Report says role of policy-maker ignored
By Marley Shebala
Navajo Times
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A battle of heated words has erupted between the Navajo Nation's executive and legislative branches of government over President Joe Shirley Jr.'s push to reduce the size of the tribal council from 88 to 24 seats.
Shirley backs up his position, in part, with a 2005 evaluation of the council's effectiveness, titled "Final Report to the Navajo Nation Council Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Effectiveness," which was produced by the National Conference of State Legislatures in Washington, D.C.
The report's findings depict a body that devotes its time to the small details of government while ignoring its role as a policy-maker shaping the tribe's future, and spends more money each year in the process.
Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan (Iyanbito/Pinedale), who opposes the move to eliminate delegates, has not addressed the report findings publicly, instead accusing Shirley of "causing confusion, disharmony and divisions."
The $50,000 report, which was commissioned by the council's subcommittee on legislative effectiveness, does not address the issue of whether a smaller council would be more effective.
What it did show, through the analysis of legislative records from 2000 to 2005, was that Navajo lawmakers spent most of their time on administrative matters instead of developing policies to guide the tribe.
Throughout the report, the council was reminded that its duties are to development policy, oversee government programs, and allocate funding for the operation of tribal government.
Meanwhile, records also showed that the budgets of the council and its committees consistently grew each year.
In other words, they were spending more money each year to do work that they were not supposed to be doing in the first place.
The report also noted, "The Navajo Nation could preserve resources by re-examining the role of both the legislative and the executive branches."
The Navajo Times is asking for an interview with Shirley about whether he plans to seek a similar assessment of the executive branch, beginning with his office. As of press time Wednesday, there had been no response to the request.
The 2005 report also created a road map for council to become more effective, posing three questions for tribal lawmakers to answer: On what does the council want to spend its time? On what does the council want its committees to spend their time? On what does the council want its money spent?
The report's findings answer two questions: how the council and its committees spend their time, and where the council's money is spent.
In reviewing legislative branch documents from 2000 to 2005, the NCSL found that 50 percent of the resolutions acted on by the council and its committees involved administrative rather than policy matters. There were between 800 to 1,300 resolutions generated during the five years.
And the greatest expense for the council was delegate salaries and fringe benefits, which went from about $3.2 million in 2000 to about $5.3 million in 2005.
The report characterized this as typical of any government or organization, but went on to say that the amount spent on fringe benefits was well above the national norm.
"From FY 2004-2006, these costs were budgeted at about one-half of the permanent/regular employee expenses. In comparison, fringe benefits percentages for average U.S. workers are usually closer to 30 percent.
"The council expended far greater amounts on almost every type of meeting in FY 2005 - at a total cost of approximately $1.66 million," the report stated.
In contrast, from 1999 to 2004 the council spent an average of $500,000 or less each year.
For most committees, meeting-related expenses - the bulk of committee spending - also escalated from 2004 to 2006.
In 2005, the council's greatest expense under its meetings budget was stipends for delegate attendance at chapter meetings, which increased 6.2 times over 2004, the report said.
On Nov. 15, 2004, Morgan successfully sponsored legislation that expanded the range of meetings for which delegates could collect a $250-per-meeting stipend, and also added a stipend for each committee meeting a delegate attends as the sponsor of legislation.
And on April 16, 2008, Morgan quietly increased the stipend amount from $250 to $300 through a last-minute addition to the agenda of a regular meeting of the council's Intergovernmental Relations Committee.
According to the NCSL report, council travel spending also constitutes "a significant percentage of overall expenses from year to year" and is on the increase.
In fiscal 2005, the council and its committees spent $116,179 - 2.4 times the annual average over the previous five years.
The association noted that IGR, in particular, "consistently spent a relatively high amount on travel."
Under legislative branch procedures, Morgan, as the speaker, controls the travel purse strings and can authorize or disapprove trips both for committees and individual delegates.
Overall, committee spending dropped in 2005, except for the Ethics and Rules Committee.
The assessment also spanks the legislative branch for sloppy record-keeping, stating, "One key area that would greatly help the Navajo Nation Council improve its effectiveness and provide for assessment of its activities would be to develop a comprehensive legislative management system that includes consistent data collection, documents creation and processing and archival storage."
As of print time on Wednesday, Morgan had not responded to e-mail and telephone requests for an interview on the report's findings.