House takes up legislation to increase funding to Indian Country

Tuesday, June 18, 2019  

• WEBCAST: House Committee on Rules Meeting -- H.R. 3055 - June 18, 2019

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are beginning consideration of an appropriations bill that increases funding for a wide range of Indian Country programs.

The process begins with a meeting of the House Committee on Rules on Tuesday afternoon. The panel is expected to approve a rule that will govern debate -- including amendments to the bill -- on the floor of the chamber.

If members don't complete work on the rule, the committee is expected to meet again on Wednesday afternoon in order to send H.R.3055 to the floor of the House for debate during the remainder of the week. The goal, according to Democrats, is to ensure the federal government doesn't end up in another shutdown like the record-breaking one that crippled tribal and urban Indian communities earlier this year.

"It is my intention to pass all 12 appropriations bills through the House by the end of June," said Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland), who serves as the Majority Leader in the chamber. "This package is yet another step toward the House completing its work to prevent another government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year."

🚨 The Rules Committee is meeting TODAY at 5:00pm EST on H.R. 3055. Tune in LIVE here: https://t.co/3Pz8I8ImXk

— House Committee on Rules (@RulesDemocrats) June 18, 2019

H.R.3055 goes a long way toward that goal. It funds the Department of the Interior, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Education and the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians, along with the Environmental Protection Agency and related agencies.

As part of longstanding tradition, the bill also provides appropriations for the Indian Health Service at the Department of the Health and Human Services. But it does a lot more too.

Democrats are calling H.R.3055 "minibus" because it includes funding for several major agencies, like Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, that would normally be part of a separate package. Indian programs are found throughout the 662-page measure.

According to Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minnesota), who chairs the House appropriations subcommittee that handles most Indian Country funding, the increases provide by H.R.3055 "honor our federal trust and treaty responsibilities to our Native American brothers and sisters."

"This bill is the product of hard work and collaboration, with input from Indian tribes, agency officials, members of Congress, and the public," said McCollum, whose subcommittee hosted dozens of Indian Country leaders in March to hear about their funding priorities.

Overall, key lawmakers -- Republicans included -- have provided about $10 billion for Indian Country programs in H.R.3055. They say the BIA and the BIE are getting a combined total of $3.5 billion, or getting $141 million above current levels and $188 million above President Donald Trump's fiscal year 2020 budget request.

The IHS, meanwhile, would see $6.3 billion if the bill becomes law. That's $537 million above current levels and $431 million above Trump's request.

"Like many colleagues in Congress, I recognize that upholding the tribal trust responsibility is shared by all members of Congress, regardless of the Congressional district," Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio), who is the highest-ranking Republican on the House Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, said during the Indian Country hearings in March.

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Following are some of the Indian Country provisions in H.R.3055, with figures provided by Democrats on the House Committee on Appropriations.

The Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bill includes funding for programs within the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other related agencies, including the Indian Health Service.

In total, the FY 2020 bill includes $37.28 billion, an increase of $1.73 billion over the 2019 enacted level and $7.24 billion over the President’s 2020 request.

• $71 million for State and Tribal Wildlife Grants, $6 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $39 million above the President’s budget request.

• $3.5 billion for Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education, $432 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $739 million above the President’s budget request. The bill accepts the proposed separation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education. Amounts below reflect the separation.

• $1.7 billion for operation of Bureau of Indian Affairs Operation of Indian Programs, $141 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level for the same programs and $188 million above the President’s budget request.

• $146 million for Bureau of Indian Affairs Construction, $26 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level for the same programs and $88 million above the President’s budget request.

• $12.8 million for the Indian Guaranteed Loan Program, $2 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $12 million above the President’s budget request.

• $1 billion for Bureau of Indian Education Operation of Indian Programs, $96 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level for the same programs and $133 million above the President’s budget request.

• $387 million to Bureau of Indian Education Construction, $149 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level for the same programs and $318 million above the President’s budget request.

• Fully funds Contract Support Costs, the funds used to supplement self-determination contracts with tribes and tribal organizations.

