NOTE: As provided in LFC policy, this report is intended for use by the standing finance committees of the legislature.  The Legislative Finance Committee does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information in this report when used in any other situation.

The LFC is only preparing FIRs on bills referred to the Senate Finance Committee, the Senate Ways and Means Committee, the House Appropriations and Finance Committee and the House Taxation and Revenue Committee. The chief clerks are responsible for preparing and issuing all other bill analyses.

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(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates/Conflicts with/Companion to/Relates to

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Attorney General

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HAFC Amendment

The amendment deletes the general fund appropriation of $150.0.

     Synopsis of HJC Amendment

The amendment adds two new subsections to the bill to allow the Guadalupe Hidalgo Department within the Office of the Attorney General to "contract with appropriate qualified researchers and legal support that the attorney general's office determines are necessary" and requiring the Attorney General to "seek compliance of the federal government with the provisions and rights provided in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo."

The amendment also increases the general fund appropriation from $50.0 to $150.0 to implement the provisions set out in the bill. The increased appropriation would address the concerns expressed by the Attorney General indicating that $50.0 was not sufficient to address the directives as provided in this bill.

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 261 provides a general fund appropriation of $50.0 to the Office of the Attorney General to create a Guadalupe Hidalgo Department within the office to "review, oversee and address concerns relating to the provisions of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that have not been implemented or observed in the spirit of Article 2, Section 5 of the Constitution of New Mexico and Section 47-1-25 NMSA 1978. The bill also directs the Attorney General to report its findings and recommendations to the first session of the forty-fifth legislature.

Article 2, Section 5 of the Constitution of New Mexico provides protection for the"...rights, privileges and immunities, civil, political and religious guaranteed to the people of New Mexico by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo...".

Section 47-1-25 NMSA 1978 provides for the protection of real property rights originally acquired pursuant to Spanish and Mexican Land Grants recognized by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Significant Issues

The section of this bill that creates the Guadalupe Hidalgo Department is repealed January 1, 2001.

The Office of the Attorney General notes various disputes over the legal ownership of real property within Spanish and Mexican land grants have never been fully resolved and this new department would "review current controversies regarding the New Mexico Constitutional protections concerning the "...rights, privileges and immunities, civil, political and religious guaranteed to the people of New Mexico by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo...".

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

This bill makes a general fund appropriation of $50.0 to the Office of the Attorney General for the purpose stated above for expenditure in fiscal years 2000 and 2001. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY2001 reverts to the general fund.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

According to the Office of the Attorney General, the appropriation provided in this bill would only be enough "to cover the expense of one attorney without any additional money for staff or materials" and will not be sufficient to cover the additional personnel and resources needed to address the directives in this bill.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

Page 2, line 6 delete the quotation mark at the end of the sentence.

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