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President Clinton and Vice President Gore Won Historic Funding For Native Americans In the FY2001 Budget

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To better serve Native American communities and to honor the federal government's trust responsibility to tribes, the President and Vice President fought for a final FY 2001 budget that includes a total of $9.4 billion for key new and existing programs that assist Native Americans and Indian reservations. This total is an increase of $1.1 billion over Fiscal Year 2000 – the largest increase ever. This initiative brings together over a dozen agencies in order to address the needs of Native American communities comprehensively. Some of the highlights include: almost $300 million for Bureau of Indian Affairs school construction and repair; $256 million through the Department of Transportation for roads in Indian Country; and $2.6 billion for the Indian Health Service. Key components of the Native American initiative are:

Investing in Education and Training.

• Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) School Construction and Repair. The President won $293 million, a $160 million increase that more than doubles the FY 2000 enacted level of $133 million, to replace and repair BIA-funded schools on reservations. This is the largest investment ever in a single year for BIA school facilities, which have an estimated $800 million backlog of repair and rehabilitation needs. Of these funds, $142 million will be used to replace at least six of the 185 BIA-funded schools on reservations. The remaining $151 million will provide for critical health and safety-related repairs and improvements.
• Native American Education Foundation. The Administration won passage of legislation that creates a nonprofit American Indian Education Foundation. This nonprofit organization allows private gifts to further educational opportunities for Indian children in grades K-12.
• Staying on Track to Hire 100,000 Teachers to Reduce Class Size. President Clinton won over $1.6 billion for his class-size reduction initiative – a $323 million (or 25 percent) increase over last year – to stay on track to hire 100,000 new teachers to reduce class sizes in the early grades. As part of this initiative, the budget will provide $3 million for BIA-funded schools to recruit, hire, and train more high-quality teachers.
• Training and Recruiting New Native American Teachers. Only two-thirds of Native American students successfully complete high school --far fewer than other students. In addition, schools with high populations of American Indian students are typically plagued by high teacher turn-over. To address these challenges, Congress has fully funded the second year of the President's $10 million initiative to train and recruit 1,000 new teachers for areas with high concentrations of American Indian and Alaska Native students.
• New American Indian Administrator Corps. The President and the Vice President won their full request of $5 million for a new Department of Education initiative, the American Indian Administrator Corps, that will support the recruitment, training, and in-service professional development of 500 American Indians and Alaska Natives to become effective school administrators in schools with high populations of Native American students. As in the American Indian Teacher Corps initiative, tribal colleges are encouraged to form consortia with other higher-education institutions in order to develop this program.
• $1.2 Billion for a New School Repair Initiative. President Clinton fought for and won $1.2 billion for urgent school repairs and renovation. Nearly one-quarter of the funds will strengthen special education and invest in education technology. A school renovation initiative was a top priority of the President's, but the first Republican budget passed by the House of Representatives did not include it. The initiative includes $75 million for school districts with high concentrations of Native American students.
• New Therapeutic Pilots at BIA Boarding Schools. The President and the Vice President won $3 million to establish Therapeutic Residential Treatment Programs (TRTP) at about three BIA boarding schools and dormitories. According to the Centers for Disease Control, American Indian students attending BIA schools are at a very high risk for severe problems associated with substance abuse, depression, poverty, neglect, homelessness, and physical abuse. This initiative will make appropriate professionals available at each pilot site to provide necessary intervention treatments for students in a holistic manner, ranging from education to mental health to substance abuse treatment.
• Doubling the Family and Child Education (FACE) Program. The President won a 50 percent increase to $9 million to increase the FACE program at BIA from 22 to 33 sites. The FACE program is a two-generation education program that provides services such as early childhood educational programs to young children and provides training to parents to enhance their parenting skills, education, and literacy.
• Strengthening BIA-Funded Schools and Colleges Serving Tribes. The budget provides $545 million for the operation of elementary and secondary schools, tribally controlled community colleges, and assistance to Indian children attending public schools. This represents an increase of 5 percent or $25 million over the enacted 2000 level.

