SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 56

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2013

INTRODUCED BY

William E. Sharer

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT THE LEGISLATIVE FINANCE COMMITTEE AND APPROPRIATE INTERIM COMMITTEES EXAMINE THE IDEA OF TRANSFERRING FEDERAL LANDS TO NEW MEXICO AND THAT THE COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC LANDS PURSUE THE TRANSFER OF FEDERAL DISPOSAL LANDS.

     WHEREAS, eighty-five percent of the brain's architecture is set up in the first few years of life, resulting in early childhood being an important developmental phase; and

     WHEREAS, brain and biological development during the first years of life is highly influenced by environment, and early experiences may determine health, education, economic and social participation for the rest of a person's life; and

     WHEREAS, achievement gaps begin extremely early and persist. Science has shown that achievement gaps that exist between children in poverty and their more economically advantaged peers are evident as early as eighteen months; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico has many at-risk youth, given that one in four children lives in poverty; and New Mexico has the second-highest teen birth rate in the nation, four in ten teens do not complete high school and only one in four adults ages eighteen to sixty-four has a high school diploma or general educational development diploma; and

     WHEREAS, kids who start behind in school tend to stay behind, an achievement gap that multiplies over time. To break this cycle, it is important to focus on children when they are very young; and

     WHEREAS, the social and financial costs to New Mexico and the United States for failed potential in children are enormous, and these costs could be ameliorated by adequate funding for early childhood services; and

     WHEREAS, as New Mexico faces financial crises and struggles to fund necessary public services, early childhood programs have been drastically reduced and, in some cases, eliminated, even though research and data show the cost- effectiveness of such programs, and the result of such cutbacks is a continued cycle of income, educational and social disparity; and

     WHEREAS, in its report on early childhood, the world health organization noted that "globally, societies that invest in children and families in early years — whether rich or poor — have the most literate and numerate populations. These are also the societies that have the best health status and lowest levels of health inequality in the world"; and

     WHEREAS, investing in young children is an essential component for the development of New Mexico, as early opportunities for learning increase the likelihood that a child will attend school, and as an adult, achieve higher income, maintain better health, experience less crime and have lower levels of welfare dependence than those who do not receive early development support; and

     WHEREAS, in New Mexico, all of the early childhood education programs combined receive less than one percent from the general fund budget while sixty percent of the state's budget is spent on education, and New Mexico children are not getting to school ready to learn; and

     WHEREAS, long-term studies have shown that for every one dollar ($1.00) the state invests in early childhood programs, it gets back approximately ten dollars ($10.00) over the life of the child, and because these programs improve academic outcomes, early childhood education improves work force readiness and job productivity; and

     WHEREAS, the state of New Mexico does not presently have sufficient resources to address these problems; and

     WHEREAS, addressing these issues may reduce both the federal and state need to allocate future resources to remediate the lasting effects on these children's educational and life development; and

     WHEREAS, the federal government holds vast acreage within New Mexico, some of which has been identified as being suitable for disposal; and

     WHEREAS, these disposal lands could be disposed of to New Mexico and added to the New Mexico state land trust managed by the state land office to be held in trust for the purpose of raising revenue to specifically support and fund early childhood education and other educational purposes; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's Indian nations, tribes and pueblos are intrinsic to the state's identity and their lands must remain inviolate; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's land grant communities are also fundamental to the state's identity and their lands also must remain inviolate;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE

STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico legislative council instruct the legislative finance committee and any interim committees formed to consider economic and rural development, Native American affairs or land grant issues to examine the idea of transferring federal lands to the state; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the commissioner of public lands be requested to actively pursue the transfer of federal disposal lands to state management; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the co-chairs of the New Mexico legislative council and the commissioner of public lands.

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