• $4.62 billion for State and Tribal Assistance Grants at the Environmental Protection Agency, a $490 million increase above the 2019 enacted level and $1.85 billion above the President’s budget request.

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The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies bill funds the Department of Transportation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and other related agencies, including the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.

In total, the FY 2020 legislation provides $137.1 billion in budgetary resources, an increase of $6 billion above the 2019 enacted level and $17.3 billion above the President’s budget request. The bill includes $75.8 billion in discretionary funding, an increase of $4.7 billion over the 2019 enacted level and $17.3 billion over the President’s 2020 budget request.

• $32.7 billion for the Office of Public and Indian Housing, $1.7 billion above the 2019 enacted level and $6.9 billion above the President’s budget request.

• $5 million for HUD/VA Supportive Housing for Homeless Native American Veterans, $1 million above the 2019 enacted level. The President’s budget request proposed eliminating this program.

• $855 million for Native American Programs, $35 million above the 2019 enacted level and $255 million above the President’s budget request.

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LOTS of amendments have been submitted, by Democrats, by Republicans and some by bipartisan groups. Not all will be up for inclusion in H.R.3055 when the appropriations bill is finally debated on the House floor, but here are some of interest:

• O'Halleran (AZ) -- Increases by $7 million and decreases by $7 million funding for Indian Health Service Facilities, to highlight the importance of completing the Hopi Arsenic Mitigation Project, to provide safe drinking water to the Hopi.

• Moore (WI) -- Increases funding by $1 million for the Indian Health Services Domestic Violence Prevention Program to allow for additional grants and decreases $1 million from the Office of the Secretary Departmental Operations account.

• Lowenthal (CA) -- States that none of the funds made available by this Act may be used to issue a proposed or final rule to replace the Consolidated Federal Oil & Gas and Federal & Indian Coal Valuation Reform final rule.

• Hern (OK) -- Ensures that none of the funds made available by this Act for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Education, or the Indian Health Service may be used expressly for green infrastructure as directed by House Report 116-100.

• Haaland (NM) -- Increases and decreases funding by $35,000,000 in the Indian Health Service account to support urban Indian health.

• Haaland (NM) -- Increases and decreases funding by $176,000,000 in the Operation of Indian Programs account to support tribal courts and law enforcement.

• Pallone (NJ) -- Establishes a Department of Interior moratorium on oil and gas drilling and related activities in the Atlantic, including the North Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, and the South Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Planning Areas.

• Lujan (NM) -- Prevents any of the funds made available by this act to be used for further mineral development around the Chaco Culture National Historical Park on federal lands. This amendment does not affect the mineral rights of an Indian Tribe or member of an Indian Tribe to trust land or allotment land.

• Heck (WA) -- Provides additional funding for the Indian Community Development Block Grant Program.

• Moore (WI) -- Increases funding for tribal governments to exercise jurisdiction over domestic violence by $5 million.

• Blumenauer (OR) -- Prohibits the Department of Justice from interfering with tribal medical cannabis programs. NOTE: This amendment is now listed as Withdrawn.

• Blumenauer (OR) -- Prohibits the Department of Justice from interfering with tribal cannabis programs in states with cannabis programs. NOTE: This amendment is now listed as Withdrawn.

• Blumenauer (OR) -- Prohibits the Department of Justice from interfering with tribal medical cannabis programs in states with cannabis programs. NOTE: This amendment is now listed as Withdrawn.

• Blumenauer (OR) -- Prohibits the Department of Justice from interfering with tribal cannabis programs.

• Blumenauer (OR) -- Prohibits the Department of Justice from interfering with Veterans Affairs healthcare providers who choose to recommend medical cannabis to their patients in states with medical cannabis programs.

H.R. 3055 - Commerce, Justice, Science, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2020 (June 18, 2019)

On March 6 and March 7, the House Committee on Appropriations heard from dozens of Indian Country leaders about their funding priorities. Listen to their stories on the Indianz.Com SoundCloud.