• Increased Funding for Tribal Colleges. The budget includes increased funding for the Nation's tribal colleges. At the Department of Education, the budget includes $15 million -- an increase of $9 million or more than twice the FY2000 level – in order to improve and expand the capacity of the tribal colleges to serve Native American students in several ways, including developing academic programs. With this increase at the Education Department, 25 tribal colleges will receive funding. At the Department of the Interior, the final budget includes a $3 million increase to $38 million in order to fund the operations of the tribal colleges. Including these funds at Interior and Education, the budget includes a total of $82 million for support to tribal colleges through funding at the National Science Foundation, and the Departments of the Interior, Education, Agriculture, and Housing and Urban Development.
• Tribal College Endowment Fund. The final budget increases the authorized level from $4.6 million to $7.1 million, a 54 percent increase over 2000, for the Native American Institutions Endowment Fund at the Department of Agriculture in order to build educational capacity through student recruitment and retention; curricula development; faculty preparation; instruction delivery systems; and scientific instrumentation for teaching.
• $933 Million Increase for Head Start, Doubling Resources since 1993. President Clinton won a $933 million increase for Head Start to $6.2 billion, serving 936,000 children. This is the largest one-year increase in Head Start ever. Since 1993, Head Start has more than doubled from $2.8 billion to $6.2 billion.
• Indian Head Start. The budget provides $170 million for Indian Head Start -- a $25 million increase over FY 2000.

Fighting Crime in Indian Country. The President's budget included key increases for law enforcement:

• Improves Law Enforcement in Indian Country. The budget includes $372 million, an increase of $36 million over FY 2000, for the Departments of Justice and Interior for the third year of the President's Indian Country Law Enforcement Initiative. The initiative will improve public safety for the over 1.4 million residents on the approximately 56 million acres of Indian lands. This funding will increase the number of law enforcement officers on Indian lands, provide more equipment, expand detention facilities, and enhance juvenile crime prevention. This initiative also includes increased funding for the unique needs of Indian Country such $1 million to fund the Office of Tribal Justice; $5 million for an alcohol and substance abuse diversion program; and $8 million for improving the effectiveness of tribal courts. Although violent crime has been declining nationally for several years, it has been on the rise in Indian country. According to the Department of Justice, American Indians are the victims of violent crimes at more than twice the rate of all U.S. residents. Recognizing this, the President made a major commitment to improve law enforcement in Indian country.
• Law Enforcement Housing Opportunities. The budget proposes to permit, through HUD's Indian Housing Block Grant, tribes or tribally-designated housing entities to provide housing or housing assistance for qualified law enforcement officers.

Providing Health Care and Promoting Safety. President Clinton and Vice President Gore are committed to providing health care to the Native American population. This budget moves forward on their vision to help realize this goal.

ü Providing Quality Health Care to Native Americans: The budget provides $2.6 billion, a 10 percent increase, for high-quality health care services on American Indian and Alaska Native reservations. This is the largest increase in history and it will fund:

· Clinical Services: The budget provides $1.77 billion, $138 million over last year, including funds to hire health care professionals to provide additional primary care services at IHS hospitals and clinics and to purchase additional basic and specialty health care services from local and community health care providers.

· Contract Support Costs: The budget provides $249 million for the Indian Health Service, $20 million over the FY 2000 enacted level, to support tribes as they assume responsibility for providing direct health care services.

· Indian Health Care Improvement Fund: Within Hospital and Clinics, the budget provides $30 million to address funding disparities by targeting increases to tribes most in need.

· Facilities: The budget provides $364 million, $47 million over FY 2000 enacted, to make much needed improvements to IHS' infrastructure for the delivery of health care services to patients.

· Alcohol and Substance Abuse: The budget provides $30 million -- $15 million for Alaska Natives and $15 million for American Indians in non-Alaska tribes – for drug and alcohol prevention and treatment services.

