The leader of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee is sponsoring a bill
that seeks to resolve a federal funding dispute that tribes
say is costing them hundreds of millions of dollars.
Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) will hold a hearing this morning
on S.2172, the Tribal Contract Support Cost Technical Amendments of 2004.
He will take testimony from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the
Indian Health Service, the two federal agencies responsible for
most of the programs available to Indian Country.
But the experience of tribal leaders is what is driving the debate. As tribes
take over more and more of the BIA and IHS programs through contracts,
they are running into shortfalls that affect their ability to
carry out the goals of self-determination.
"If the U.S. has a contractual relationship with anybody out there in the U.S.,
it honors those contracts," Ron Allen, the chairman of the
Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe of Washington who is one of the witnesses at the
hearing, said recently. "Today, the U.S. is
not honoring the full contracts that it has with existing tribes."
This year alone, tribes who manage BIA and IHS programs will see a
$142 million shortfall, according to estimates from the National
Congress of American Indians. Reports from the General Accounting
Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, also document the shortfalls.
The issue is significant enough that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed
to determine whether the IHS has to fund the contracts fully. A date
for the hearing has not been set.
The dispute is rooted in the landmark Indian Self-Determination and
Education Assistance Act. Under the law,
passed in 1975, tribes can enter into contracts to manage BIA and IHS programs.
The law dictates that tribes receive no less than the amount the government would have
spent on the programs.
The law also requires the agencies to provide tribes with
additional funds, known as contract support costs, needed to carry out
the programs. But the BIA and IHS have interpreted this requirement differently
than tribes. The agencies say they are limited by what Congress appropriates.
Campbell's bill, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii),
is a response to the tribal concerns. The measure would take away
the discretion of the IHS or BIA by requiring them
to provide enough contract support costs to tribes. Dr. Charles
Grim, director of the IHS, and William Sinclair, the
director of the Office of Self-Governance and Self-Determination
at the BIA, will share their views at the hearing.
Also testifying is Chad Smith, the principal chief of the Cherokee
Nation. The tribe is leading the contract support costs
case against IHS and won an $8 million ruling last July
from a federal appeals court. But this conflicted with another
ruling that said the IHS didn't have to pay. The Supreme Court
will resolve the dispute.
Lloyd Miller, an attorney representing the Cherokee Nation and
other tribes, will testify as well. He has filed a separate
class action lawsuit on behalf of Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico
seeking to recover damages against IHS for failing
to provide contract support costs. The case is on hold pending the Supreme Court's
decision.
The hearing takes place at 10 a.m. More information can be found
on the committee's web site at
http://indian.senate.gov.
Get the Bill:
Tribal Contract Support Cost Technical Amendments of 2004 (S.2172)
Contract Support Cost Litigation:
Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Endreson & Perry
Lower Court Decisions:
Fed Circuit:
Thompson v. Cherokee Nation (July 3, 2003) | 10th
Circuit: Cherokee Nation v. Thompson (November 26, 2002) |
Relevant Documents:
Docket
Sheet No. 03-853: Thompson v. Cherokee Nation | Docket
Sheet No. 02-1472: Cherokee Nation v. Thompson | Department
of Justice Petition No. 03-853 | Department
of Justice Supplemental Brief No. 02-1472
Related Decisions:
9th
Circuit: Shoshone-Bannock v. Thompson (October 16, 2001) | 9th
Circuit: Navajo Nation v. HHS, No. 99-16129 (April 8, 2003)
Relevant Links:
Contract Support Costs, NCAI - http://www.ncai.org/main/pages/issues/
governance/contract_support.asp
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