Transcript Great Plains Region

Tribal Interior Budget Conference Fiscal Year 2014
Washington, D.C.
March 27-28, 2012
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Tribal Representatives
Tex Hall, Chairman, Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota
Rodney Bordeaux, President, Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota
Robert Shepherd, Chairman Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate’
Regional Office Representatives
Bruce W. Maytubby, Sr., Acting Regional Director
Alice Harwood, Deputy Regional Director-Indian Services
Lisa Davis, Regional Budget Officer
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Treaties define our unique relationship with the Federal Government
and predate the Constitution of the US. Treaties are recognized
under the United States Constitution, Article VI; and shall be the
Supreme Law of the land.
All interests of the Great Plains Region should be protected; the best
insurance for the Great Plain Region long term survival is to have full
funding to maintain healthy, productive, safe, knowledgeable
environments so the tribal citizens of the Great Plains Region can be
full partners in the American Economy.
Therefore, funding appropriated and distributed for services to Tribes
and their members is based on the fact the United States
Government has a fiduciary trust responsibility under the treaties to
protect tribal/Indian property, land, rights and resources. Today’s
Government funding cynically masks the fact that the United States
is just providing uncertain erratic handouts; these funds should not
be viewed as entitlements or discretionary; they should be protected
and guaranteed quid pro quo treaty benefits.
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The Great Plains treaty tribes are opposed to ranking and
prioritizing programs in Indian Country. All programs are
basic life critical necessities that historically have never
been 100% funded. All TPA programs are a priority and
essential to the overall livelihood of the tribal members
and the operation of the Great Plains tribal governments.
However, as the budget process requires a program
prioritization this requirement has been met.
It is indicative that the 2012 and proposed 2013 budget cuts
will impact future budgets. As it stands, the President’s
commitment to Indian Country and the Bureau’s Mission
Statement are not supported in any previous budgets and
to support further budget cuts in the proposed 2013
budget is sending the wrong message to Indian Country.
BIA programs are being decreased or eliminated based on the
assumption that other federal departments or agencies are
fulfilling those roles or responsibilities to tribes and their
membership. Tribal access to those funds becomes
limited because of the lack of communication from other
federal and/or state agencies. The Great Plains tribes have
consistently objected to the reorganizing of line authority
and funding away from BIA.
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 Tribal Priority Allocations
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Housing
Trust and Natural Resources
Economic Development
Contract Support
Welfare Assistance
 Office of Justice Services
• Law Enforcement
• Tribal Courts
• Corrections (including Facilities O&M)
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Education
• Scholarships
• JOM
• Adult Education
• Other Education priorities include: Early Childhood Education (FACE/Baby
FACE), Full Funding for School Facilities and Operations; PreservationRetention of Tribal Culture through support of Tribal Specific Standards,
Assessments and Education Departments.
 Transportation
• Road Maintenance
• Indian Reservation Roads Program
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Tribal Priority Allocations (TPA) funding, base and non-
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Office of Justice Services programs need to be funded at an
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Indian Education provides funding to assist BIA funded
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Transportation funding is crucial in order for tribes and
base, agency or tribal, must be excluded from all
reductions or any proposed freezes. The Fiscal Year 2012
Administrative Savings reduction applied to Agency TPA
programs unfairly impacts Direct Service, Large Land Based
Tribes to a greater extent than Self-Governance tribes.
adequate funding level for all tribal and agency operated
programs (law enforcement, tribal court, corrections) to
fully implement and comply with the 2009 Tribal Law and
Order Act.
schools to increase the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP),
Scholarships, Adult Education and Johnson O’Malley.
agencies to provide safe roads and bridges for all who
utilize them. Funding is not at a level to support the
federal responsibility in this Region.
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Home Improvement Program
 Increase the Federal Income Poverty guideline eligibility from 125% to
225%.
 Rating for eligibility criteria should be revised to address housing needs.
 The 2012 need for the Large Land Base Great Plains is $228.5 million vs
the current minimal amount of $25 million Bureau wide.
Other Issues:
-Many houses are dilapidated and have black mold creating health issues.
-The Tribal leadership has stated that the reservations have turned into
“trailer house grave yards”.
-The waiting list at the Indian Housing Authorities are long, with 5 plus
years and no guarantee of housing placement.
