understanding and appreciation of the issue can only be found through detailed
examination and research of the written record. These records include original land grants,
which were made to individuals and communities during the Spanish (1598-1821) and Mexican
(1821-1846) periods of New Mexico’s history. Following the annexation and in accord with the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the archival records also include extensive documentation
produced by the office of the United States Surveyor General of New Mexico and the United
States Court of Private Land Claims. Collectively, these records are held at the State Records
Center and Archives. While there are approximately 300 land grants, the appropriation will
allow the agency to begin the process of digitizing the 120 active New Mexico Land Grants. By
digitizing a portion of these land grant records, valuable documentation will be made more
accessible to land grant heirs, scholars working on these records, students and educators.
The Commission of Public Records and the Office of the State Historian have already developed
the website and maintenance for the website (which is hosted off-site) is incorporated into the
operating budget. However the agency has limited resources to provide the necessary manpower
to research and produce the historical essays that are necessary to provide a context for digitized
documents, maps, video and photographs.
pg_0003
House Bill 402 – Page
3
PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS
The Office of the State Historian's New Mexico History Digital project is identified in the
Commission of Public Record's FY 08 strategic plan as follows:
I
NITIATIVE
#2: B
UILD
A
WARENESS OF
A
GENCY
R
ESOURCES AND
S
ERVICES
Strategy 2.1: Improve on-line access to agency resources and services.
Action Step 2.1.4
. Expand and enhance NM history website.
Provide access to Phase 1 of the history website by target date of 6/30/08.
Create 25 content units and make them available through the New Mexico History
website.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
The bill would appropriate $15.0 to the agency for the purposes identified above. The intent of
the appropriation is three-fold: first, to employ consultants to conduct the research, second to
publish the research information on-line, and third to digitize original land grant documents and
place them online through the New Mexico Digital History website. The appropriation will
allow the agency to contract with 2 to 5 consultants to conduct research and translate and
transcribe documents based on direction from the State Historian. Resources will also be
required to upload the information on to the History website and to scan original documents
housed at the State Records Center and Archives.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
Relates to SB4, SB172, SB216, SB390, HB14, HB18, HB69, and HB82
WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL
Without the appropriation, access to land grant documents will be limited to on-site visits to the
State Records Center and Archives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS
What is the distinction between the digital history project and the land grant digital history
project.
EO/bb