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

SPONSOR Nava

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/24/06

2/13/06 HB

SHORT TITLE Public School Hospitality & Tourism Education

SB 55/aSFC

ANALYST Earp

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

Tourism Department (TD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of SFC Amendment

The Senate Finance Committee amendments to Senate Bill 55 remove the appropriation from the

bill. As amended, the bill has no direct fiscal impact. It is presumed that the proposed program

would continue to be offered with support from the hospitality industry as in the past.

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 55 appropriates $100,000 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of Eastern

New Mexico University (ENMU) for the purpose of implementing an industry-recognized certi-

fication program in hospitality and tourism education for high school students throughout the

state.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $100,000 contained in this bill is 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.

Senate Bill 55/aSFC – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

This request was not included in the list of priority projects submitted by ENMU to the New

Mexico Higher Education Department (NMHED). Consequently, this request was not reviewed

nor recommended by NMHED for funding in fiscal year 2007.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

ENMU would administer the proposed program. It is anticipated that necessary administrative

expenses would be absorbed within the appropriated amount.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The New Mexico Tourism Department reports that it supports any legislation that results in im-

proved customer relations with visitors to New Mexico. There is a significant need for individu-

alized training for high school students who will make up the future tourism industry workforce.

Information provided by the New Mexico Restaurant Association (NMRA) through ENMU indi-

cates that NMRA supports this initiative which currently involves 39 schools serving 1,200 stu-

dents in New Mexico.

DE/yr