HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 48

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

Sandra D. Jeff

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TO CREATE A TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE CAPITAL OUTLAY APPROPRIATIONS PROCESS FOR THE NAVAJO NATION.

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico legislature finds that members of the Navajo Nation and its chapters in New Mexico should benefit from capital improvements funded in part by the state of New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, from fiscal year 2003 through fiscal year 2010, the New Mexico legislature appropriated sixty-eight million two hundred ninety-five thousand seven hundred sixty-seven dollars ($68,295,767) for six hundred fifty-four capital projects on the Navajo Nation; and 

     WHEREAS, of the funds appropriated for capital projects on the Navajo Nation for fiscal years 2003 through 2010, only fifty-four percent have actually been expended; and

     WHEREAS, of the funds appropriated for capital projects on the Navajo Nation for fiscal years 2003 through 2010, more than nine percent have reverted and more than fourteen percent have been reauthorized for other projects; and

     WHEREAS, of the funds appropriated for capital projects on the Navajo Nation for fiscal years 2003 through 2010, more than twenty-one percent remain unexpended and unencumbered; and

     WHEREAS, in 1998, the Navajo Nation passed the Navajo Local Governance Act, which permits chapters of the Navajo Nation to be certified as their own fiscal agents; and

     WHEREAS, in 2006, the legislature passed Senate Bill 579, which includes the Tribal Infrastructure Act and revisions in the manner in which the state administers capital outlay appropriations to the Navajo Nation and its chapters in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, in 2008, the Navajo Nation and the Indian affairs department entered into an intertribal master agreement regarding the administrative review and approval of capital outlay projects for the Navajo Nation and its chapters in New Mexico; and

      WHEREAS, despite past efforts of the state of New Mexico and the Navajo Nation, it is apparent that further progress is needed to ensure that capital outlay appropriations for projects on the Navajo Nation are utilized in a timely manner;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico legislative council be requested to appoint a task force to conduct a study of the ways in which the legislature might facilitate the timely expenditure of capital outlay funds appropriated to the Navajo Nation and its chapters; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force include members of the interim legislative Indian affairs committee and representatives of the aging and long-term services department, the department of finance and administration, the Indian affairs department, the department of transportation, the division of community development of the Navajo Nation and the capital improvement program of the Navajo Nation; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force consider steps that the state of New Mexico and the Navajo Nation might take to facilitate the timely expenditure of capital outlay funds appropriated to the Navajo Nation and its chapters; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force report its findings and recommendations to the interim legislative Indian affairs committee, the president of the Navajo Nation and the speaker of the Navajo Nation council by October 1, 2011; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the president pro tempore of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the co-chairs of the interim legislative Indian affairs committee, the secretary of aging and long-term services, the secretary of finance and administration, the secretary of Indian affairs, the secretary of transportation, the president of the Navajo Nation, the speaker of the Navajo Nation council, the director of the division of community development of the Navajo Nation and the manager of the capital improvement program of the Navajo Nation.

- 4 -