Fed budget means major moves for Indian Country

President Joe Biden signed 65 bills into law Tuesday including several that will have serious impacts on tribal nations.

Though he still has not signed an important one. The omnibus spending bill is expected to be signed by Friday, the deadline for the extension he signed last week to keep the government running.

Within the omnibus bill package is an advanced appropriation for the Indian Health Service that administrators are celebrating as historic. Instead of relying on federal budget approval at various intervals through the year, the health service will have secured funding through 2024, safeguarding healthcare funding even through potential government shutdowns, which has not been the case previously.

Sonya Tetnowski, National Council of Urban Indian Health president, said the package “is a historic moment for Indian Country over a decade in the making.” IHS has been chronically underfunded, despite treaty obligations that mandate the federal government provide adequate health care.

“We are confident that we can build on this win and continue our work toward full and mandatory funding for the Indian Health Service, fulfilling the promises this country made to our people over two centuries ago,” Tetnowski said.

William Smith, president of the National Indian Health Board, agreed.

“This historic decision comes not a moment too soon as Indian Country continues to be plagued by an ongoing health crisis that affects all of our communities,” Smith said. “This week’s action represents a meaningful step taken by the United States towards fulfilling its trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations and we are grateful for it as we continue to call on the United States to make good on all of its promises made to our ancestors so that our communities may continue to thrive.”

The $1.7 trillion spending bill would finance federal agencies through September and would provide advanced appropriations for the Indian Health Service and avoid a partial government shutdown cleared the U.S. House last Friday.

The bill passed mostly along party lines, 225-201. It now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law, where it is likely to be signed. Right now, the differences between the House and Senate version of the bill are being resolved.

The bill runs for 4,155 pages, not including amendments the Senate added. The budget provides funding for Indian Health Service for fiscal year 2023 at $6.9 billion and for advanced appropriation for fiscal year 2024 at $5.1 billion, which will become immediately available on Oct. 2, 2023.

The bill’s passage came only hours before financing for federal agencies was set to expire. Lawmakers had passed two stopgap spending measures to keep the government operating, and a third, funding the government through Dec. 30, passed Friday and was signed by Biden.

The massive bill wraps together 12 appropriations bills, aid to Ukraine and disaster relief for communities recovering from hurricanes, flooding and wildfires. It also contains scores of policy changes that lawmakers worked to include in the final major bill considered by the current Congress.

Lawmakers provided roughly $45 billion for Ukraine and NATO allies, more than even Biden requested, an acknowledgment that future rounds of funding are not guaranteed with a new GOP-led House.

RESPECT Act and other important bills signed

The bill would also bring over $1 billion in funding for Native American housing programs. It would provide millions for the Indian Housing Block Grant Program, Indian Community Development Block Grant Program and the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant Program. Over a half a million dollars would be allocated to fund initiatives to address violence against Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian women. Nearly $350 million would go to Indigenous language and culture preservation. Climate change is disproportionately affecting Indigenous nations, $289 million would go to addressing those challenges. Lastly, $74 million would go to water projects for Indigenous communities.

Since the beginning of December, Biden has signed a number of bills that directly impact Indigenous nations including the RESPECT Act, which was first introduced by Sen. Mike Rounds from South Dakota in 2016. The act repeals 11 outdated laws that pertain to Indigenous nations.

The laws repealed include the Indian Reform School, which allowed for “Indian youth” to be placed in “Indian Reform Schools.” The Abrogation of treaties allowed the federal government to repeal any treaties if tribal nations were seen as being hostile to the United States. One bill previously allowed for an Army officer to be detailed at a federal Indian boarding school. The last eight bills were about the federal government withholding rations and funding if tribal nations didn’t comply with federal policies, were hostile to the United States or white settlers, or under the influence of alcohol.

“First, I’d like to commend and thank Senator Rounds for his sincere intent in sponsoring this legislation,” J. Garret Renville, chairman-elect of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, said in a press release. “The RESPECT Act is a first step in an attempt to better consult and coordinate with Tribal Nations. Historically and symbolically; it is my hope that it represents a path to improving the long standing inequities in the relationship and dealings between sovereign people, their nations and the United States Government.”

Five bills were directly related to Indian Country and in the days leading up Jan. 27th, the president signed two others and signed the omnibus spending bill that has an advanced appropriation provision for Indian Health Service. The majority of the bills, 32 of the 65, signed by the president yesterday were about the renaming of post offices from across the country.

Biden signed the Don Young Alaska Native Health Care Land Transfers Act of 2022. This act allows for the transfer of land to the Tanana Tribal Council, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium for the purpose of expanding social and healthcare services.

The Blackwater Trading Post Land Transfer Act put 55.3 acres of land in trust for the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, meaning Gila River’s landbase is larger now.

“The history of this parcel is important to the entire Community and especially to the residents of District 1 – the Blackwater District,” Stephen Roe Lewis, governor of Gila River Indian Community said in a press release. “The ability to have these lands restored as part of the community’s reservation is especially significant to the Community and we thank Senator Sinema for prioritizing this legislation at the end of this session of Congress.”

The Old Pascua Community Land Acquisition Act takes land near Tucson, Arizona into trust and allows for the development of gaming on it. The land holds a culturally significant church, museum, ceremonial grounds, and many tribal citizens still reside there.

“Today is a great day for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Old Pascua is an Arizona treasure, and this proposed law will help us maintain our ties to our community and help us strengthen and protect our culture, religion, and the San Ignacio cultural area, consistent with our right to self- determination,” Peter Yucupicio, Pascua Yaqui chairman, said in a press release.

Lastly, Biden signed a bill, VAWA Technical Amendment Act, that gives the US Department of Justice the authority to award funding to tribal coalitions that are addressing violence against Native Hawaiian women.

Earlier in December, the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act, which outlaws the illegal exportation of sacred objects and cultural items abroad.

“The Acoma people celebrate the culmination of our years-long fight for enactment of the STOP Act,” Randall Vicente, governor for the Pueblo of Acoma, said in a press release. “Tribal lifeways are threatened by the removal of our sacred items from our communities, and their loss is painful to our very beings. We believe the STOP Act will help keep sacred items at home where they belong, and that it will bring home those items that have already left.”

The Klamath Tribe Judgement Fund Repeal Act does exactly as its name suggests. It repealed public law 89-224, known as the Klamath Tribe Judgement Fund Act, an outdated law that kept the Klamath Tribe from accessing and determining how the final payout from their judgment funds would be used and distributed. The act now gives the Klamath Tribe the authority to distribute those funds to the living members or their next of kin. The judgment funds were for a fair payment of ceded lands per their Treaty of 1864.

The AP contributed to this reporting.