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

SPONSOR Begaye

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/30/06 HB HJM 3

SHORT TITLE

ADEQUATE FUNDING FOR CERTAIN

TRIBAL LANDS

SB

ANALYST Weber

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Indian Affairs Department (IAD)

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Joint Memorial 3 notes that the building of low-income housing units on pueblo tribal and

national trust creates pockets of high density population.. The higher density causes school may

cause an inadequacy of local infrastructure particularly for schools. HJM 3 requests that the

New Mexico congressional delegation seek adequate federal funding from the federal Housing

and Urban Development department to ensure that tribal and public school facilities are able to

offset expenses associated with increased populations in low income housing units on pueblo,

tribal and national trust lands..

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The memorial has no fiscal implications for New Mexico.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The Indian Affairs Department offers the following narrative.

House Joint Memorial 3 – Page

2

The population characteristics of American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) both on and off

reservation shows an increase in New Mexico’s AI/AN youth population:

•

The New Mexico AI/AN population has increased over the past 10 years and in 2002

made up approximately 10.3 percent of the total State population.

•

The NM AI/AN population is younger than the total population with 48 percent of the

population under the age of 25 years as compared to 37 percent for all races.

The need for funding to help schools serving Indian children and Indian education is growing.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) believes that education is a top national priority and

that a proper built environment is vital to the health and safety of children and their ability to

learn. School modernization, repair, and construction must be addressed nationwide. Though

school construction is generally a matter of state and local jurisdiction, the AIA believes there is

a consistent and complementary Federal role in providing assistance, tax incentives and “best

practices” information for local school systems as they design new schools to make students

competitive with those in the rest of the world. The need for modernization and new

construction for school facilities has reached a critical state throughout the United States.

Schools face the enormous challenges of record high enrollments, new demands for education

technology, the need for school-based before and after-school programs and the health and safety

hazards of deteriorating facilities. (Issue Brief: 21st Century Schools: School Modernization

and Healthy Design, The American Institute of Architects, retrieved from www.aia.org)

Tribal communities lack the infrastructure to provide modern upgrades to former Bureau of

Indian Affair schools, public schools serving Indian children, or even to construct new facilities.

Native youth in rural communities do not have access to modern science labs, media centers,

telephones in classrooms, cable hookups, wiring for computers, internet access and networks,

etc.

The federal government formally assumed responsibility for the education of Indian Children

with the Act of March 3, 1819. Thereafter, in 1873, responsibility for Indians, including their

education was transferred from the War Department to the Secretary of the Interior and a new

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). After World War II, tribal communities and other minorities

began to organize to gain greater self-determination and civil rights. The passage of the Indian

Education Act of 1972 (PL-92-318 as amended) and in 1975 of the Indian Self-Determination

and Education Assistance Act, allowed for Native communities to improve Native education.

Today, the majority of Native students attend state-run public schools with a few tribes operating

tribal schools funded through the BIA. (Improving Academic Performance among Native

American Students, ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools, Dec. 2001)

Today, the federal government has a trust responsibility for Indian Education consistent with this

history. However, Native students experience high levels of educational failure and a growing

ambivalence towards formal Western academic learning. (Improving Academic Performance

among Native American Students, ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools,

Dec. 2001) (BIA and DOD schools: student achievement and other characteristics often differ

from public schools: report to Congressional requesters, pub. Date: 2001-09-00, GAL-01-924)

On April 30, 2004, President Bush signed Executive Order 13336, supporting tribal sovereignty.

In particular, it recognizes the unique legal relationship between the United States and American

House Joint Memorial 3 – Page

3

Indian tribes, as well as a special relationship with Alaska Native entities. The order commits the

Federal government to work with tribes on a government-to-government basis. It specifically

states that the Bush Administration supports tribal sovereignty and tribal self-determination. The

Executive Order states that its purpose is to assist American Indian and Alaska Native students to

meet the challenging academic standards of the “No Child Left Behind Act” (P.L. 107-110) in a

manner consistent with tribal traditions, languages and cultures. This is an important step

towards refining the No Child Left Behind Act so that it works for Native students in a manner

that supports Native culture. (National Indian Education Association, www.niea.org)

A report released in June 2000 by the National Center for Education Statistics estimated that

$127 billion is needed to fix America’s school buildings. This figure is consistent with an earlier

General Accountability Office (GAO) study that estimated $112 billion was needed to bring

schools into “good” overall condition. Other studies examining the costs to construct new

classrooms and upgrade schools (including science labs, media centers, telephones in

classrooms, cable hookups, wiring for computers, Internet access, and networks) estimate the

cost to be greater than $300 billion.

There are many federal grants available to the Native American communities for New Mexico.

The Indian Community Development Block Grant Program (ICDBG) administered by the

federal Housing and Urban Development program, may be one of many resources for Indian

communities. The ICDBG can fund: housing, community facilities (multi-purpose complexes),

and economic development. There are other sources of funding available that can be leveraged

to offset expenses.

The Public Education Department contributes the following.

The updated facility assessment of New Mexico public school facilities shows a total estimated

cost for the life cycle building renewal and repair needs to be approximately $2.3 billion

statewide. With great needs and limited resources seeking additional funds is a step in the right

direction in maximizing New Mexico’s public resources for the benefit of public schools.

Current state funds can continue to be used for the current schools identified in the current New

Mexico Condition Index.

Majority of school districts located on tribal lands have little or no tax base. It is often difficult

for these districts to raise funds at the local level for capital projects. If school districts increase

in population due to the construction of federal low-income housing the state will be burdened

with such costs. Any additional funds that are sought will relieve the state from incurring 100%

of these costs.

Further study would have to be done to determine the impact on BIA, contract, grant and private

schools which are on tribal lands

MW/nt