Yazzie: No veto
Delegate asks Shirley not to shoot down appropriations act

By John Christian Hopkins
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Delegate Ernest D. Yazzie Jr. (Church Rock/Breadsprings) is making a public plea to Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. not to veto the appropriation act approved by the council Dec. 22.

By a single vote, the Navajo Nation Council passed an appropriations bill that would allocate 10 percent of the general revenue operating funds for the judicial branch's annual base planning amount.

The executive branch would absorb most of the cost of increasing the judicial branch's allocation under the new plan.

Of the three branches of the Nation's government, the judicial branch has been historically underfunded and its needs are mounting, said Yazzie Jr., who sponsored the legislation.

In the past, the judicial branch usually could expect little more than 5 percent, he said. Judicial did get 7.2 percent for fiscal year 2007 after the legislative branch scuttled a deal between judicial and executive that would have given judicial 10 percent.

Before making a final decision on the veto, Yazzie urged the president to attend the Judiciary Committee's next meeting on Thursday.

His bill would give judicial 10 percent of the general fund revenues and leave the other 90 percent to be split between the executive and legislative branches, Yazzie said.

The council vote was 36-35, with many delegates wanting to see justification of the needs and some hard data from judicial to justify the increase.

An analysis provided to the council from the president's office suggested that allocating the additional funds to judicial would mean cutting 80 student scholarships and eliminating 42 employee positions.

But Delegate Rex Lee Jim, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said there were other areas Shirley could take from without eliminating scholarships or employees.

Delegate Lorenzo Curley disagreed with the president's analysis, saying it was "scare tactics."

The judicial branch has long been seeking an increase in funds and previous appropriation bills have passed council only to be derailed by Shirley.

The president has cited the need for fiscal responsibility and the impact Yazzie's legislation would have on direct services to the public as reasons for his vetoes.

John Christian Hopkins can be reached at hopkins1960@hotmail.com or by calling 505-371-5443.