NAFOA: 5 Things You Need to Know This Week (June 15, 2026)

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House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs: Legislative Hearing on H.R.6917, H.R.8473 and H.R.8954

5 Things You Need to Know This Week (June 15, 2026)

NAFOA’s 2026 programs for young professionals are now open!

Monday, June 15, 2026

Source: NAFOA

1. POLICY

NAFOA Testifies on Removing Barriers to Investment and Economic Development on Indian Lands, Urges Congress To Plan An Actionable Response

The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs convened last week for a legislative hearing on three bills with implications for Indian Country, including H.R. 8954, the Tribal Regulatory Reform Implementation Act of 2026.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO), makes a targeted but meaningful change by transferring administrative responsibility for the Indian Tribal Regulatory Reform and Business Development Act of 2000 from the Department of Commerce to the Department of the Interior. On the surface, it’s a targeted administrative fix. In practice, it could finally activate a statutory framework that has sat dormant for a quarter century.

The original law created a 21-member Authority to identify and recommend the removal of federal regulatory barriers to investment and business development in Indian Country, yet officials never convened this Authority. H.R. 8954 is a step toward changing that.

Chairman Rodney Butler of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and President of the NAFOA Board of Directors, testified on behalf of NAFOA and our more than 190 Member Tribes. He framed the bill not as a new initiative, but as an act of accountability:

“H.R. 8954 does not ask Congress to make a new promise. It asks Congress to keep an old one.”

Continue Reading the Policy Alert

2. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Registration is Now Open for the NAFOA Institute’s Career Basics Program

The NAFOA Institute’s Career Basics program is a free online course designed specifically for Native American youth and young professionals ages 18-28. You will work through focused learning modules, build a personalized career toolkit, and earn badges along the way.

Career Basics Program Dates: June 11 – July 15, 2026
You can join and complete Career Basics at any point during the program dates.

Who Should Participate?

Career Basics is designed to be most helpful for Native American young professionals between the ages of 18-28, and are:
Undergraduate students
Recent college graduates
Early career professionals (0-2 years of experience)
Young professionals looking to pivot careers

Participants ages 22-28 who complete the core requirements may be eligible to apply to the NAFOA Leadership Summit. Applications for the 2026 Leadership Summit are due on Sunday, July 19, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Alaska Time.

3. MUST READ

New General Welfare Rules Create Opportunity to Rethink Tribal Benefits

The Treasury’s final rules on Tribal general welfare benefit programs are a catalyst for rethinking how Tribes design, deliver, and evaluate benefits for citizens.

Effective January 1, 2027, the rules clarify when benefits can be excluded from taxable income. This creates an opportunity to modernize programs, recalibrate them to community needs, and improve how services are delivered.

Many Tribal benefit programs, particularly per capita distributions, have historically resulted in taxable income to Tribal members. The new rules reinforce that properly structured general welfare programs can deliver similar or greater impact on a tax-exempt basis.

That creates a natural inflection point: if you’re going to redesign benefits for tax efficiency, it also makes sense to evaluate whether those programs are meeting the needs of your community—and how effectively they’re being delivered.

Source: Baker Tilly Continue Reading

4. FROM THE NAFOA NAVIGATOR

Optimizing Revenue Cycles and Treasury Services for Tribal Health Systems. Expert Strategies to Accelerate Cash, Sharpen Denial Recovery and Put Capital to Work.

By: BOK Financial

Tribal health systems operate in a complex financial environment where every dollar counts. Leaders who understand this landscape know that speed and accuracy in the revenue cycle are critical. Automating 835 Electronic Remittance Advice (ERA) reconciliation isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about freeing coders to focus on denials, reducing rework and giving finance teams same-day visibility into cash positions. With that clarity, organizations can fund operations confidently, invest surplus liquidity and plan capital moves without guesswork.

When cost pressure meets liquidity risk Margins are tight everywhere, with labor shortages, inflation and reimbursement complexity all weighing heavily on hospitals. Tribal facilities face these challenges plus unique factors such as rural staffing gaps, payer-mix variability across Native and non-Native patients and reliance on Indian Health Service (IHS) funding. In this environment, liquidity isn’t just a metric; it’s a safeguard. Faster, more accurate payment posting means better cash positioning and less dependence on short-term borrowing.

Download & Read the NAFOA Navigator (pg 74-76) If you are experiencing issues with the link, visit nafoa.org/conference for the direct link to the Navigator.

5. JOB

RFP: Motif and Asset Designer for Branding Support, NAFOA

NAFOA is seeking a creative, culturally knowledgeable designer or design firm to develop original visual motifs and branding assets that reflect our organization’s Native American focus, mission, vision, and values. These assets will support NAFOA’s brand identity and be used across digital, print, and event platforms.

All proposals should be submitted electronically to Bettina Gonzalez, Director of Communications, at bettina@nafoa.org by 5:00 p.m. Eastern on June 26, 2026. The selected proposal will be notified by July 10, 2026.

Learn More & Apply at nafoa.org/jobs