A JOINT MEMORIAL
ENDORSING THE WESTERN STATES EDUCATION INITIATIVE AND
REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TO APPOINT TWO MEMBERS TO SIT ON
A COMMITTEE TO PREPARE THE INITIATIVE FOR CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION.
WHEREAS, New Mexico and other
western states continually grapple with the challenge of providing the best
education for their children in the face of unique problems and within a
climate of diminished state resources and increased requirements by the federal
government for educational attainment and accountability; and
WHEREAS, data compiled and
analyzed by Utah legislative staff show that from 1979 to 1998 the percent
change in expenditures per pupil in the thirteen western states was lower than
in the rest of the nation and that funding conditions in the western states are
exacerbated by projections that public school enrollment will increase in the
western states while declining in the rest of the nation; and
WHEREAS, despite wide
disparities in expenditures per pupil and pupil-per-teacher ratios, western
states tax themselves at a rate comparable to that of the other states and
allocate as much of their budgets to public education as do the other states;
and
WHEREAS, the ability of a
western state to fund public education is directly related to the amount of
federal land within that state, and the federal government owns a significant
proportion of the land in the thirteen western states but only a small proportion
of the land in the other states; and
WHEREAS, the enabling acts of
most western states, including New Mexico, promise that a portion of the
proceeds from the sale of federal lands will go to the states to fund public
education; however, a federal policy change in 1976 ended these sales,
resulting in significant funding losses for western states; and
WHEREAS, the ability of New
Mexico and the other western states to fund public education is further
affected by the fact that state and local property taxes, which public schools
rely on to fund public education, cannot be assessed on federal lands, and the
estimated annual impact of this federal exemption from state and local property
tax on western states is over four billion dollars ($4,000,000,000); and
WHEREAS, the federal government
shares only one-half of its royalty revenue with the states, and royalties are
further reduced not only because federal lands are less likely to be developed
but because federal laws often place stipulations on the use of royalty
payments; the estimated annual impact of royalty payment policies in the west
is over one billion eight hundred sixty million dollars ($1,860,000,000); and
WHEREAS, much of the land that
the federal government transferred to the western states at statehood as a
trust for public education is difficult to administer and make productive
because it is often surrounded by federal land; and
WHEREAS, the federal government
should compensate western states for the significant impact that federal land
ownership has on the states' abilities to educate their school-age children and
should provide an expedited land exchange process for land not in contention
for wilderness designation, which would enable western states to be on an equal
footing with the rest of the nation in their efforts to adequately fund public
education; and
WHEREAS, an initiative to
increase the level of education revenue in the thirteen western states,
including New Mexico, has been established by the Utah state legislature and
presented to the other twelve members of the council of state governments-west;
and
WHEREAS, a resolution urging
the United States congress to compensate western states for the impact of
federal land ownership on funding for state education has been endorsed by the
council of state governments-west;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED
BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it endorse the western
states education initiative to seek just compensation from the federal
government on federally owned land and that it urge the federal government to provide
an expedited land exchange process for land not in contention for wilderness
designation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the
New Mexico legislative council be requested to appoint two legislators to sit
on a coordinating committee to assist in the preparation of the western states
education initiative for congressional consideration; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that
copies of this memorial be transmitted to the president of the United States,
the
New Mexico congressional
delegation, the president of the United States senate, the speaker of the
United States
house of representatives and
the New Mexico legislative council.