• IHS Medicaid and Medicare Reimbursements. IHS will collect a total of $365 million in Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements in FY2001, helping to bring the total IHS program level to $3.2 billion.
• Diabetes Programs. The final budget agreement includes a $240 million funding increase for special diabetes programs for Indians. The final appropriations bill provides $70 million for each of fiscal years 2001 and 2002 and $100 million for 2003.
• Treatment for Substance Abuse. The Targeted Treatment Capacity Expansion Grant program at the Department of Health and Human Services provides funds to help communities address emerging substance abuse problems and unmet treatment needs. The FY2001 budget includes $162 million for Targeted Treatment Capacity Expansion grants, which is $48 million over the FY 2000 level of $114 million and will provide treatment for nearly 10,000 additional individuals. Last year, over fifteen percent of these competitive grants focused on substance abuse treatment for Native American youth and adults.
• Highway Safety Grants. Because highway safety is a major problem on Indian reservations, the budget includes $1 million for highway safety grants in Indian Country. These grants are used for problem identification, planning, and implementation to address highway safety problems related to human factors and roadway environment in order to reduce crashes, deaths, and injuries.

Providing Infrastructure for Native American Communities. President Clinton and Vice President Gore are providing solid investments to build infrastructure in Native American communities.

• Building Roads and Bridges in Indian Country. The final budget includes $263 million, a $18 million increase, for the Indian Reservations Roads program to allow Tribes to address the estimated backlog of $4 billion in needs on these roads and bridges.
• Tribal Infrastructure Projects. In FY 1999, the Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded over $9 million, and in FY2000, nearly $17 million, in grants to Native American communities. The increase in funding for infrastructure, planning, and public works in the final budget will allow EDA to continue assistance in these communities. These projects will focus on technology, business development, and tribal economic development activities. EDA will give priority to projects that emphasize the attraction of outside capital to, and the location of basic commercial business operations in, Native American communities.
• USDA Rural Development Programs. The FY2001 budget includes $24 million, an increase of $12 million over 2000 enacted to provide loans and grants through the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) rural development programs to construct and improve Native Americans' water and wastewater systems; community facilities such as health clinics and child care centers; and diversify and expand economic opportunities.

