9/15/2009 4:26:00 PM Brewer, Shirley sign Diné College compact
Courtesy photo
Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer.
Staff report The Observer
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. - Over the weekend, the persistence and hard work of Navajo Council members, staff from the Legislative Branch of the Navajo Nation and Diné College paid off as the Navajo Nation Council's Intergovernmental Relations Committee (IGRC) amended a resolution last week approving a revised version of a funding compact between the Navajo Nation, the state of Arizona and Diné College by a vote of 11-0.
On Saturday, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. signed the 10-year compact to continue the partnership between the state of Arizona and Navajo Nation for the funding of Dinè College, a public institution of higher education chartered by the Navajo Nation.
"Education is the means to getting back to standing on our own two feet, as individuals, as families, as communities and as a nation," President Shirley said at the signing ceremony. "That's why it needs to continue to be number one in our priorities. As a sovereign nation, we need to be independent again."
Diné College is located in Tsaile and serves the residents of the Navajo Nation. The first of 30 tribal colleges, Dinè College has two main campuses and six community centers serving approximately 2,000 students.
Navajo Council Delegate Thomas Walker Jr. (Birdsprings/Leupp/Tolani Lake) represented Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan and the Navajo Council.
"It is an honor to represent the Navajo Nation Council, particularly knowing that the Council's Task Force on State Affairs and the Speaker's Office has contributed greatly to this agreement," he said.
"People often talk about the value of education, but too often they stop short of what is necessary to protect and advance it," Gov. Brewer said. "Dinè College has done a wonderful job of advancing education for communities that might not otherwise have access. Its success over the past 10 years should be commended and I am excited to continue the partnership between the State and the Navajo Nation for the funding of Dinè College."
Diné College President Ferlin Clark said that for years Arizona collected taxes but the Navajo Nation saw very little returned to its people. Through the compact, he said, that changed with the college being able to build its Tuba City satellite campus, improve its dorms at the Tsaile campus, and make plans to develop facilities at Dilkon.
Clark added that President Shirley campaigned to make education a top priority of the Navajo Nation. Among the accomplishments was the creation of the Navajo Nation Higher Education Grant Fund which will provide Diné College with $4.2 million for the next 17 years.
On April 28, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee approved and recommended approval of the renewal of the compact for an additional 10 years for Fiscal Years (FY) 2011 to 2020. The compact was initially created 10 years ago between then-Gov. Jan Dee Hull and then-President Kelsey Begaye on Oct. 19, 1999. Earlier that year on May 6, the state of Arizona's Tax Code through HB 2676 was amended to allow the distribution of Transaction Privilege Tax Revenues to be collected on the Navajo Nation to go to Diné College.
As a result, the revenue retained from this agreement was appropriated to the Navajo Nation at $1.75 million per year for the length of the compact, which was for FY 2001 to 2010 - and it was designed to support the maintenance, renewal and capital expenses of Diné College.
Gov. Brewer acknowledged former state senator Jack Jackson Sr. "for his years of service to the people of Arizona and the generations of Navajo students and families who will be forever enriched by the educational options that your political courage and fortitude helped to make possible."
"Continue to urge your elected leaders to follow the example of those like Senator Jackson," Gov. Brewer said, "He knew how to put politics aside and work for the benefit of his constituents - all of you. This is how we can protect the seed corn of our future."
