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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

1/30/06

HB 287

SHORT TITLE NMSU Organic Farmer Services

SB

ANALYST Earp

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$293.5

Recurring

General Fund

$206.5 Non-Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates Senate Bill 26

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department(HED)

New Mexico State University(NMSU)

Organic Commodity Commission(OCC)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 287 appropriates $500,000 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of New

Mexico State University (NMSU) to provide teaching, research and extension services to small

organic farmers by the Small Farm Institute.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Information provided by NMSU indicates that $206,500 of the appropriation of $500,000 con-

tained in this bill is a non-recurring request to support the development of infrastructure (small

greenhouse, cold storage and equipment) for a small farm demonstration, teaching and research

site on the NMSU campus. The remaining $293,500 would be a recurring expense to the general

fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2007 shall

revert to the general fund.

House Bill 287 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

This proposal was not included among the special program funding requests submitted by the

NMSU to the Higher Education Department (HED) for review in September 2005 and, conse-

quently, this proposal has not been included in the HED fiscal year 2007 funding recommenda-

tions to the Legislature. However, the Small Farm Initiative was later added to the NMSU-board

supported legislative package for 2006-07.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

NMSU would administer the proposed program. No significant administrative impact is antici-

pated.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

House Bill 287 and Senate Bill 26 are duplicate measures.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

NMSU reports that the Small Farm Institute will carry out teaching, research and extension ac-

tivities that focus on the needs of small farmers. Particular emphasis will be placed on increased

profitability through improved business management practices, the development of new markets

for small growers, and field research in sustainable agriculture practice and technologies. The

Institute will be located in Las Cruces, but its mission is statewide.

DKE/mt