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House passes Navajo Trust Fund amendments to let Dene Committee members receive benefits under safeguards
Summary
House Bill 119 passed the House (68–2) to allow members of the Dene Committee to receive benefits from the Navajo Trust Fund under conditions intended to match benefits available to other Navajo Nation members and include disclosure and removal-from-vote safeguards.
Representative Brad King presented House Bill 119 to amend the Navajo Trust Fund, which is funded by a share of oil royalties and is used for health, education and welfare of Navajo residents in San Juan County. "It is made up of 37 and a half percent of the net oil royalties," King said, describing the trust's funding source and purpose.
King said the Dene Committee—elected representatives from chapter houses on the Utah portion of the Navajo Reservation—had been precluded by statute from receiving benefits despite being residents of San Juan County. The bill would allow committee members to receive benefit that are "no greater than the benefit available to members of the Navajo Nation" but adds safeguards: disclosure of potential personal benefit and a requirement that committee members physically remove themselves from votes that affect their personal benefit and that any such approvals be unanimous.
House consideration produced little floor opposition; Representative King waived summation and the House recorded 68 yes votes and 2 no votes. The bill passed the House and will be referred to the Senate for further consideration. Representative King noted he worked with trustees and the Attorney General to craft the language and said trustees expressed no opposition.
