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

SPONSOR Taylor

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

01/28/08

HB

SHORT TITLE NM Highlands Wrestling Program

SB 105

ANALYST Escudero

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$100.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU)

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 105 appropriates $100,000 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of New

Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) for expenditure in FY09 for the Men's Wrestling

Program

.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $100.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any

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

fund.

A request was submitted by NMHU in the amount of $216,100 to the New Mexico Higher

Education Department for review. The Departments funding recommendation for FY09 is a

continuance of FY08 recurring funding of $216,100 with no additional funding at this time

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

classifies this project as a “does not fit within HED priorities for Higher Education" project.

Reasons for this classification decision are not provided. (LFC Report 07-20, Higher Education

Senate Bill 105 – Page

2

Department Review of Selected Research and Public Service Projects, January 12, 2008, Table

4, p73.)

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to HED, NMHU is requesting the funding be made available for the Men’s Wrestling

Program to be incorporated into the athletic budget. NMHU is associated with the Rocky

Mountain Athletic Conference, which is comprised of fourteen institutions and has participated

in athletic contests with Eastern New Mexico University, Western New Mexico University,

University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University and the College of the Southwest.

NMHU is partnering with the City of Las Vegas, Luna Community College, and the New

Mexico Activities Association to provide athletic venues for their events.

The program has achieved the following accomplishments:

•

Accommodates approximately 250-300 student athletes each year;

•

With the addition of Men’s Wrestling and Women’s Rodeo, the number of student

athletes has increased by over 50.

•

Goals of winning conference and regional championships are part of the expectations as

well as the student’s academic performance.

PME/mt