-The housing need is great, but it is impossible to capture an accurate
count as many will not come forward to be counted. For example, many
are homeless or are in fear of being evicted from their home due to the
fact that “unauthorized” family members are residing with them in
homes governed by stringent federal guidelines.
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The protection of land and natural resources is critical to
maintaining the Great Plains tribal land base. The Region
has one of the largest land bases in Indian Country and the
most fractionated interests. Limited funding resources
have not allowed the BIA to fulfill it’s trust obligation in
protecting and enhancing these resources for the 1.7 million
land owner and tribal interests.
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Great Plains Region has the responsibility for managing and
protecting 6.1 million acres of tribal and allotted lands for
approximately 90,000 individual land owners.
Annual value of grazing to the Indian landowners and Tribes
is approximately $18 million and approximately $14 million
for farm pasture and farm leases.
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25 CFR 166 requires the development of
Reservation specific Agricultural Resource
Management Plans (ARMP) and Range Unit
specific Conservation plans to protect the trust
resources of the Indian landowner.
Lease Compliance and Unresolved Rights
funding must be restored. These activities
continue to operate but at the expense of other
TPA programs.
Create a permanent funding source for Tribal
Historic Preservation Offices appropriated
through the Department of Interior as per the
DOI Strategic Plan for 2011-2016.
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• The 2010 National Census data revealed the
following South Dakota counties as the 4 of the 10
poorest in the nation: Ziebach (Cheyenne River
Sioux Tribe),Todd (Rosebud Sioux Tribe), Shannon
(Oglala Sioux Tribe) and Corson (Standing Rock
Sioux Tribe.) It is an epidemic that needs
Congressional attention to aide the tribes in moving
towards reducing the poverty levels that plague the
Great Plains Region.
• The average unemployment rate in the Great Plains
Region is 77%. Economic Development is imperative
to improving the quality of life for tribal members
through job creation.
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Tribes within the Great Plains Region lack the economic resources and infrastructure
to jump start their economies and to fully implement the Department’s initiatives for
alternative and/or renewable energy projects.
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Reverse the consolidation of the functions and authorities of the Office of Indian
Energy and Economic Development Office back to the BIA Regional Office and Agency
level to reverse the reduction of service and regular tribal consultation inherent in the
new stove piping of this program.
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Allow tribal input on revising regulations and provide experts to fit tribal needs. The
tribes must have the opportunity for participation in proposed changes and
evaluations affecting the Indian Financing Act or other economic development
programs.
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The Great Plains Tribes are opposed to the proposed $2.1 million reduction to the
Guaranteed Loan Program for FY 2013.
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Grants/Funding should be appropriated for Great Plains Tribes to develop, train and
implement Uniform Commercial Codes for economic development (employment
opportunities).
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The fundamental obstacle to tribal P.L. 93-638
contracting has historically been the lack of full
funding for direct support and contract support
costs. Full contract support funding is critical to
the tribes abilities to implement and maintain
their self determination status.
The Great Plains Tribes support the increased
funding for direct support and contract support
costs in 2012 and proposed 2013 budgets.
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This funding provides financial assistance for American Indians and
Alaska Natives who do not meet eligibility criteria for other State or
County services. Emergency assistance within this category is often
times not provided by other Federal sources such as FEMA or the
American Red Cross for natural disasters or other emergency
situations.
General Assistance provides monetary grants to eligible clients. Of the
167,000 service population, eligible clients are provided an average
sole source income of $218 per month.
Child Assistance provides for the care of abandoned or neglected children
placed in foster homes, private or group or residential homes designed
to provide special care. Approximately 2,134 children have been
placed in special care.
The Indigent Burial Program provides burial grants to eligible members.
burial. The average cost of a funeral nationally is $7,200. A total of
$1,076,143 was funded for 2011 for Great Plains.
Emergency Assistance is provided directly to individuals who suffered
extensive loss to homes and personal property due to fire, flood or
other calamities and is used for essential needs of food, shelter and
utilities. In 2011, $53,057 was expended to provide assistance to 198
victims at an average of $268.
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The Great Plains Tribes continue to encounter great
difficulties with Law Enforcement and Detention
services due to the reorganization and separation of
authority from the Agency/Regional structure of the
past with little to no Tribal consultation. It is vital to
the Great Plains Region, with the great distances and
lack of adequate patrol officers, that authority and
funding be restored back to the Regional and Agency
offices. This will positively impact Tribes in our Region
in their decision making and in their government-togovernment relationships.
