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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Hanosh

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/23/07

HB

90

SHORT TITLE Cibola County Tobacco Cessation Pprograms

SB

ANALYST Weber

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$100.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to HB

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Indian Affairs Department (IAD)

Department of Health (DOH)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 90 appropriates $100 thousand from the general fund to the Indian Affairs Depart-

ment to promote tobacco cessation in southwestern Cibola County, using traditional health ser-

vices such as Navajo blessing way teachings, for residents from the region near the Ramah Na-

vajo community.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $150 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general

fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of Fiscal Year 2008 shall

not revert to the general fund.

House Bill 90 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The Department of Health contributes the following.

Tobacco exacts a heavy death toll in New Mexico. More than 2,100 New Mexicans die annually

from tobacco use, and each year smoking costs the State $928 million ($461 million for direct

medical costs; $467 million for lost productivity) (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention-

CDC, Smoking Attributable Morbidity, Mortality and Economic Costs, 2002).

CDC-identified goals for reducing tobacco-related morbidity and mortality include: preventing

initiation of tobacco use among young people, promoting tobacco cessation among young people

and adults, eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke, and identifying and eliminating tobacco-

related disparities among population groups.

Native American youth may be disproportionately affected by tobacco. Although the proposed

project would not be classified as CDC Best Practices, it would still address the CDC goal of

identifying and eliminating tobacco-related disparities by providing culturally appropriate ser-

vices to a population that is disproportionately impacted by tobacco.

New Mexico’s Native American youth and rural youth may be disproportionately impacted by

tobacco. The odds of using smokeless tobacco are 1.5 times higher among youth from rural

counties (11%) than youth in urban counties (7%). In addition, youth in rural counties are sig-

nificantly more likely to smoke (34%) than youth in urban counties (27%) (2003 NM Youth Risk

and Resiliency Survey [YRRS]). Smoking rates among American Indian youth were higher than

for Whites and Hispanics in 2001 and 2003. In 2005, all three groups were statistically similar

(NM YRRS, 2001, 2003 & 2005). Also, the Navajo Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that

38% of Navajo High School youth smoked cigarettes in 2003 (Navajo Area Indian Health Ser-

vice and Navajo Nation).

Culturally-appropriate programming would help to decrease the disproportionate impact tobacco

may place on certain populations.

The Indian Affairs Department adds.

Cigarette smoking is a serious and worsening problem among American Indians. According to

2004 statistics compiled by the Centers for Disease Control, 33.4% of Native Americans are cur-

rent smokers. This represents the highest proportion by far for any ethnic group in the United

States. The trend is also of concern, as the number of Native smokers increased by 24.3% be-

tween 1997 and 2004. Most disturbing, however, is the rate of smoking among young Indians.

In a survey of Navajo 7

th

graders from 1987, 54% were found to be smokers.

MW/mt