NOTE: As provided in LFC policy, this report is intended for use by the standing finance committees of the legislature.  The Legislative Finance Committee does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information in this report when used in any other situation.

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(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Commission of Public Records (CPR)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

The Change State Name to "Nuevo Mexico" resolution proposes that the New Mexico Constitution be amended to change the name of the state from "New Mexico" to "Nuevo Mexico." The amendment proposal would be submitted to the people for their approval or rejection at the next general election or any special election called for this purpose.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The fiscal impact would be nationwide. Maps, text books, addresses, stationary, etc would require a name change.

Any special election would also have significant fiscal implications.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

Should Nuevo Mexico be "Nuevo México," with an accent mark over the e?

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The name Nuevo México was given by Spanish explorers who led expeditions into the area in the late 16^th century. The first of these expeditions was the Chamuscado-Rodriguez expedition of 1581. The name Nuevo México or la Nueva México may be found in several documents of the late 16^th century.

August 15, 1846, The U.S. Army of the West led by General Stephen Watts Kearny occupied New Mexico. On September 22, 1846 General Kearny issued a set of laws to govern New Mexico. These laws are known as the Kearny Code. The code was published in Spanish and English, October 6, 1846.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was executed February 2, 1848, ratified May 30, 1848 and proclamation made July 4, 1848, provided for New Mexico's incorporation into the Union at the proper time. The treaty was written in Spanish and English.

The Organic Act of September 9, 1850 established the Territory of "New Mexico."

Congressional Joint Resolution No. 8, August 21, 1911 admitted the Territories of New Mexico and Arizona as States in to the Union.

January 6, 1912, President William Howard Taft, proclaimed New Mexico a State. "Now therefore, I, William Howard Taft, President of the United States of America, do in accordance with the provisions of the Act of Congress and the joint resolution of Congress herein named, declare and proclaim the fact that the fundamental conditions imposed by Congress on the State of New Mexico to entitle that State to admission have been ratified and accepted, and the admission of the State into the Union on equal footing with the other States is now complete."

New Mexico was admitted as a State into the Union, under the name "New Mexico". This bill and the history provided by the Commission of Public Records raises the interesting question of whether New Mexico acquired its name under the state's constitution or by the act of Congress admitting it as a state. As a matter of state sovereignty and federalism, however, the state probably has the authority to change its own name. Indeed, during the state's territorial period, when it was not a sovereign but rather a subject of the federal government, Congress accorded it a tremendous level of independence and self-government. By accepting the Territory's proposed constitution and admitting the state into the union as "New Mexico," Congress only respected the decision the state had already made for itself as an essential component of sovereigney.

FAR/njw