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

SPONSOR Pinto

DATE TYPED 02-14-05 HB

SHORT TITLE NMSU 4-H Clubs Indian Country Programs

SB 709

ANALYST Woods

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

$500.0

Recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to the appropriation for New Mexico State University in the General Appropriations Act.

Relates to HB168

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD)

Indian Affairs Department (IAD)

New Mexico State University (NMSU), College of Agriculture and Home Economics (CAHE)

(HB168)

Economic Development Department (EDD) (HB168)

No Responses Received From

Commission on Higher Education (CHE)

FOR THE INDIAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 709 – Making an Appropriation to New Mexico State University Cooperative Exten-

sion Service for Education and Economic Development Programs in Indian Country for Educa-

tion and Natural Resource Management, Family Wellness and Stability and Youth Development

through 4-H Clubs – appropriates $500,000 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of

New Mexico State University for expenditure in FY06 to provide the first phase of funding for

Senate Bill 709 -- Page 2

permanent cooperative extension service agents and offices on New Mexico’s Indian reserva-

tions to establish programs to develop tribal and pueblo Indian agriculture and natural resources,

family wellness and stability and youth development through outreach education that is cultur-

ally, economically and socially relevant to New Mexico tribal and pueblo Indian communities.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY06 shall revert to the gen-

eral fund.

Significant Issues

IAD indicates this initiative would address four key areas important to Native American com-

munities:

•

teaching agriculture, ranching and natural resource management;

•

developing 4-H youth and leadership clubs;

•

foster community resource, economic and leadership development;

•

strengthen family, health, home economics, nutrition and resource management.

NMSU-CAHE suggests that through culturally relevant education and training programs, it will

provide opportunities for youth and adults to engage in informal education workshops, field

days, and demonstrations that will be conducted in their own communities. Through formal part-

nerships with tribal colleges, NMSU, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other federal

agencies, a major goal of community based education is to increase the number of Native people

completing college degrees in New Mexico. The goals of the program are as follows:

•

To operationalize the New Mexico Tribal Cooperative Extension Programs.

•

To strengthen the relationship with the federal and state Cooperative Extension Service

units, the 22 Indian tribes in New Mexico, and other Indian and non-Indian organizations.

•

To produce a five-year NM Tribal Cooperative Extension strategic plan of work that pri-

oritizes community based initiatives.

•

To establish Tribal Cooperative Extension centers on tribal reservations and schools in

New Mexico.

•

To develop and implement the four major cooperative extension program areas of (1) Ag-

riculture and Natural Resource Management, (2) 4-H Youth and Youth Leadership de-

velopment, (3) Community Resource, Economic Development, and Leadership Devel-

opment, and (4) Strengthening Family, Health, Nutrition and Resource Management in

tribal communities.

•

To develop a funding mechanism that will guarantee continued support from federal,

state, and tribal funds using a matching formula system.

•

To develop and implement a Native American Cooperative Extension Education and

Training Program that offers college level credit courses in selected areas.

Senate Bill 709 -- Page 3

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The $500,000 appropriated in this bill for FY06 is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any

unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY06 shall revert to the general

fund.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

IAD notes that the following entities support the New Mexico State Education Cooperative Ex-

tension Program in Indian Country and endorse this proposal:

•

The All Indian Pueblo Council supports efforts to secure funds to expand services that the

Cooperative Extension Service provides to tribal entities, and supports the implementa-

tion of the New Mexico Tribal Extension Program to benefit tribes (AIPC Resolution No.

2004-09).

•

The Jicarilla Apache Nation has been involved with the Extension Reservation Program

since 1992 and wishes to continue their endorsement of the expansion and improvement

of the Extension Education Program to benefit all Native Americans.

•

The Crownpoint Institute of Technology (“CIT”) supports the New Mexico Tribal Exten-

sion Initiative to establish new and strengthen existing Extension services programs. CIT

recognizes both the opportunity for developing tribal agriculture, natural resources and

assisting families through outreach education, and the need to assure outreach that is cul-

turally, economically, and socially relevant to the unique tribal communities.

