By Bella Davis | New Mexico In Depth

In To’hajiilee, kids could have a new pre-kindergarten facility to learn in. Residents of the Red Lake Chapter could have safer roads. And multiple chapters could make progress on a regional water supply system. 

Those are just a few of the projects on the Navajo Nation that received funding through capital outlay — one-time funding used to build or renovate public property across the state — during New Mexico’s legislative session this year. The state also earmarked funding for dozens of brick-and-mortar projects in other Native communities. 

All together, capital outlay for tribes and tribal entities totaled over $68 million, according to the state Indian Affairs Department. 

But whether the projects will materialize is a toss-up. 

Tribal and local governments have long faced challenges in using capital outlay, and the Navajo Nation faces unique barriers, lawmakers on the Indian Affairs Committee heard from the nation’s staff and council delegates during a meeting in Shiprock on Monday.

A new state law passed earlier this year that limits how long lawmakers can keep stalled projects alive adds urgency to solving the bottlenecks. 

Projects sometimes get caught up in what can be a slow approval process. 

Part of the problem is that capital outlay often works through reimbursements. But Navajo chapters — 110 political subdivisions that make up the nation — often can’t front the costs to start the projects once the money is awarded. In those cases, the Navajo Nation executive branch can provide the money and get reimbursed later on by New Mexico. 

The Navajo Nation waits to receive an award letter from the Indian Affairs Department before starting its process, sometimes adding months to the timeline, said Navajo Council Delegate Arbin Mitchell.

From there, a project goes to the Navajo president’s office, then it has to clear four departments, said Denise Copeland with the Navajo Capital Projects Management Department. After that, it goes back to the president for approval, then to the Indian Affairs Department, then back to the Navajo Nation, she said.

Using more fiscal agents at the local level could bypass that lengthy process, Navajo Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty said. She suggested counties and school boards could act as agents, fronting the money and getting reimbursed. 

There’s also a need for more coordination, state lawmakers and Navajo officials said.

For instance, the executive branch of the Navajo Nation has a tribal consultation policy, but the legislative branch doesn’t, Crotty said. That means Navajo legislators often aren’t aware of and are therefore unable to weigh in on relevant bills introduced in the New Mexico Legislature, like this year’s House Bill 247, which caps how many times projects can have their funds extended. 

Projects should also be screened to determine whether construction could begin quickly, officials said, to prevent funding from sitting unused.

“If they’re asking for construction dollars but they’re not ready, don’t give them construction dollars,” Copeland said. “Give them what they need, you know, give them the planning and the design money.”

Capital outlay projects across New Mexico, not just on the Navajo Nation, aren’t consistently vetted for readiness or need, according to a May report from the Legislative Finance Committee. 

Also during Monday’s meeting, state lawmakers called on the Indian Affairs Department — tasked, among other things, with administering capital outlay to tribes — to offer solutions. 

That the agency hasn’t already done so is “unacceptable,” Rep. Michelle Paulene Abeyta (Diné), D-To’hajiilee, said. “This is certainly not in accordance with the Indian Affairs Department’s mission, but yet it’s us who come from these communities and live in these communities where we have to go back and answer to our neighbors and answer to our relatives.”

An agency spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

Bella Davis is an Indigenous affairs reporter at New Mexico In Depth. She is a Yurok tribal member who was born in Eureka, California and grew up in central New Mexico. In 2025, she helped launch a collaborative series, Indigenously Positive, from her newsroom and NMPBS. She previously reported for the Daily Lobo and was a New Mexico Local News Fellow for the Santa Fe Reporter. She graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism & mass communications. 

This story was originally published by New Mexico In Depth.