• Addressing the Digital Divide. The President and Vice President won their full request of $10 million for this new initiative to encourage Native Americans to pursue information technology and other science and technology fields as areas of study as well as to increase the capacity of tribal colleges to offer courses in these areas. The National Science Foundation will use these funds for grants to tribal colleges for networking and access; course development; student assistance; and capacity building.
• Tribal Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA). The President fought for and won tribal FUTA language in the final FY 2001 omnibus appropriations bill that provides equity to Indian tribes by treating tribal governments the same as state and local governments. Language is included in the tribal FUTA package that eliminates the past federal employment tax liability of tribal governments where the state has not paid unemployment benefits to former tribal employees or the tribal government has fully reimbursed the state for any benefits paid.
• Extending Welfare-to-Work Grants. To help more long-term welfare recipients and low-income fathers go to work and support their families, the Administration's budget will give state, local, tribal, and community- and faith-based grantees an additional two years to spend Welfare-to-Work funds, ensuring that existing resources continue to help those most in need. This will give grantees an opportunity to fully implement both the $3 billion Welfare-to Work initiative the Administration fought to include in the 1997 Balanced Budget Act, which included $30 million in tribal grants, and the program eligibility improvements enacted last year with the Administration's support.
• Helping Low-Income Families Invest for the Future. Congress approved the President's budget request of $25 million to create Individual Development Accounts to empower low-income working families to save for a first home, post-secondary education, or to start a new business. Congress also approved the Administration's proposed changes that make it simpler and easier for community-based organizations and individuals to participate in this national demonstration program. This builds on President Clinton's longstanding support for empowering individuals to save through IDAs.
• Helping Hard-Pressed Working Families to Meet Their Nutritional Needs. Congress approved an important reform proposed by the Administration to allow 245,000 people to own a reliable car and still be eligible for food stamp assistance. Many of these families need a car to get to jobs, job training, and child care.
• Access to Jobs Program. The Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century (TEA-21) authorized $750 million over five years for the President's Job Access initiative and reverse commute grants to develop flexible transportation solutions, such as van services, to help welfare recipients and other low-income workers (up to 150% of poverty) travel to job opportunities and employment-related services. Congress provided the guaranteed funding of $100 million, an increase of $25 million over the FY2000 level, but less than the $150 million requested by the Administration. Regrettably, Congress also earmarked 75 percent of the funds for specific projects.
• Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Expansion. The Administration requested a major expansion of the CDFI program to continue building a national network of community development banks. The final budget increases CDFI funding from $95 million in FY2000 to $118 million in FY2001 -- a $23 million increase. In order to increase access to capital in Indian Country, the budget includes, for the first time, a $5 million set-aside within the CDFI Fund to establish a training and technical assistance program focused on eliminating barriers to capital access.
• Housing Improvement Program. The budget provides $20 million at the Bureau of Indian Affairs – a 27 percent increase over FY 2000 – to repair or replace dilapidated homes across Indian Country.
• Indian Housing. The final budget provides $650 million in block grants for the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Indian housing, an increase of $30 million over FY 2000.
• Strengthening Tribal Environmental Programs. The President won full funding for his request for the EPA's General Assistance Program (GAP) by $10 million for a total of $53 million. GAP grants fund tribal institutional capacity building for implementing environmental programs on Indian lands. GAP grants have increased from $8 million in 1993 to the FY 2001 proposed level of $53 million.
• Tribal/EPA Cooperative Agreements to Implement Federal Environmental Programs. The final budget includes appropriations language authorizing the Administrator of the EPA to enter into cooperative agreements with tribes or tribal consortia so that they may assist EPA in implementing Federal environmental programs. EPA will also provide grants to tribes and tribal consortia for this work.
• Remove Cap on Nonpoint Source Water Pollution Grants to Tribes. The final budget includes appropriations language to remove the one-third of one percent cap on the tribal share of the EPA Clean Water Act nonpoint source grants to tribes. These additional resources will help protect water quality on Indian lands.
• Agricultural Extension Program. This Initiative provides extension agents on large Indian reservations. These extension agents, employees of the State Cooperative Extension System, work with tribal advisory committees to develop educational programs in agriculture or agriculture-related youth programs that respond to tribal priorities. Since funding began in 1990, it has remained at $1.7 million, supporting about 26 projects in 15 states. This year the President received an increase to $2 million – the first increase since 1990.
• Promoting Self-Sufficiency. The FY2001 budget includes $46 million, an increase of $11 million over 2000, for the Administration of Native Americans (ANA) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ANA funds projects that are expected to result in sustained improvements in the social and economic conditions of Native Americans within their communities. ANA will set-aside $2 million for tribal energy development projects and another $2 million to continue its work on developing tribal codes in order to promote business development in Indian Country.
• Tribal Energy Program. The budget includes $7 million, an increase of $3 million, for the Tribal Energy Program at the Department of Energy which assists tribal governments in implementing energy programs, including with renewable energy resources such as wind energy.
• Expanding Business LINC to Indian Country. For the first time, the final budget includes $1.25 million to expand the Vice President's successful BusinessLINC program to Indian Country. BusinessLINC establishes mentor-protégé relationships between large and small businesses. The goal of BusinessLINC is to encourage large firms to provide technical assistance, business advice, networking, investment, and joint venturing opportunities for locally-owned smaller firms.
• Tribal Colleges Initiative. The budget includes a $5 million set-aside within the HUD Community Development Block Grant program for competitive grants awarded to tribal colleges to assist their communities with neighborhood revitalization, housing, and economic development. These colleges will provide technical assistance and capacity building support to their surrounding communities through assistance in the creation of community development corporations; assistance in the development and coordination of supportive services for welfare-to-work initiatives; coordination and support for the rehabilitation of housing for low- to moderate-income families; and assistance in the promotion of economic development through small business incubators and job training programs.