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• Tribal Law and Order Act is an unfunded mandate and places a
great burden on Tribes when attempting to implement the
requirements of this Act.
• Lack of housing for current patrol and detention staff and no
consideration of housing needs when new facilities are
constructed.
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• Slow hiring process due to the long wait for background
checks.
• Internal Affairs Office has a backlog which is forcing some
Tribes to consider contracting this service locally.
• Communications with contracted programs is minimal and
although Tribes request financial information; it is not
provided at all or is not provided timely.
• Fair and equitable funding between direct service and
contracted programs becomes an issue when its reported
that direct service programs have an open purchase order
and have received new firearms, vehicles and uniforms
but contracted programs are not eligible to use the
purchase order for their same needs.
• New O&M Facilities should provide immediate start-up
funding.
• Oppose reduction in new construction funding
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638 contracts and direct funding, not DOJ
grants are the preferred method of
funding for Tribes in our Region to receive
funding for a specific purpose. The grant
system is short in duration; will not
provide funding for existing purposes and
places the burden on the Tribe to utilize
its general fund or other sources to
continue services that were funded
through grants.
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The 2009 Tribal Law and Order Act is an unfunded mandate
requiring tribes to implement additional services.
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Historically, funding for tribal courts has come from within
either the tribe’s own coffers or from their TPA appropriations.
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Increases of Law Enforcement activity have imposed a greater
demand to tribal court systems without funding.
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The tribes in the Great Plains Region would like to see a pointof-contact at the regional level to provide technical expertise in
updating and implementation of individual law and order codes,
court processes, separation of powers, and corrective action
plans.
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Although the review conducted by an independent private
contractor recommended funding increases of $10 million
above the 2010 enacted funding level, not all Tribes received
increases to their baseline funding.
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The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) provides education services to
approximately 41,000 Indian students with 11,000 in the Great Plains
Region. Of the $2.4 billion appropriated for the Operation of Indian
Programs, 32% of the funding is in the BIE budget.
No equity in the appropriations over the past decade, BIE Education
Management, ISEP Program Adjustments, and Education Program
Enhancements have grown by over two hundred percent (200%) while
the appropriations for all School Based Programs (included are tribal,
federal, and federal funds that flow through the state government,
discretionary funding and entitlement programs) have stayed relatively
stagnant.
Of the funds received to operate schools the BIE uses two-thirds (2/3)
for administrative activities and the schools receive one third (1/3) of
funds to operate. $22,000 plus is allocated per child but local funding
received equals $7,900 per child.
Eliminate Positions at the Central Office of the Bureau of Indian
Education and increase and retain Education staff at the local Agency
and the tribe’s Tribal Education Department/Agency become the SEA.
The Road Maintenance funding provides for tribes and agencies to
maintain reservation roads and bridges in a safe and efficient
manner as defined by the Service Level Index. The funding has
been decreased or diminished and has resulted in an erosion of
base funding for this program under the current funding formula.
It is difficult for Tribes to supplement for any new repairs or
construction.
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In 1991, the Great Plains Road Maintenance program was funded at
$3.8 million. Twenty years later in 2011, the program was funded
at $3.6 million. According to the 2013 Green Book “The proposed
reduction of $320,000 will have a minimal impact on the current
condition road maintenance activities.” This is not acceptable!
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The final 2012 Great Plains Road Maintenance program is funded
at $3.4 million, $200,000 less than 2011.
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We estimate the Great Plains Region is funded at less than 15% of
what is needed to provide required road and bridge maintenance.
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The tribes are in full support of President Obama’s Strengthening
Tribal Nations Initiatives, particularly Advancing Nation-to-Nation
Relationships. This initiative is geared toward strengthening the
capacity of Tribes to manage the Federal programs they contract,
as well as eliminate the need for Tribes to use program funds to
fulfill administrative requirements.
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Regionally, the tribes that have contracted this program have
utilized their own revenue, construction funds, fuel tax revenues,
maintenance on old road machinery and new machinery, etc. to
augment those funds provided by BIA.
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Indian Reservation Road funding, must be limited for use only on
the interior Reservation Roads.
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The Great Plains Tribes support retaining the name and definition
of the Indian Reservation Roads (IRR) program.
