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| SPONSOR: | Pinto | DATE TYPED: | 3/4/99 | HB | |||
| SHORT TITLE: | Navajo Indian Irrigation Project | SB | SJM 42 | ||||
| ANALYST: | L. Kehoe | ||||||
| Recurring
or Non-Rec |
Fund
Affected | ||||
| FY99 | FY2000 | FY99 | FY2000 | ||
| NFI | NFI | NFI | NFI | N/A | N/A |
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates/Conflicts with/Companion to/Relates to
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Legislative Finance Committee Files
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Joint Memorial 42 proposes that the 1999 Legislature recommend to the United States Congress and the President of the United States that an appropriation in the amount of $38,500,000 be made in fiscal year 2000 to continue the design and construction of the Navajo Indian irrigation project. The joint memorial further proposes that the Legislature applaud and support the accomplishments and economic contributions of the Navajo agricultural products industry, and the Navajo Nation's efforts to provide a self-sustaining agricultural-based economy in northwestern New Mexico.
Significant Issues
The Navajo agricultural products industry was formed in 1970 to develop the Navajo Nation's agricultural economy. The industry's customers include major food processing companies throughout the United States and internationally, and the "Navajo Pride" brand has gained wide consumer acceptance as an excellent high-quality product.
According to the Navajo Nation, the industry contributes over $50 million annually to the regional economy and employs three hundred full-time employees and one thousand seasonal employees during peak operations. The industry's future projects include continued crop diversification, food processing plants, modern crop storage and processing facilities to fulfill customer packaging preferences and peak market demands.
The agricultural products industry uses water provided by the Navajo Indian irrigation project to cultivate sixty thousand acres, but since the irrigation project completion schedule has been delayed for more than twenty years, the industry cannot cultivate the remaining fifty thousand acres. Consequently, the delays will have negative impacts on the Navajo Nation and the industry through lost economic benefits and the Nations's plans for a self-sustaining agricultural-based economy in northwestern New Mexico.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
There is no fiscal impact to the general fund.
LMK/gm