Morgan blasts Shirley's veto

By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Navajo Nation Council Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan condemned President Joe Shirley Jr.'s veto Monday of amendments to the Appropriations Act recently approved by Council.

"With limited financial resources, it only makes sense to ensure that the Nation's money is being used in the most efficient way through performance-based budgeting and effective cost-control measures," Morgan said Wednesday.

Council voted in favor of the legislation with the ultimate purpose of streamlining the budget and appropriations process, according to the Speaker.

"The message of Council is simple it wants the programs of the Navajo Nation to run in the most efficient manner."

The amendment to Title 12, Section 830 of the Navajo Nation Code would set a planning base amount of 78 percent for the Executive Branch, 14 percent for the Legislative Branch, and 8 percent for the Judicial Branch, with the amounts to be reviewed every two years upon approval of all standing committees.

Morgan said the intent of the legislation was to set budget allocations in the law which would have allowed each branch to plan ahead based on percentage allocations. Having a predetermined budget would benefit each of the branches in terms of planning and development, he said.

President Shirley objected, saying that the amendment would establish branch allocations by statute without providing rational justification for the planning base amounts, and would decrease the Executive Branch allocation by 4.3 percent, thus resulting in a $5.1 million reduction in services to the Navajo people.

The Legislative Branch allocation would increase 3.01 percent and Judicial Branch, 1.28 percent, according to the president.

Responding to Shirley's memo, Morgan said, "I support the efforts of the Judiciary Committee and the Council to ensure that much-needed funds are appropriated to the Navajo Nation's judicial system.

"The reality is that the Judicial Branch has been historically underfunded, and the integrity of our Nation is at stake when we do not ensure that our court system has the resources to carry out its function."

Speaker Morgan said Council's purpose in making amendments to the legislation (CJA-06-06) was "to address the needs of the Judicial Branch for adequate and safe buildings and to provide resources to ensure that justice on the Navajo Nation is served for the safety of the Navajo people."

Shirley said that without reliable information to support the change in allocations, the amendment is "arbitrary and lacks justification."

Despite the president's assertions in his veto memo, Morgan said, "it remains to be seen whether any branch at all would receive an increase."

"The allocations depend on revenue projections for the fiscal year. Depending on the revenue projections, each branch may see a decrease if projections are down. This is what we need to prepare for," the Speaker said.

He also refuted Shirley's claims that the amendment would diminish the power of the Navajo Nation President to sign into law or veto future amendments to that particular section.

"Though the president says his power to sign legislation into law or to veto may be hampered, that power is in Title 2 of the Navajo Nation Code and has not been amended by Council through this legislation, nor is there currently any legislation proposing to do so," Morgan said.