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

SPONSOR Papen

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/28/08

HB

SHORT TITLE Expand NMSU Communications Disorder Program SB 28/aSEC

ANALYST Cox/Haug

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$500.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Department of Higher Education (HED)

Responses Received From

Health Policy Commission (HPC)

Public Education Department (PED)

New Mexico State University (NMSU)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Senate Education Committee Amendment

SEC amendment 28 adds an appropriation to the Board of Regents of the University of New

Mexico for $250.0 for the same purposes as the appropriation to New Mexico State University in

the original bill.

Synopsis of Original Bill

Senate Bill 28 appropriates two hundred fifty thousand dollars from the general fund to the

Regents of New Mexico State University.

According to Senate Bill 28, two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) shall be appropriated

from the general fund to the board of regents of New Mexico State University for expenditure in

fiscal year 2009 to expand the communications disorders program to increase the number of

speech-language pathologists in the public schools. HPC states that this Bill will add to both

graduate and under-graduate programs.

Senate Bill 28/aSEC – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $250,000 (two hundred fifty thousand dollars) 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.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The HED’s evaluation table of FY09 Research and Public Service Projects provided to the LFC

classifies this project as a “breach" of the Higher Education Formula. Reasons for this

classification decision are not provided. (LFC Report 07-20, Higher Education Department

Review of Selected Research and Public Service Projects, January 12, 2008, Table 4, p74.)

PED states that Senate Bill 28 provides financial support to a Communications Disorders

Program at New Mexico State University that is currently in place. The expansion of the

program would be used to pay tuition and stipends to graduate students who are enrolled in the

Program to become Speech Language Pathologists. The expansion pays for tuition and stipends

for a full school year, including the summer

PED states that the expansion would be broken out in the following manner: $75,000 for the

wages of the clinical supervisor, $48,000 for tuition of eight students, $1,200 a month stipend for

11 months totaling $ 105,600 for all eight students and $21,400 for books.

NMSU states that the 2000 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Schools

Survey reported that 51% of school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) indicated a

shortage of qualified SLPs in their school district. State-level data revealed that shortages were

most prevalent in Hawaii, Alaska, New Mexico, California, New Hampshire, and Arizona. In

addition, the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that more than 34,000 additional SLPs and

audiologists will be needed to fill the demand between 2000 and 2010.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

PED and others state that there is a relationship between Senate Bill 28 and House Bill 23 in that

they both address related service issues for children with disabilities as defined in the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) at 34 CFR § 300.34. House Bill 17 and 16 relate to

similar funding going to UNM for this collaborative effort.

PRC/bb:mt