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committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

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

SPONSOR Pinto

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/01/06

HB

SHORT TITLE

RADIATION EXPOSURE VICTIMS'

BENEFITS

SB 375

ANALYST Weber

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$150.0

Recurring

General

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Indian Affairs Department (IAD)

SUMMARY

Senate Bill 375 appropriates $150 thousand from the general fund to Indian Affairs Department

for the purpose of providing case management services to victims of radiation exposure or their

surviving families located in New Mexico so that they may access benefits due to them pursuant

to the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $150.0 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general

fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY07 shall revert to

the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The Indian Affairs Department contributes.

The need for compensation resulting from the effects of uranium mining operations in

northwestern New Mexico has long been established with the enactment of RECA. Since

Senate Bill 375 – Page 2

RECA’s enactment and subsequent amendments, however, the needs of the large number of

eligible recipients remain unmet.

The Office of Navajo Uranium Workers reports that for the Navajo Nation overall, only 700 of

7,000 potentially eligible Navajo claimants have received some type of compensation in the past

14 years. And, only 4,000 of these claimants are successfully registered. Approximately 6,000

claims are not currently filed. For Navajo claimants in New Mexico, there are 2,000 that have

successfully registered and approximately 1,500 claims that have not been filed. A large reason

for these high numbers of unprocessed claims is the lack of adequate staff to process the Navajo

claims. Currently, there are only three caseworkers (1 FTE and 2 TEMP) that process the more

than 5,000 Navajo claims that have been submitted to their office.

According to the Office of Navajo Uranium Workers, there remains a dire need for case

management services for the Navajo claimants and their families. Specifically, there is a need

for a sub-office in Crownpoint or Gallup to serve the NM’s Eastern Navajo community

members.

MW/mt