[1st-mile-nm] SSTI: NM Budget Items

[Richard Lowenberg]

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>From the SSTI Weekly Digest
A Publication of the State Science and Technology Institute
http://www.ssti.org

New Mexico Governor Signs Budget Bills, Vetoes Capital Package

New Mexico's 2008 legislative session wrapped up last week, resulting in
no final action on several TBED-related bills and leading Gov. Bill
Richardson to call a special legislative session to address his health
care reform agenda.

Gov. Richardson signed the General Appropriations Act of 2009 and the
Junior Budget Bill with minimal vetoes but vetoed a Capital Outlay
package, which included $2 million to the board of regents of Northern New
Mexico for a proposed solar energy research park ($1 million less than
requested) and $3.5 million for clean energy grants to public entities for
innovative energy projects within the Energy, Minerals and Natural
Resources Department. The legislature passed the capital bill again,
giving the governor until March 5 to approve it with individual line-item
vetoes, if he deems necessary.

Lawmakers approved $14 million last year for the state's new Supercomputer
- $11 million to purchase the computer and $3 million to set up gateways
at the state's research universities. This year, $2.5 million was
appropriated for staffing and operating expenses for the New Mexico
Computing Applications Center, the operating force for the supercomputer,
with an additional $300,000 in the junior budget earmarked for the center.

The legislature stalled, however, on a measure designed to provide an
economic development tool for the state relating to the supercomputer. HB
262, the Research Applications Act, would have set up operations of the
supercomputer as a nonprofit entity, able to accept public and private
investment so that businesses and organizations could pay the state to use
the system.

A proposal to replace the Technology Research Collaborative with a
Technology Development Authority and establish a $10 million technology
development fund also died in session.

The fiscal year 2009 main budget bill signed by the governor includes $1.2
million for the Renewable Energy Efficiency program, $663,600 for the
Spaceport Authority, and $276,500 for the Technology Commercialization
program.

The junior budget bill provides funding for several projects at the New
Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, including $150,000 for the
Small Business Innovation Research outreach program, $50,000 for student
outreach in science and engineering, and $28,000 for a statewide
initiative to provide training on the supercomputer for middle and high
school students.

Gov. Richardson also signed the General Obligation Bond Act, which
requires voter approval for several university capital projects, including
$17 million to the UNM Health Sciences Center cancer research and
treatment center and $4.5 million for the UNM  Health Science  Center
neurosciences research building.


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Richard Lowenberg
P.O.Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
505-989-9110,  505-603-5200 cell

1st-Mile Institute
New Mexico Broadband Initiative
www.1st-mile.com
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