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

SPONSOR Tsosie

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/11/06

HB

SHORT TITLE Indian Post Secondary Education Act

SB 731

ANALYST Earp

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$900.0 Non-Recurring

General Fund

$100.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Indian Affairs Department (IAD)

Public Education Department (PED)

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 731, the proposed Indian Post-Secondary Education Act, includes the following ma-

jor provisions:

•

Authorizes the department to adopt rules and regulations and enter into joint powers

agreements and memoranda of understanding to implement the provisions of the Act.

•

Establishes an Indian Post-Secondary Education Division within the Higher Education

Department

•

Defines the duties of the Indian Post-Secondary Education Division

•

Requires each institution to submit a biannual American Indian post-secondary education

status report

•

Creates the “Indian Post-Secondary Education Fund” and provides that grants may be

awarded from the fund for special projects related to recruitment, retention and gradua-

tion of American Indian students and other projects approved by the division.

Senate Bill 731 – Page

2

•

Appropriates $900,000 (non-reverting) to the fund to make grants for projects and

$100,000 (reverting) to HED for operational expenses of the division.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $100,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund

which would augment funding provided to HED for operational purposes in the General Appro-

priation Act. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance will revert to the general fund at the

end of fiscal year 2007.

The $900,000 appropriated to the proposed Indian Post-Secondary Education Fund for special

project grants is identified in the table above as a non-recurring allocation and will not revert to

the general fund. However, if the grant program is successful, it is possible that future requests

of a recurring nature may be made for this purpose.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

This proposal was not included among the HED’s fiscal year 2007 funding recommendations to

the Legislature. However, the Secretary of Higher Education has administratively-created a Di-

vision of Indian Education within HED during the current fiscal year. This division is addressing

many of the objectives of this legislation.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

HED would be responsible for administering the provisions of the Act. The $100,000 appropria-

tion for operating purposes would be available to address these responsibilities during the initial

fiscal year.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The purposes of the Act, as identified in Section 2 of the bill, are to:

o

Assist in the development of culturally relevant learning environments and post-

secondary educational opportunities for American Indian students;

o

Ensure maintenance of native languages and cultures;

o

Provide for the study, development and implementation of post-secondary educa-

tional systems that positively affect the educational success of American Indian stu-

dents;

o

Provide the means for a formal relationship between the Higher Education Depart-

ment (HED) and tribal colleges and develop relationships with the education division

of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other entities that serve American Indian students;

o

Provide a mechanism for tribal colleges and other tribal educational agencies; HED;

post-secondary institutions; students and parents; community-based organizations; the

Public Education Department (PED); and tribal, state and local policymakers to work

together to improve post-secondary educational opportunities for American Indian

students.

HED reports that the New Mexico Higher Education Department was created in the 2005 legisla-

tive session and has spent the past six months making the transition from state agency to cabinet-

level department. HED, as a state entity, has no jurisdiction over tribes and tribal colleges. In

Senate Bill 731 – Page

3

order to establish and maintain representation of American Indian interests in the system of

higher education, the Cabinet Secretary of HED has established the Division of Indian Education

in order to facilitate liaison activities and provide outreach services.

HED has taken steps to renew a Memorandum of Understanding with the New Mexico Tribal

Higher Education Consortium (NMTHEC). The consortium consists of members of Tribal Edu-

cation Administrators from the 19 NM Pueblos, the Jicarilla and Mescalero Apache tribes. In ad-

dition, conversations about the development of Memorandum of Understanding with the four

NM Tribal Colleges and the Navajo Nation are planned. The development of Memorandum of

Agreements/Understanding will hopefully lead to an agreement for NMHED and tribal colleges

to share data, collaborate on projects that will promote American Indian student success, and re-

port on accountability performance measures and goals on collaborative projects. In September

2005, two American Indian representatives were appointed to serve on the HED Advisory Board.

One representative is from a tribal college and the other is a New Mexico tribal member at large.

The New Mexico Indian Affairs Department reports that the creation of the Indian Post-

Secondary Education Division within the HED would seem to align with the 2003 Indian Educa-

tion Act, NMSA 22-23A-1, et seq. The Indian Education Act created an Indian Education Divi-

sion within the Public Education Department; that Division focuses on issues in Indian education

as regard grades Pre-K-20. That Act also created an Indian Education Fund and an Indian Edu-

cation Advisory Committee. SB 731 would create a counterpart of the Indian Education Divi-

sion - the Indian Post-Secondary Education Division - and Fund but which relate to the unique

circumstances as regard Indian higher education. Further, SB 731 seems to comport with Gov-

ernor Richardson’s Executive Order 2004-012, (March 19, 2006), Establishing the Governor’s

Task Force on Higher Education. In that Executive Order, the Governor requested recommenda-

tions as to how to increase equitable access to higher education for New Mexico students. The

Indian Post-Secondary Education Division would be focused on increasing enrollment and re-

taining Native students in New Mexico’s higher educational institutions.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

HED, public post-secondary institutions and the Tribal colleges and governmental entities would

continue to address issues relating to the post-secondary education of American Indian students

through existing non-statutory mechanisms. Fewer resources would be available for this pur-

pose.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

What is the status of recent HED efforts to develop a Division of Indian Education.

What is the status of efforts to develop a Memorandum of Agreement to formalize cooperation

and data sharing between the HED and the Tribal colleges.

DKE/mt