The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 6, 2024, that the Indian Health Service (IHS) must pay contract support costs with respect to program income – payments from Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers – received by tribes...more
The House Committee on Agriculture and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry issued their frameworks for the 2024 Farm Bill on May 1, 2024. The House approach emphasizes enhancements to the farmer safety...more
5/6/2024
/ Agricultural Land ,
Congressional Committees ,
Conservation ,
Exports ,
Farm Bill ,
Federal Funding ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Livestock Protocol ,
Tribal Lands ,
USDA ,
USTR
The White House released its National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health on Sept. 27, 2022, ahead of the second-ever White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. Specifically, the 44-page paper calls on...more
9/29/2022
/ Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of the Interior ,
Dietary Guidelines ,
FEMA ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
HUD ,
Human Rights ,
Humanitarian Assistance ,
Native American Issues ,
Public Health ,
Tribal Governments ,
Tribal Lands ,
USDA
There is an important tribal reporting deadline at the end of this week: Every tribal government that received a share of the $20 billion Fiscal Recovery Fund (FRF) from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act must file a report by...more
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on April 14, 2022, released its Equity Action Plan (Plan) to the public. The Plan displays a shift in policy and perspective that is endorsed by the USDA Secretary, which is...more
To ensure that Indian Country continues the important work of addressing food insecurity, increasing opportunities for tribal producers and strengthening regional tribal food economies, the Native Farm Bill Coalition (the...more
The Indian Health Service (IHS), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), published its Final Rule governing implementation of the Buy Indian Act (87 FR 2067) on Jan. 13, 2022. These Buy Indian...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury on April 26, 2021, announced that it will hold an information session on the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) on May 13, 2021, from 2 to 3 p.m. ET and a tribal consultation on...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a memorandum on July 2, 2020, that lays out the reporting and document retention requirements that the OIG intends to apply to recipients of...more
The Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee (TTAC) on March 31, 2020, convened a teleconference instead of meeting in Washington, D.C., to accommodate for the increasing number of stay-in-place and other orders restricting...more
The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, under the leadership of Chairman Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), held a hearing, "Examining the Impact of the Tax Code on Native American Tribes." It was the...more
• Indian Country was disappointed in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017's lack of inclusion of provisions that would put tribes on an equal footing with sovereign nations.
• In addition, modifications of the "Kiddie Tax"...more
Sonny Perdue, secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), released the Trump Administration's 2018 Farm Bill and Legislative Principles on Jan. 24, 2018. "These principles will be used as a road map. They are our...more
1/26/2018
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Agricultural Workers ,
Conservation ,
Crop Insurance ,
Farm Bill ,
Farms ,
Innovation ,
Organic ,
Scientific Research ,
SNAP Program ,
Tribal Governments ,
Trump Administration ,
USDA
• A decision by the Court of Federal Claims has important implications for breach of trust claims involving tribal trust funds.
• Most claims for mismanagement of tribal trust resources are limited to the six-year period...more
• The White House has issued a Presidential Memorandum directing the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to launch a three-year Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot...more
10/27/2017
/ Air Traffic Control Systems ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Drones ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Innovation ,
OSTP ,
Presidential Memorandum ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government ,
Tribal Governments ,
Trump Administration ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on May 25, 2017, introduced the Drone Federalism Act of 2017 to allow any state, local or tribal government to protect...more
Court: Bureau of Indian Affairs Failed to Act in Timely Manner on Tribal Funding Proposal -
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on April 4, 2017, ruled that the Navajo Nation is entitled to...more
4/7/2017
/ Anti-Deficiency Act ,
Appeals ,
Bureau of Indian Affairs ,
Equitable Estoppel ,
Federal Funding ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Government Shutdown ,
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA) ,
Judicial System ,
Native American Issues ,
Navajo Nation ,
State Sovereignty
President-Elect Donald Trump has officially announced Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) as his nominee for Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI). During his time in Congress, Zinke has addressed various DOI issues...more
12/16/2016
/ Coal ,
Department of the Interior ,
Native American Issues ,
Nominations ,
Political Appointments ,
Public Land ,
Tax Credits ,
Transition Team ,
Tribal Lands ,
Trump Administration ,
Water Rights
With the advent of a Republican-controlled White House and Congress, many who work in Washington, D.C., on behalf of Indian tribes may be tempted to adopt a defensive posture. But while it always is important to defend tribal...more
11/21/2016
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Bonds ,
E-Commerce ,
Employee Benefits ,
Excise Tax ,
Health Insurance ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Internet Retailers ,
LIHTC ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Medicaid ,
Native American Issues ,
NDAA ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Pensions ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Sovereign Immunity ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Reform ,
Tribal Governments ,
Trump Administration
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) assessed on July 15 a civil money penalty in the amount of $2.8 million against Hawaiian Gardens Casino Inc., d/b/a The Gardens Casino, for Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) regulatory...more
7/19/2016
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Casinos ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Gambling ,
IRS ,
Native American Issues ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), on March 21, 2016, issued a final rule to apply Medicare payment methodologies to all physician and other health professional...more
President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in early March 2016 a new partnership to confront the challenges of a changing Arctic. The partnership calls for the involvement of key stakeholders...more
When Congress first authorized the domestic use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (FMRA), it created special, streamlined provisions for the...more
The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) on Jan. 12, 2016, announced a new policy to improve the implementation of the Buy Indian Act of 1910 (Act). The policy, announced in a memorandum by Acting...more
After years of post-settlement wrangling in a class action lawsuit brought by Native American farmers and ranchers for damages arising from what they claimed was systemic discrimination against them by the U.S. Department of...more