Legislation introduced on tribal education resources
Lawmaker from Sandia Pueblo touts bill calling for $5.75 million to help Native American communities
A state lawmaker from Sandia Pueblo has introduced a bill calling for $5.75 million to help Native American communities build education programs to comply with a judge’s ruling in the landmark education lawsuit Yazzie/ Martinez v. State of New Mexico. House Bill 85, introduced by Democratic Rep. Derrick Lente, would divide the funding among a number of tribes to “treat pueblo education entities on tribal lands just as they would any at-risk school organization or district to help them build capacity,” Lente said.
The measure was one of some 200 filed so far ahead of the 60-day legislative session scheduled to begin Tuesday.
A state district judge ruled in 2018 New Mexico has denied several groups of students, including Native Americans, their constitutional right to an education.
Legal wrangling on various issues of the case continue.
Lente said the judge’s decision made clear more needs to be done, including funding increases, to help tribes “meet the demands of the lawsuit, build the capacity to make things happen.”
Lente introduced a similar bill last year, but it never advanced to the House floor from the committee hearing process.
This time, he said, there could be money in the state’s general fund for the effort. He cited a $30 million line item for tribal policies in Gov. Michelle Lujan’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year.
Lente also introduced two other bills — HB 86 and HB 87.
The first would appropriate almost $95 million for libraries, internet access and educational resource centers for tribes and pueblos.
The second calls for tens of millions of dollars to fund higher education initiatives and teachers at colleges and universities that serve Native American students.
Following are other key measures filed by lawmakers.
Senate bills have not yet been assigned numbers.
A bill introduced by Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque, would impose stricter penalties for the abuse or abandonment of a child with disabilities. Abandonment of a disabled child would be a fourth-degree felony unless it results in the child’s death or great bodily harm. In that case, it would be a first-degree felony. Abuse of a child with a disability not resulting in death or great bodily harm would be a second-degree felony for a first offense. For a second or subsequent offense, it would be a first-degree felony.
Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, introduced a bill that seeks to find out whether the state has enough social workers. It would appropriate $40,000 to assess and report on the availability and need for social workers in New Mexico, as well as “methods to expand cultural diversity in the field of social work” in the state. A report would be due to lawmakers by November.
New Mexico students may be less inclined to ditch school under a bill introduced by Sen. Cliff Pirtle, R-Roswell. Public and private schools would have to notify the parents or legal guardians of children who don’t show up to school within one hour of the student’s scheduled arrival time under the proposed legislation. Notification wouldn’t be required “if the parent has already provided an excuse for the school-age person not attending school that day.”
The state Transportation Services Division would increase the number of electric vehicles in its fleet under a bill introduced by Sen. Bill Soules, D-Las Cruces.
The bill would require the division, which is part of the General Services Department, to purchase electric vehicles “in a manner in which those vehicles would constitute at least 75 percent of all state vehicles” by January 2030.
Soules also introduced a very short bill allowing for the sale of unleaded fuel at airports. No, not for cars. Soules, a pilot, has a piston engine plane certified to fly on unleaded auto gas. He said all aviation fuel for turbine engine planes is leaded, which costs more and harms the environment. Current law prohibits the sale of unleaded fuel for planes at airports. Soules buys his in 5-gallon tanks at a gas station in Las Cruces.