HOUSE MEMORIAL 90

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

Sharon Clahchischilliage and Georgene Louis

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT THE LEGISLATIVE FINANCE COMMITTEE COLLABORATE WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION, THE INDIAN AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT AND THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL SERVICE TO IDENTIFY AND RECOMMEND AN APPROPRIATE FORMAL INTERIM HEARING AND REVIEW PROCESS FOR SANTA FE INDIAN SCHOOL CAPITAL OUTLAY PROJECTS.

     WHEREAS, the Santa Fe Indian school provides education to students from seventh through twelfth grades; and

     WHEREAS, students attending the Santa Fe Indian school come from all nineteen Indian pueblos in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the state's nineteen Indian pueblos include land in thirteen counties: Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Lincoln, McKinley, Otero, Rio Arriba, San Juan, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Socorro, Taos and Valencia; and

     WHEREAS, in 2000, the attorney general opined that the Santa Fe Indian school is a statewide institution because it provides education to New Mexico students who would otherwise

be educated in other New Mexico public schools; and

     WHEREAS, the Santa Fe Indian school's importance and service to the state's Native American community and to the state in general is critical; and

     WHEREAS, the purpose of the Santa Fe Indian school is to provide a challenging, stimulating academic program of excellence that shares with students and their parents the responsibility for developing the students' potential to meet obligations to themselves and to their communities; and

     WHEREAS, students at the Santa Fe Indian school are provided with a place to explore, walk new paths and seek new experiences and career opportunities while remaining true to

their Native American identity; and

     WHEREAS, the Santa Fe Indian school cannot participate in the state's public school operational funding formula process or the higher education funding process; and

     WHEREAS, the Santa Fe Indian school has no state project review process through which it can prioritize and justify its capital outlay needs;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the legislative finance committee collaborate with the department of finance and administration, the Indian affairs department and the legislative council service to identify and recommend an appropriate formal interim hearing and review process for Santa Fe Indian school capital outlay projects; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative finance committee, in collaboration with the department of finance and administration, the Indian affairs department and the legislative council service, present its recommendations at an interim legislative finance committee meeting so that determinations on Santa Fe Indian school funding requests may be made by November 1, 2017 for possible inclusion in legislation for consideration by the full legislative body beginning in the second session of the fifty-third legislature; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the director of the legislative finance committee, the secretary of finance and administration, the secretary of Indian affairs and the director of the legislative council service.

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