NAVAJO NATION, AZ — Several weeks ago, ABC15's Nick Ciletti posted that he'd be interviewing Navajo Nation leaders on his Facebook account and got responses from a number of ABC15 viewers who mentioned a number of concerns.
Among those issues discussed were what Navajo leaders planned to do about possibly raising the minimum wage and also what was being done with leftover COVID-19 relief funding, so ABC15's Nick Ciletti got to work getting answers.
According to recent estimates from several different organizations, more than a third of Navajo families live at or below the federal poverty level. That prompted several ABC15 viewers to reach out, asking what Navajo leaders were doing when it comes to the minimum wage.
One viewer Greg asked us to ask President Buu Nygren: "Does he have any plans to raise the minimum wage on the reservation."
Right now, the minimum wage is $14.35 an hour in Arizona, but the Navajo Nation minimum wage is a little more than half that.
Nick Ciletti: "I got a lot of concerns about raising the minimum wage on the Navajo Nation. Are there any plans to do that this year?"
President Nygren: "I have always said we should at least stay pace with surrounding communities. Definitely that is within the legislative side - if there is something we could do or a legislation that came across my table, I'd love to sign it because people still making $8 or $7.50 an hour - it's really tough on them when they travel long distances."
Speaker Crystalyne Curley: "In terms of being able to provide basic human resources for employees, there has been an outcry from many of our employees and also a lot of our students who go off to college off the nation and they want to come back to a living salary that they can provide for their families. As an administration, that is one of our priorities to see what that would look like and there has to be a lot of cost adjustments and revenue projects that we have to consider before we make that huge decision - but there is favorable support of supporting our own workforce on the Nation."
Another ABC15 viewer, Felicia, e-mailed Nick wondering about what Navajo leaders planned to do with leftover COVID-19 relief money, totaling more than $1 billion.
Speaker Curley: A resolution passed in the Council. We reallocated back into feasible, shovel-ready projects because talking about right of ways and a lot of clearances, there was a hurdle from federal regulations and we couldn't meet those timelines. But overall, the Council has spoken that infrastructure is still a priority. A lot of this did go back into the community for infrastructure projects, projects that are feasible to be done in the next two years."
Speaker Curley also mentioned in our interview there would be additional money for things like housing, water treatment facilities, more broadband internet, 911 services, assistance for seniors, and transportation.
ABC15 will continue to stay on top of plans for these projects as well as any efforts to update the minimum wage on the Navajo Nation.
UPDATE:
We also checked in with Navajo officials Wednesday who told us that currently, there is no legislation being considered that would raise the minimum wage on the reservation. We will keep you posted if another proposal gets introduced.
ABC15 will also continue to follow up on the status of those infrastructure projects we mentioned, which ones ultimately get approved, and the timetable for completion once they break ground.