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Creation of a Cabinet Level Position for Indian Affairs.
Create a special category for Large and Needy Tribes
Restructure Indian Affairs and realign all programs, including FTE’s and
funding, back to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Eliminate Stove Piping.
Utilize ALL unobligated balances under the Assistant Secretary oversight
(BIA, OJS, BIE, OST, Economic Development.)
Funds must be provided for the continued development of the United
Tribes Technical Training College Law Enforcement Training Center.
Internal budget changes always have a negative impact to Tribes.
Administrative Savings and Fixed Costs leave budgets flat with no
realization of funding increases
The BIA, OJS and DOJ must meet and work with Tribes to develop strategic
plans.
The BIA must work with Tribes to develop GPRA measures that are
meaningful and provide training to BIA and tribal officials on the GPRA
measures.
Eliminate Deputy Superintendent functions and redirect funding to
establish local Self Determination Awarding Officials and GPRA specialist.
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President Obama’s Strengthening Tribal
Nations Initiatives, particularly Advancing
Nation-to-Nation Relationships, is a good
concept but not reflected across the board.
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Organizational Restructuring
Elimination of Programs
Reduction of Funding
Unfunded Mandates
Changing the definition of an Indian
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Addendum
EDUCATION
1. Restore Residential Education Placement Program
funds, $ 4,000,000. This Program Element provides
funding for BIE eligible students who are temporarily
placed in residential facilities for Special Education,
Alcohol/Drug Abuse, and Court Ordered placements.
2. Restore the Construction – Education
Construction Activity to the FY 2010 levels. The BIA
reports a $ 70,000,000 annual facility deterioration
rate and also reports a $3.4 billion school
replacement need.
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3. Decrease - These funds are currently used to control the
schools and hamper progress, the BIE uses these Program
Elements funds to dictate [use Reading and Math programs
that do not work according to http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc]
what schools should do to improve assessment scores based
on AYP requirements, and has nothing to do with school
improvement. The funds should go to the local schools and
let them decide what works. The funds should be moved to
ISEP, Transportation, Facility Operations, Facility Maintenance,
and Tribal Grant Support Costs:
BIE-Elementary/Secondary Programs-ISEP Program Adjustments
BIE-Elementary/Secondary Programs-Education Program Enhancements
Total
$ 5,302,000
$ 12,663,000
$ 17,965,000
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4.
Restore and/or Increase (Part of a 5 year phased plan to fully
fund Basic School Programs for 49,000 children):
BIE-Elementary/Secondary Programs-ISEP Formula Funds
$10,858,000
BIE-Elementary/Secondary Programs-Student Transportation
$ 4,212,000
BIE-Elementary/Secondary Programs-Facility Maintenance
$ 2,254,000
BIE-Elementary/Secondary Programs-Facility Operations
$ 6,737,000
BIE-Elementary/Secondary Programs-Tribal Grant Support Costs $ 4,627,000
Sub-Total additional need for nearly 49,000 children
$28,688,000
Less requested decrease
$17,965,000
Total requested increase for FY 13
$10,723,000
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5. Eliminate the following Administrative Provisions
language to allow current schools to expand grade level
offerings and allow tribes to apply to operate a Grant
School:
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No funds available to the Bureau shall be used to
support expanded grades for any school or dormitory
beyond the grade structure in place or approved by the
Secretary of the Interior at each school in the Bureau
school system as of October 1, 1995. Appropriations
made available in this or any prior Act for schools
funded by the Bureau shall be available, in accordance
with the BIE funding formula, only to the schools in the
Bureau school system as of September 1, 996 and to
any school or school program that was re-instated in FY
2012.
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6. Allow additional appropriations for Tribal Grant
Support Costs:
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“Provided further, That notwithstanding any other
provision of law, including but not limited to the Indian
Self-Determination Act of 1975, as amended, and 25
U.S.C. 2008, not to exceed $ 52,879,000 within and only
from such amounts made available for school operations
shall be available for grant support costs associated with
ongoing grants entered into with the Bureau prior to or
during fiscal year 2013 for the operation of Bureau-funded
schools, and up to $500,000 within and only from such
amounts made available for administrative cost grants
shall be available for the transitional costs of initial
administrative cost grants to grantees that assume
operation on or after July 1, 2012, of Bureau-funded
schools”
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