[1]NOTE:
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SPONSOR: |
Romero |
DATE TYPED: |
02/06/02 |
HB |
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SHORT TITLE: |
Create Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty Department |
SB |
15/aSFC/aSFl#1 |
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ANALYST: |
Sandoval |
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APPROPRIATION
|
Appropriation Contained |
Estimated Additional Impact |
Recurring or Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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|
FY02 |
FY03 |
FY02 |
FY03 |
|
|
|
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$100.0 |
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|
Recurring |
General Fund |
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Attorney General
Synopsis
of SFl#1 Amendment
The Senate Floor
Amendment strikes the SFC amendment and restores Senate Bill 15 as originally
presented.
Synopsis of SFC Amendment
The Senate Finance
Committee amendment strikes the $100.0 appropriation and changes the word
“department” to “division” in the Attorney General’s office.
Synopsis
of Original Bill
Senate Bill 15 appropriates $100.0 from the
general fund to the Office of the Attorney General for the purpose of creating
the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty Department.
The department’s duty would be to review, oversee and address concerns
relating to the provisions of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that have not
been implemented or observed. The
Attorney General is to report on the findings and recommendations of this
department to the First Session of the Forty-Sixth Legislature.
Significant
Issues
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $100.0 contained in this
bill is a non-recurring expense to the
general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of
FY03 shall revert to the general fund.
Since the bill creates a new department, additional funding may be
required in subsequent years.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
Once the appropriation is available the Attorney
General will have less than one year to complete an evaluation and report to
the Legislature on the review of this issue.
This appropriation may provide resources to the continued effort of the
Attorney General to provide administrative support to the Guadalupe Hidalgo
Land Grant Task Force and assistance to the General Accounting Office of the
federal government in it’s three year study of community land grant problems in
New Mexico. Appropriate experts may be
needed to determine the history, origin, chain of title, current location,
ownership and dispositions of specific land grants. These investigations will require professional service contracts,
travel, research and copy expenses which may be large.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
The Attorney General states that the resolution
of disputes concerning real property originating from Spanish and Mexican land
grants is very difficult and expensive for private individuals to undertake. There are substantial problems inherent in
these issues, including the length of time that these controversies have
continued. It should not be expected
that passage of this bill would solve the controversies; however, passage of
this bill may result in an important definition of the scope of the land grant
controversies and suggest possible solutions.
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS
1. How is the Office of the Attorney General currently involved in the issues surrounding the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?
2. What
progress has the Guadalupe Hidalgo Land Grant Task Force made since its
creation?
3. What is the involvement of the General
Accounting Office of the federal government in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?
4. Exactly how does the Attorney General plan on
using the appropriation in this bill?
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