Navajo Health, Education, and Human Services budgets

August 24, 2012
Health, Education, and Human Services Committee approves proposed
FY13 comprehensive budgets for 4 Navajo divisions, 1 department
TSAILE, Ariz. - The Health, Education, and Human Services Committee convened on Aug.
22 for a regular meeting at Diné College's Kinya'áanii Library, where they approved
and recommended to the Budget and Finance Committee the proposed comprehensive
Fiscal Year 2013 budgets of four Navajo Nation divisions and one department.
Council Delegate Jonathan Hale sponsored five legislations relating to the division
budgets for the upcoming fiscal year.
Legislation No. 0313-12, pertaining to the Navajo Division of General Services FY13
budget of $56.8 Million, passed unanimously after the inclusion of two amendments;
the final vote was five (5) supporting and (0) opposing.
Legislation No. 0314-12, pertaining to the Navajo Department of Diné Education FY13
budget of $66 Million, passed unanimously after the inclusion of four amendments.
One of the amendments recommended by Council Delegate Dwight Witherspoon tied a
Condition of Appropriation to the approval of the budget.
Pursuant to 12 N.N.C. §810, a condition of appropriation places a specific
contingency on an appropriation by the Navajo Nation Council. Appropriated funds or
any other funds received by the Navajo Nation on which a condition of appropriation
is placed may not be lawfully expended until the condition of appropriation is met.
According to the recommended COA, DoDe shall develop a plan by the end of the FY13
second quarter to establish twenty-five mini-grants for the FY14 budget cycle. The
grant's expected value will be $1,000.
 "The need has arrived for the Navajo Nation to begin to support schools directly,
and this COA starts such by creating plans to offer grants to foster growth in
areas of special interest for areas of public concern," said Delegate Witherspoon.
The final vote to pass the DoDE budget was four (4) supporting and zero (0) opposing.
Legislation No. 0316-12, pertaining to the Navajo Division of Social Services FY13
budget of $90.3 Million, passed with one amendment.
A COA was added to the legislation which will require the division to develop a plan
to establish twenty-five mini-grants, five per agency, for faith-based councils to
address social needs in their region.
"The concept is to help provide seed money," said Delegate Witherspoon.
The seed money will allow faith-based groups on the nation to establish plans of
operations and work toward obtaining non-profit organization status, enabling them
to pursue outside grant monies to fund activities addressing regional social needs.
The plan is expected to be completed by the end of the 2nd quarter of FY13. The
mini-grants are for FY14 budget cycle. The approximate value of each grant will be
$3,000.
The final vote to pass the NDSS budget was four (4) supporting and one (1) opposing.
Legislation No. 0317-12, pertaining to the Navajo Division of Health FY13 budget of
$12.3 Million, passed with one amendment. A new performance measure was added to
NDOH budget forms, per the recommendation of Council Delegate Walter Phelps.
The committee recommended that a new program indicator and goal statement be
included, directing the Dilkon Service Area to work with the Dilkon Steering
Committee and the Area Agency on Aging District 5 unit to provide a measurable
amount of technical training to improve elder services in the local communities.
The final vote to pass the NDOH budget was four (4) supporting and zero (0) opposing.
Legislation No. 0315-12, pertaining to the Navajo Division of Human Resources FY13
budget of $21.5 Million, passed with two amendments.
One amendment included the addition of a Condition of Appropriation.
The committee recommended for NDHR to initiate a study to revise the salary schedule
by the end of the 3rd quarter for equity and salary comparisons. Second, the
division shall create a plan to fund Navajo Nation employees who do not possess the
degree or certification for their current position to take two courses a year.
Delegate Hale expressed concerns with the operation of the Department of Workforce
Development, which is housed under NDHR, and stated that he, along with Delegate
Joshua Lavar Butler were also concerned with the amount of dollars being reverted
back to the federal granting agency in most recent years.
"It's one thing to bring a legislative request before the committee to accept
federal funds, but what is behind that?" Delegate Hale asked, "How are the funds
working to benefit the people? That is not shared."
Delegate Hale requested that the division furnish to the committee by the end of the
first quarter of FY13 all federal funding agreements pertaining to the Department of
Workforce Development. The committee voted to add this task to the NDHR's budget
form as one of the program's performance measure criteria.
The final vote to pass the NDHR budget was four (4) supporting and zero (0) opposing.
The approved budgets now move onto the Budget and Finance Committee for their
consideration.
###