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

SPONSOR Lundstrom

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/21/07

HB HJM 62

SHORT TITLE Native American Arts Authenticity Task Force

SB

ANALYST Guambaña

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$0.1

Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Joint Memorial 62 requests the creation of a Native American Arts and Crafts

Authenticity Task Force.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

House Joint Memorial 62 requests that:

•

The governor appoint a "Native American Arts and Crafts Authenticity Task Force"

whose members shall include representatives from the Cultural Affairs Department, the

Economic Development Department, the Indian Affairs Department, Native American

artisans and the Native American arts and crafts industry;

•

The governor designate the Cultural Affairs Department to provide administrative

support to the Task Force and that the Task Force be requested to prepare a report to the

governor and the legislature that provides information about the nature and extent of the

production and sale of authentic and of counterfeit Native American arts and crafts in

New Mexico;

•

The Task Force be requested to consider ways in which the State Indian Arts and Crafts

Sales Act and the Federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act might be better enforced in New

Mexico;

•

The Task Force be requested to find alternative ways in which consumers purchasing

Native American arts and crafts in New Mexico could be more confident that the

products they purchase are authentic;

House Joint Memorial 62 – Page

2

•

The Task Force present its report to the governor and to the appropriate interim

legislative committees by October 1, 2007; and

•

Copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor, the Secretary of Cultural Affairs,

the Secretary of Economic Development and the Secretary of Indian Affairs.

House Joint Memorial states that:

•

The retail market for Native American arts and crafts results in significant retail sales in

New Mexico every year, and the availability of authentic Native American arts and crafts

is a major draw for tourism in New Mexico;

•

The sale of authentic Native American arts and crafts provides a significant source of

income for many Native American artisans residing in New Mexico;

•

There is an increasing amount of counterfeit, non-Indian made arts and crafts that are

being marketed as authentic, and many consumers are unable to discriminate between the

two;

•

The increasing availability of counterfeit Native American arts and crafts threatens the

confidence of consumers in the integrity of the Native American arts and crafts market in

New Mexico;

•

Education and outreach to consumers about how to recognize authentic Native American

arts and crafts is an important method to protect authentic Native American arts and

crafts in this state;

•

Outreach and education to rural and isolated Native American artisans about proposed

official steps to protect this culturally based economy and involving them in the process

of seeking appropriate protection for this economy is important;

•

The Cultural Affairs Department currently runs a program in conjunction with the Palace

of the Governors in Santa Fe whereby Native Americans sell authentic Indian arts and

crafts on the portal of the palace of the governors; and

•

The Cultural Affairs Department has established a program whereby consumers can be

confident that Native American arts and crafts purchased pursuant to the portal program

of the Palace of the Governors are authentic.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Although House Joint Memorial 62 submits no appropriation request, the creation of a Native

American Arts and Crafts Authenticity Task Force implies a recurring fiscal impact of an

indeterminate amount to the General Fund.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

House Joint Memorial contends that:

•

The state Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act provides a theoretical framework for law

enforcement officials to protect the public and the Indian craftsperson under the police

powers of the state from false representation in the sale, trade, purchase or offering for

sale of Indian arts and crafts. However, the Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act has been

rendered ineffective by a lack of resources for the investigation and prosecution of

alleged violations of that act; and

•

The federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act provides a theoretical framework for law

enforcement officials to protect Indian artists from unfair competition from counterfeiters

House Joint Memorial 62 – Page

3

and to prevent consumers from unknowingly purchasing imitation products, but few, if

any, enforcement actions have been brought pursuant to that act in New Mexico.

AG/csd