•

The Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute supports the proposed Tribal Extension

Program to establish permanent Extension centers on tribal lands that will further the de-

velopment of programs in agriculture, family, health, and youth leadership that benefits

Native American students, ranchers and farmers.

•

The Indian Affairs Commission formally endorses this request for funding.

•

The Indian Affairs Department supports this request for funding.

New Mexico State University will retain administrative oversight of this project.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Relates to the appropriation for New Mexico State University in the General Appropriations Act.

Relates to HB168 in that HB168 seeks to appropriate $3,055,000 from the general fund to the

Board of Regents of New Mexico State University for expenditure in FY06 to provide permanent

cooperative extension service agents and offices on New Mexico's Indian reservations to estab-

lish programs to develop tribal agriculture and natural resources, family wellness and stability

and youth development through outreach education that is culturally, economically and socially

relevant to New Mexico tribal communities.

Senate Bill 709 -- Page 4

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

As general background to this issue, NMSU-CAHE indicates that for several years nearly all the

Pueblos and the other Tribal Nations have made formal and informal requests to get more Coop-

erative Extension Service agents and programs on their reservations. Tribal leaders recognize the

great needs their land and families have to strengthen and revitalize traditional agricultural prac-

tices. Tribal people also realize that education is the key to wisely using their natural and family

and youth resources to create a sustainable life that will also be of benefit to their communities

and their culture. In response to these requests, the New Mexico Tribal Extension Task Force

was established to secure state, federal, tribal and private foundation dollars to support Extension

programs in tribal communities in New Mexico. NMSU-CAHE notes that the task force remains

cognizant of a number of interrelated factors:

•

The team recognizes the challenges faced by Indian youth as they struggle to determine

what it means to be a Native person in the twenty-first century. This group is tasked with

planting the seeds of creativity to develop leaders and mentors of the next generation. It

is critical that community leaders and educators collaborate to develop community-based

Extension education programs that are designed to engage youth and young adults in ef-

forts to revitalize traditional tribal agricultural and other related cultural practices, while

building life skills that will insure their success in all communities.

•

The catastrophic changes seen in the larger society, especially the breakdown of families

and communities, are also present in Indian communities. Not only is there increased vio-

lence among youth and increased substance and drug abuse, tribal communities are ex-

periencing the disintegration of their cultural traditions and the loss of Native languages.

Recent statistics provided by the Administration for Native Americans, a federal govern-

ment agency, indicate that by the year 2020 only 19 of the more than 587 federally rec-

ognized tribes in America will be living in communities where all the people, including

children, will be speaking their Native languages.

•

The Indian Health Service recently reported that there are more than 800 Native Ameri-

can gangs nationwide in reservation and urban communities. This incidence is attributed

to the deterioration of traditional values and lack of cultural integration and connection to

the land among youth and young adults. This situation is also related to the fact that

young people and elders are no longer spending as much time together. Tribal leaders and

elders recognize that federal housing development is partly to blame for this since newly

created housing subdivisions are generally situated away from the more traditional places

where older people live.

•

Western academic school systems have not succeeded in the educational development of

Native American youth. School dropout rates are highest for Native American students

compared to all other populations. High school dropout rates average 50 percent and col-

lege dropout rates approach 65 percent. Among Native American college freshmen, the

average dropout rate is 79 percent in New Mexico.

In response to these issues, NMSU-CAHE suggests that tribal cooperative extension programs

will be designed to reverse the negative patterns of cultural disintegration by revitalizing tradi-

tional indigenous agricultural, family, and natural resource restoration practices. The traditional

Native culture serves as a foundation for strengthening community, creativity, and pride. In

Senate Bill 709 -- Page 5

many traditional Indian cultures, agriculture serves as an everyday expression of cultural identity

and a mechanism for continuing traditions and sustaining tribal community. Extension programs

will be designed to promote the development of strong self-assured youth through leadership ex-

periences, training, creative self-expression, and community service.

BFW/yr