Council approves $585M budget after amendments reshape spending plan
WINDOW ROCK
After two days of debate, four amendments and repeated recesses, the 25th Navajo Nation Council approved a $585,074,258 fiscal 2027 comprehensive budget Sept. 18 by a 17-4 vote.
The bill needed 16 votes, a two-thirds majority, and cleared that threshold by one vote.
Delegates entered chambers Sept. 17 with a backup plan after the first comprehensive budget failed. Delegate Danny Simpson had introduced a continuing resolution to keep the government running past Oct. 1 and said he would withdraw it if the Council passed a full budget.
During two days of debate, delegates added about $15 million to the bill from projected revenue. Roughly $2.8 million restored salaries for President Buu Nygren’s political appointees, positions the Council had defunded weeks earlier.
Delegate Shaandiin Parrish, the chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, who sponsored the bill, told delegates she was giving them a floor, not a finished product.
To read the full article, please see the Sept. 24, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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