HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 8

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019

INTRODUCED BY

Antonio "Moe" Maestas

A JOINT RESOLUTION

PROPOSING TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION OF NEW MEXICO, SUBJECT TO THE APPROVAL OF CONGRESS, TO REMOVE THE STATE PENITENTIARY'S DESIGNATION AS A BENEFICIARY OF THE LAND GRANT PERMANENT FUND AND ASSIGN THE REVENUE DERIVED FROM THE LAND GRANT LANDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE STATE PENITENTIARY TO THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. It is proposed to amend Article 13, Section 1 of the constitution of New Mexico to read:

          "A. Except as provided in Subsection B of this section, all lands belonging to the territory of New Mexico, and all lands granted, transferred or confirmed to the state by congress, and all lands hereafter acquired, are declared to be public lands of the state to be held or disposed of as may be provided by law for the purposes for which they have been or may be granted, donated or otherwise acquired; provided, that such of school Sections Two, Thirty-Two, Sixteen and Thirty-Six as are not contiguous to other state lands shall not be sold within the period of ten years next after the admission of New Mexico as a state for less than ten dollars ($10.00) per acre.

          B. Revenue derived from the lands associated with the following grants of land to the state by congress shall not be used for its original purpose but rather exclusively used for the support and aid of the common schools:

                (1) the fifty thousand acres originally granted for the enlargement and maintenance of the territorial penitentiary by the act of congress of June 21, 1898, titled "An Act To make certain grants of land to the Territory of New Mexico, and for other purposes."; and

                (2) the one hundred thousand acres originally granted for penitentiaries by the act of congress of June 20, 1910, titled "An Act To enable the people of New Mexico to form a constitution and state government and be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States..."."

     SECTION 2. It is proposed to amend Article 14, Section 2 of the constitution of New Mexico to read:

     "Except as otherwise provided in this constitution, all lands [which] that have been or [which] that may be granted to the state by congress for the purpose of [said] the several institutions are hereby accepted for [said] the several institutions with all other grants, donations or devices for the benefit of the same and shall be exclusively used for the purpose for which they were or may be granted, donated or devised."

     SECTION 3. It is proposed to amend Article 21, Section 9 of the constitution of New Mexico to read:

     "This state and its people consent to all and singular the provisions of the said act of congress, approved June twentieth, nineteen hundred and ten, as amended, concerning the lands by [said] that act granted or confirmed to this state, the terms and conditions upon which [said] the grants and confirmations [were] are made and the means and manner of enforcing such terms and conditions, all in every respect and particular as [in said act] provided in that act."

     SECTION 4. The amendment proposed by this resolution shall be submitted to the people for their approval or rejection at the next general election or at any special election prior to that date that may be called for that purpose.

     SECTION 5. The amendment proposed by this resolution is effective only with the consent of the United States congress.

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