Begaye budget legal; vetoes stand

Posted by Arlyssa Becenti | Oct 12, 2016 | Politics |

WINDOW ROCK

Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch has advised that the budget signed by Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye is legal, and with that his $659.7 million budget with its 17 line-item vetoes will be carried out.

“We’ve just been advised by the Attorney General that the line-item veto is not unlawful,” said Dominic Beyale, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in a brief interview with the Times. “Therefore, we are going with (Office of the President and Vice President.)”

On Sept. 27, Begaye delivered 17 line-item vetoes along with the signed budget, stating he wanted stick with the budget his executive staff had prepared rather than the one presented to him by the Navajo Nation Council, which had added millions of dollars to beef up the Navajo Area Agency on Aging, Amber Alert development, grazing official stipends and other things.

But Navajo Nation Speaker LoRenzo Bates and members of council fought back, charging Begaye’s signature was illegal since he was in Washington D.C. on the date he sent the vetoes along with a memo on the budget to Bates. According to 7 N.N.C. Section 254, that is against the Navajo Nation Code.

“Title 2 is very clear on the process,” said Bates during a past interview with the Times. “By the virtue of the mere fact that Begaye wasn’t here on the 27th, which it was dated for the 27th, and it has a stamp signature and we verified Begaye wasn’t here. He was not within the Navajo jurisdiction boundary.”

Chief Legislative Counsel Levon Henry agreed, and Bates sent a memo out to the Office of President and Vice President, Office of the Controller and Office of Management and Budget declaring Begaye’s signature was illegal and mandating them to adhere to the council’s approved budget. After nearly a week of taking it under advisement, Branch and the other entities decided that Begaye was within legal grounds.