Reznet

Tribes hope to tap into $50 million earmarked for renewable energy projects, such as this wind farm in Colorado.AP Photo by Ed Andrieski

Obama Budget Boosts Funding for Natives

By Victor Merina

As they sift through President Obama's first federal budget proposal, some Native American officials are optimistic about how tribal communities will fare under the $3.6 trillion spending plan even as they await the details of the massive budget plan.

The Obama blueprint, which was presented to Congress on Thursday, would finance sweeping new investments in health care, energy independence and education among other things in an ambitious fiscal plan that also spotlights various Native programs.

The highlights include a $4 billion proposal for the Indian Health Service to support and expand health care services and public health programs for American Indians and Alaskan Natives.

Also included is a proposed $100 million increase to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for enhanced law enforcement and education. Those funds are aimed at strengthening tribal courts, detention centers and public safety programs as well as providing funds for tribal colleges and scholarships.

Tribal leaders are also hoping to tap into the $50 million earmarked for the Department of Interior to promote renewable energy projects on federal lands and waters.

"What we've seen so far seems promising," Jacqueline Johnson Pata, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, said about the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Johnson Pata pointed to the $4 billion proposal for the Indian Health Service — an increase over the $3.3 billion enacted for IHS in 2008 under the Bush administration — and laughed. "You can't tell me that's not promising," she said. "That's great news."

Crucial Details to Come 

But at the same time, the NCAI executive cautioned that crucial details of the budget proposal will not be known until April and those specifics will determine "how programs are affected and where the dollars are going in Indian Country."

With the change in administration, tribal leaders have been eagerly awaiting President Obama's initial budget to see whether more federal dollars will flow to Native communities.

Many reservations have been hard-hit by what tribal leaders view as the lack of federal funding for public safety, education, health care and other programs. On the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, for example, the head of the local IHS center said last year that reduced funding meant some of the clinic's Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho clients had to forego surgeries for knees, hips or shoulders and had to rely largely on pain medication to help them cope. Meanwhile, cancer "workups" were delayed and contract services for outside medical assistance fell by the wayside.

With the prospect of additional dollars for the Indian Health Service in the new budget, tribal leaders such as Rachel Joseph, of the Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Reservation in California, are hopeful.

"We could use a lot more money," she said of the new federal budget, "but I'm just pretty excited because we do make some gains."

Joseph is co-chair of a national steering committee for the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. She also is former chair of the Indian Health Project, a consortium of nine tribes in central California. Funding for Native health care programs is uppermost in her mind.

"Is it enough?" she asked about the health care allotment. "No. But it's a step in the right direction."

Educational Programs 

In addition to health care funding, the NCAI's Johnson Pata said that Native college students should benefit from the funding of Pell Grants and other scholarship programs. Tribal communities also should benefit from the increased dollars for the expansion of Head Start and Early Head Start programs, she said.

Individual federal agencies now have Native concerns in mind, Johnson Pata said, although it's unclear what that will ultimately mean. "I know that [department] secretaries were given directives to have consideration for Indian programs," she said, "but we're not really sure exactly what that looks like right now."

In briefings this week with administration officials, Johnson Pata said she learned that the Department of Agriculture "is going to develop the rural broadband service" that interest many tribes, and there will be funding for a water conservation initiative that "we know the tribes in the 17 Western states care a lot about."

Tribes involved in alternative energy programs also could benefit from a proposal in the Department of Interior budget that will invest $50 million to promote renewable energy projects, she said, adding that she has been encouraged by conversations with administration officials during the transition period.

"They really recognize the value of Indian Country being at the table for the development of alternative energy," said Johnson Pata. "And they recognize the technical support that's going to be necessary to get tribes to have the capacity to develop those [projects]."

Rob Nabors, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, appeared to echo that sentiment during a conference call briefing reporters about the budget. Asked about the $50 million in funds for renewable energy and the interest in promoting alternative energy efforts, he said that projects in Indian Country would be included in the conversation.

"It's a priority for us not only in tribal lands," Nabors said, "but other places in the country."

Merina reported from Los Angeles.

 

Victor Merina is reznet's senior correspondent and special projects editor. A former Los Angeles Times investigative reporter and finalist for the Pulitizer Prize, he also is a senior fellow at the USC Annenberg Institute for Justice and Journalism. Merina is a visiting faculty member at The Poynter Institute, where he leads seminars on cross-cultural reporting and writing about race.