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

SPONSOR Campos

DATE TYPED 2/22/05

HB

SHORT TITLE

Emergency Fund Grants to Indian Tribes

SB 1aSFC

ANALYST Hadwiger

APPROPRIATION

(in $000s)

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

none

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Finance and Administration, Board of Finance (BOF)

Attorney General (AG)

Department of Indian Affairs (DIA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of SFC Amendment

The amendment restricts potential Board of Finance emergency loans or grants to tribes to only

those Indian nations, tribes or pueblos located in whole or in part in New Mexico. This amend-

ment addresses the technical question below.

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 1 would amend Section 6-1-2 NMSA 1978 to allow the Board of Finance to make

emergency loans or grants to any Indian nation, tribe or pueblo.

Significant Issues

According to the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA), that agency has received inquiries in the

past from tribes indicating a need for loans or grants for emergency situations. DIA indicates

there are many tribal entities that do not have the cash flow available to address emergencies that

Senate Bill 1/aSFC -- Page 2

may severely affect the quality of government services, i.e., police or fire protection services in-

operable for unforeseen reasons, broken pumps on water and waste water systems causing flood-

ing or no access to water by tribal community, loss of basic public health and safety services dur-

ing a crisis, and other such emergencies that affect a community’s quality of life. Examples in-

clude the fires at Taos and Nambe Pueblos in 2003. This bill would provide a mechanism to ad-

dress these situations.

The Attorney General (AG) indicates SB1 presents no significant legal issues. According to the

AG, Article IV, §31 of the New Mexico Constitution is not a barrier to this legislation. The

Attorney General’s Office interprets this section as imposing limits on the legislature’s authority

to appropriate money, not as limiting an agency’s disposition of an appropriation. See 1975 Op.

Att’y Gen. No. 75-10. Similarly, the Anti-donation Clause in Article IX, §14 of the New Mexico

Constitution presents no barrier because Indian Tribes are recognized by the Attorney General’s

Office as public entities. The AG notes that this is neither a formal Attorney General’s Opinion

nor an Attorney General’s Advisory Opinion letter. This is a staff analysis in response to the

agency’s, committee’s, or legislator’s request.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The bill does not include an appropriation. Any grants or loans to tribes as a result of this legis-

lation would come from the general fund operating reserve.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The Board of Finance indicates there would be no administrative issues from SB1.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The Board of Finance that this bill needs to be clarified to insure that the emergency funds can

only be issued for Indian nations, tribes or pueblos located in whole or in part in New Mexico.

This would allow inclusion of the Navajo Nation. The SFC amendment addresses this concern.

DH/lg