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F I S C A L   I M P A C T   R E P O R T

 

 

 

SPONSOR:

Lundstrom

 

DATE TYPED:

02/26/03

 

HB

922

 

SHORT TITLE:

Navajo Language Preservation Pilot Project

 

SB

 

 

 

ANALYST:

Weber

 

APPROPRIATION

 

Appropriation Contained

Estimated Additional Impact

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY03

FY04

FY03

FY04

 

 

 

$25.0

 

 

Recurring

General Fund

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

 

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Responses Received From

Office of Indian Affairs

 

SUMMARY

 

     Synopsis of Bill

 

House Bill 922 appropriates $25,000 from the General Fund to the Office of Indian Affairs for the purpose of a pilot project to preserve the Navajo language using Navajo elders as instructors in the Mexican Springs chapter of the Navajo Nation.

 

     Significant Issues

 

The Office of Indian Affairs reports that many Native American languages are in danger of extinction.  Even Navajo, spoken by more people than any other Native American language in the United States, is endangered.  A Navajo Nation investigation found that less than half of the children entering kindergarten are fluent in Navajo. The 1990 USA census found 148, 530 speakers including 7,616 monolinguals out of 219,198 ethnic Navajo.  The critical danger sign that a language is in trouble is when there are few or no speakers under the age of 18.

 

The funding for this program would be used to train and develop curricula for elders.  This would benefit the children by teaching native language as well as cultural traditions. 

 

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

 

The appropriation of $25. contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the General Fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of Fiscal Year 2004 shall revert to the General Fund.

 

MW/njw