• The New Markets Tax Credit. The credit will spur $15 billion in equity investment for business growth in low- and moderate-income rural and urban communities throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. The credit, worth over 30 percent of the amount invested (in present value terms), will be available to taxpayers who invest in a wide range of privately managed community development investment funds—such as community development banks and other CDFIs, venture funds, and new investment companies—that finance businesses in low- and moderate-income communities.
• New Markets Venture Capital Firms. NMVC firms will provide incentives to increase the availability of venture capital in low and moderate-income communities for small businesses. Expert guidance will also be made available to small business entrepreneurs in inner city and rural areas. Ten to 20 NMVC firms are planned. The agreement authorizes the SBA to guarantee up to $150 million in loans that will match $100 million in private equity for a total of $250 million and provides $30 million in technical assistance for small businesses.
• BusinessLINC (Learning, Investment, Networking and Collaboration). The bill provides $7 million in funding for BusinessLINC—an innovative public-private partnership launched by Vice President Gore and designed to encourage large businesses to work with and mentor small business owners and entrepreneurs in economically-distressed communities. This $7 million includes $1.25 million for BusinessLINC in Indian Country.
• Strengthened and Expanded Empowerment Zones. President Clinton and Vice President Gore proposed and signed Empowerment Zone legislation in 1993 establishing nine EZs across the country. Today there are 31 across America. This agreement includes:
• A third round of nine new EZs, bringing the total number to 40, and extends all EZs to 2009.
• An additional $110 million, for a total of $200 million in discretionary investment this year for existing EZs.
• Expansion of 20 percent EZ wage credit (first $15,000 in annual wages for each worker), increased small business expensing (up to $35,000 more than in current law for equipment), and enhanced tax-exempt bonds to all EZs.
• Tax-free rollovers for EZ investments and 60 percent capital gains exclusion for investment in EZ small businesses.
• Renewal Communities. The creation of 40 Renewal Communities designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development with targeted, pro-growth tax benefits. Key incentives aimed at spurring investment in Renewal Communities include:
• Zero capital gains rate on the sales of certain assets held for more than five years.
• Increased small business expensing (up to $35,000 more than in current law for equipment).
• 15 percent employment wage credit (first $10,000 in annual income for each worker).
• Commercial revitalization deductions for taxpayers who revitalize buildings in a Renewal Community.

Protecting Sovereignty and Promoting Self-Determination.

• Tribal Contracting and Self-Governance. BIA and IHS will continue to promote Tribal self-determination through local decision-making. In 1999, tribal contracting and self-governance compact agreements represented 57 percent of BIA's total budget. The self-governance agreements give Tribes greater flexibility to administer Federal programs on reservations.
• Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Contract Support Costs. Within the overall BIA increase, the final budget continues to support Tribal self-determination by providing $130 million, a $5 million or 4 percent increase over 2000 for contract support costs. This funding provides $5 million for new and expanded contracts and $125 million for existing contracts.
• Trust Services. The Administration is committed to improving trust services and management through its trust reform efforts at the Interior Department. The final budget provides $105 million, a $32 million, or 44 percent increase, over 2000, for improved trust services in the BIA for activities such as probate, real estate appraisals, and other services.
• Indian Trust Fund Balances. The Administration is committed to resolving disputed Indian trust fund account balances through informal dispute resolution and supports the unique government-to-government relationship that exists in Indian trust land management issues. After Tribal consultations, BIA submitted its "Recommendations of the Secretary of the Interior for Settlement of Disputed Tribal Accounts" to Congress in November 1997. Legislation reflecting these recommendations was proposed in 1998 and 2000, but not enacted. The Interior Department continued efforts to resolve trust fund account balances through discussions with account holders.
• Trust Land Management. To help resolve trust management issues, Interior worked with Congress to establish an Indian Land Consolidation pilot program for purchasing small ownership interests in highly fractionated tracts of land from willing sellers. Since 1999, nearly 27,000 small ownership interests have been acquired to consolidate over 14,000 acres on three Indian reservations in Wisconsin. The 106^th Congress agreed to legislation to extend this successful pilot program, modernize tribal probate codes, and other actions to help avoid future fractionation of Indian land ownership.
• Trust Management Improvement Project. In addition to the $9 million for the Indian Land Consolidation program, the budget provides $110 million for Interior's Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians to support trust fund management reforms. Ongoing improvement projects with the BIA include modern systems for trust fund accounting, land title and ownership records, real estate appraisals and leases, royalty payments, and probate management.

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