March 6, 2007 Extension Update
Dear Extension Colleagues:
I wanted to take this opportunity to inform you about an important change of responsibilities that will be taking place in a couple of weeks. Lori Osborn, who has been handling County College and Civil Rights responsibilities over the last couple of years, is moving on to another opportunity. We wish Lori well in her new endeavors and on behalf of NMSU Cooperative Extension. THANK YOU! Lorie's effectiveness in covering these two important jobs has been tremendous. In the interim, I have asked Kim Hand to help out with the County College related activities, including working with personnel in the New Mexico Association of Counties. Terry Canup has graciously agreed to help with Civil Rights responsibilities and will provide the follow-up needed on this year's reviews. Lori's last day is March 23rd.
Last week the annual herb seminar was held in Santa Fe. A preliminary report was presented on the dye plant collaborative project carried out over the last year. Survey results indicated a strong interest in obtaining dye plant material and a willingness to pay for them. Next steps include refining the harvesting and processing of these materials so that they are readily available for purchase. This week the annual Pecan Conference is being held in Las Cruces where a large number of attendees are expected. Thank you to everyone involved in the success of both events.
Attached are preliminary reports prepared by Ricardo Rel regarding progress to date at the legislature. Important to remember these figures are preliminary. Many legislatures have been supportive of Cooperative Extension and the College.
Lastly, I am leaving for Jordan Friday, March 9th for an eight-day trip with Octavio Ramirez, Rich Phillips, and our Diné College partner, Benita Liston. This trip will set in place the preliminary plan of work for the recently funded USDA Iraq project: http://www.nmsu.edu/~ucomm/Releases/2006/december/iraq_nmsu.htm. I am currently in Santa Fe, making one last effort to solidify our efforts and to acknowledge those that have been supportive of our request.
If you want to contact me, give Bea Garrett a call at 646-3015. Thank you.
Paul
message from Ricardo
General Appropriations
There are 2 legislative bills that fund general appropriation (HB 2 and SB 611).
HB 2 Summary
- HB 2 has passed both the House and Senate and is going to Conference.? Both HB 2 bills contain 5 percent for comp, .75 percent for the FY08 contribution to ERB, FY 09 advance for ERB, and $43 million for deferred maintenance (AES minimum estimate $365,500).
- Both bills include $150,000 for Tribal Extension (recurring) and $500,000 for Chile R&D (nonrecurring).? Language is included in the bill to allow the Chile R&D funding to be expended from FY 2007-09.
- Both bills continue the Special Projects expansion but the Senate cut the funding by 15%.? Special Projects expansion includes the following CAHE items (House levels):
- Viticulture $67,100
- Water Mgmt and Research $106,400
- Memorial Middle School in Las Vegas $39,400
- 4H Program $63,100
- ASC Clovis $19,800
- ASC Tucumcari $59,200
- Economic Sustainability of the Chile Industry $78,900
- Both bill include $600,000 in the Human Services Department of the SFI program.
- Conferees will work on the bill over the next couple of days.? I expect to see a conference bill by the weekend.
- See HB Hse Sen Comps CAHE.pdf for more detail.
Preliminary - HB2 House and Senate Comparisons (CAHE impacts - March 3, 2007
SB 611 (HB 2 Junior) Summary
- The bill passed the HAFC yesterday afternoon and will be brought to the House floor in the next couple of days.? I don?t expect to see a House/Senate Conference since the bill includes individual member adds.?
- The bill includes $272,000 for AES (Clovis Ag Science Center mostly to support Dairy Research and Outreach) and $1,030,000 million for CES for a total of $1.302 million for CAHE.? Major funding items include $260,000 for 4H, $382,000 for Chile R&D, and $96,000 for Tribal Extension.
- I would treat all the projects in this bill as nonrecurring even though the legislature is treating them as recurring.? DFA will have the final say as to what is recurring and nonrecurring.
- See SB 611 W_HSE ADDS CAHE IMPACTS.pdf file for more detail.
Preliminary - Senate passed SB611 with House Adds
SB 710 (I refer to it as the Jr. Capital Outlay Bill)
- This bill has been signed by the Governor w/o line item vetoes.
- SB 710 started out as the all the capital outlay projects that were vetoed last year.? However the final bill ended up with new projects that were not included in last years bill.
- The bill includes $300,000 in projects for CAHE.
- See SB 710 CAHE impacts Final for more detail.
We are still waiting for the larger capital outlay bill.