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

SPONSOR

Campos

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/24/2008

HB

SHORT TITLE East Torrance Soil & Water Conservation

SB 289

ANALYST McOlash

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$40.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Senate Bill 289 is related to SB47, HB85, and HB140.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA)

Higher Education Department (HED)

Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 289 appropriates $40,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of New

Mexico State University for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture for expenditure in FY

09 for the east Torrance Soil and Water Conservation District SWCD to conduct education and

training programs and general district operations.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $40,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the General Fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 09 shall revert to the

General Fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

East Torrance District is one of the 47 SWCDs of DOA. The East Torrance District makes up

1,142,028 acres in the Estancia area of New Mexico. A variety of land use occurs in this district

Senate Bill 289– Page

2

including 25,000 acres of irrigated crop land, 2,000 acres of dry crop land, 1,059,923 acres of

range land, 47,405 acres of forest, and 7,700 acres of urban land. All of the soil and water

conservation efforts in this area are conducted by one SWCD office that has only one paid

employee and a seven person volunteer board.

The East Torrance County SWCD office is trying to reach more students through Estancia’s

single private secondary school and all public schools and Head Start Programs in the area. In

addition to working with school children the office holds public outreach programs and

workshops for private land owners. According to the East Torrance County SWCD office,

demand for these programs is high but the resources are not available to meet the demand. This

appropriation will supplement the existing operating budget by adding funds to hire one

additional person to conduct outreach programs and workshops. Additionally, a small portion of

the funding will go toward materials used to teach about watershed and soil conservation issues.

This request was not submitted by NMSU to the New Mexico Higher Education Department

(NMHED) and this request is not included in the NMHED’s executive funding recommendations

for FY09.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The NMDA will be responsible for administering the provisions of this bill as part of its ongoing

responsibilities.

RELATIONSHIP

Senate Bill 289 is a companion to SB47, HB85, HB140 - each of which deals with monies being

administered by NMSU for the NMDA for soil and water conservation districts and restoration

efforts.

BM/bb