HOUSE MEMORIAL 75
53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2018
INTRODUCED BY
Georgene Louis and D. Wonda Johnson and Derrick J. Lente and Patricia Roybal Caballero
A MEMORIAL
REQUESTING THAT STATE AGENCIES IN COLLABORATION WITH TRIBAL ADVISORY GROUPS DEVELOP FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE CONSIDERATIONS IN THE AREAS OF EDUCATION, HEALTH, SOCIAL WELFARE, BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND OTHER ESSENTIAL SERVICES TO BETTER MEET THE NEEDS OF NEW MEXICO'S TRIBAL COMMUNITIES.
WHEREAS, New Mexico is home to twenty-three sovereign Indian nations, tribes and pueblos that represent nearly twelve percent of the population and land base; and
WHEREAS, there is a long-established doctrine of federal trust responsibility as a legal obligation under which the United States has charged itself with moral obligations of the highest responsibility and trust toward Indian tribes and nations; and
WHEREAS, this federal Indian trust responsibility has since its inception resulted in the development of a framework based on government-to-government principles with appropriations flowing from federal agencies to tribal governments to fulfill federal trust obligations; and
WHEREAS, beginning in the 1980s under the Reagan administration and the introduction of "new federalism", the federal government granted block grants to states to enable state governments to spend money at their own discretion, and in the process, the federal government transferred resources previously provided to the tribes directly to states; and
WHEREAS, this shift forced states and tribes to redefine their relationships to provide the necessary resources to support Native Americans in a new configuration of how resources flowed and how services were delivered; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico has become a national model in the development of a statutory framework defining state-tribal relations built on government-to-government principles consistent with the federal framework and for the interactions between federal, state and tribal agencies in the delivery of services to jointly implement the trust obligations; and
WHEREAS, in 2009, the New Mexico legislature passed a landmark bill, the State-Tribal Collaboration Act, which was signed into law and which promoted and strengthened the relationships and furthered the commitments between the twenty-three sovereign nations and the state, and which provided greater consistency across all cabinet-level state agencies to work with tribes and ensure that state-tribal relations remained a priority and that the implementation of programs and the flow of resources were done on an equitable basis; and
WHEREAS, the New Mexico legislature has for many years created the interim Indian affairs committee to provide a forum for interaction of stakeholders across the spectrum of issues, challenges and best practices; and
WHEREAS, the legislature has a desire to hear from stakeholders across the spectrum on major areas of priority and to receive a thorough assessment and evaluation of the flow of resources through the state to provide services to Native Americans and tribal communities to assess how agencies and stakeholders can collectively improve the use of resources and strengthen the delivery system; and
WHEREAS, the interim legislative committee focused on Indian affairs should be informed as to the added complexities created by the use of flow-through funds and the potential impact proposal by the current presidential administration, for reductions in appropriations for education, health, social welfare, behavioral health and other essential services; and
WHEREAS, within Native American communities, suicide issues continue to escalate, social welfare issues affecting children, youth and families are increasing and these issues strain tribal and state judicial systems; and
WHEREAS, with minimal treatment facilities available, behavioral health and mental health challenges are becoming epidemic, and there is growing concern that the current managed care organizations lack outreach and institutional capacity, resulting in the under-utilization of available resources; and
WHEREAS, the overall educational achievement of Native American students reveals a failure of the educational system at all levels and critical infrastructure investment needs, such as for tribal libraries to provide access to modern information technology and inequities in funding for the elderly;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico clearinghouse for Native American suicide prevention, the center for Native American health, the New Mexico Indian Title VI coalition at the Indian area agency on aging, the southwest Indian law clinic, the American Indian language policy research and teacher training center, the institute for indigenous knowledge and development, the tribal libraries program, the Indian education advisory council, the New Mexico tribal Indian child welfare social workers consortium at the Corrine Wolfe children's law center, Tewa women united and the tribal-state judicial consortium be requested to work together to develop findings and recommendations for policy and legislative considerations in the areas of education, health, social welfare, behavioral health and other essential services to better meet the needs of New Mexico's tribal communities to be brought before the interim legislative committee focused on Indian affairs; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the New Mexico clearinghouse for Native American suicide prevention, the center for Native American health, the New Mexico Indian Title VI coalition at the Indian area agency on aging, the southwest Indian law clinic, the American Indian language policy research and teacher training center, the institute for indigenous knowledge and development, the tribal libraries program, the Indian education advisory council, the New Mexico tribal Indian child welfare social workers consortium at the Corrine Wolfe children's law center, Tewa women united and the tribal-state judicial consortium.
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