PAWHUSKA, Okla.—A heated debate over yearly $500 per-capita payments to Osage tribal members from casino profits will simmer on the backburner for another six months after a congressman postponed his authorization bill until the next legislative session.
Osage Nation [1] Congressman William "Kugee" Supernaw tabled ONCA 09-09, saying he expected Principal Chief Jim Gray to reject the per-cap bill by pocket veto. Supernaw promised to reintroduce his bill in September's Tzi-Zho session of the Osage Congress.
Supernaw's bill would establish a procedure for the approval, distribution and maintenance of per-caps to each Osage citizen, regardless of age. A companion bill sponsored by Congressman Doug Revard would appropriate $5 million from the Nation's treasury for a payment of $500.
Opponents fear per-capita payments would curtail some popular Nation programs and that yearly appropriations for per-caps could grow each election year, as politicians vie for office. Proponents say they would welcome financial relief from the Nation.
"Due to the timing, if [the per-capita bill] was passed out of [the Governmental Operations] committee, it would be subject to a pocket veto," Supernaw said in a committee meeting April 7. "I'm going to table it so we can work on it during the interim until the next session."
The chief, who opposes per-capita payments, can indirectly veto a bill passed by Congress late in a session by refusing to sign it before the legislature adjourns. The process is called a pocket veto.
Cost-Effective Way to Give Money to Osages
Supernaw said a per-capita payment to all Osage citizens would be the most cost-effective way to get a small amount of money to Osages everywhere. He pointed out that most Osages live outside of the reservation and don't benefit from services provided by the Nation.
Gray disagreed. The chief cited a number of services designed for Osages who live outside of the reservation: The Crisis Assistance program helped Texas Osages hit by Hurricane Ike to repair their homes and buy generators last September. The burial assistance program helps all Osages with burial costs of a family member. Osage students can receive up to $10,000 a year for college costs, and Congress just passed the Health Benefit Act, which will give a $500 medical benefit card to all Osages who apply.
"That's an argument made by the proponents [of per-capita payments], that [per-cap] is something we can do to help everybody," Gray said. "And I agree, it is something we can do, but is it the best thing we can do? Is it the only thing we can do? Because once you start on this route, [per-cap] becomes the only thing you end up doing."
Some opponents of per-capita payments worry that the Nation's casinos could follow the pattern of some per-cap-paying tribes: Under pressure to increase profits to fund ever-growing per-cap payments, the casinos cut corners on maintenance, service and training and, over time, they lose patrons and revenue declines.
'Spiral Out of Control'
During the Governmental Operations Committee meeting March 31, members of the community spoke for and against the payments.
Osage citizen Ryan Red Corn said that per-capita payments can easily "spiral out of control" and he urged Congress to be cautious in making a decision that could impact the tribe and its citizens for years.
"Logic would say that we don't have a per-cap system in place," Red Corn said, adding, in reference to economic conditions on the Osage reservation: "There has been $6 billion [in headright money] that has gone through this community. Can anyone tell me, look me in the eye, that this community has had $6 billion go through it?"
Osage citizen Miya McKim spoke in favor of per-caps. She said she was living in California when the Osage Nation government reform and strategic planning meetings were held across the country and that she was "sucked in" by the promise of a better life if she moved back to the reservation.
"I came home and I have applied for a job seven times and have not gotten hired by my own people!" said McKim as she became emotional. "And you're quibbling about passing out $5 million to our people?"
Trust Fund Accounts for Minors
Among concerns raised by Supernaw's fellow Congress members were complications that could arise with trust fund accounts set up for minors. Even if there was only one per-capita payment, the trust funds would have to be managed until the minor reached 18 and, if not collected, until the Osage turned 25.
"I think a lot of people are misunderstanding the bill I have entered. The bill I have entered are the procedures for administering the per-capita payments," Supernaw said in a telephone interview. "If the per-cap goes to minors, then this bill would set up the procedures. The trust account for minors could be taken out. That would be set up by [Congressman] Doug Revard's bill. ...
"They're attacking us like it's the final bill, but it's not. It's just setting up the procedure," Supernaw said.
Supernaw said administering a per-capita payment would not add much cost to the Nation or many more new hires.
ONCA 09-09 would give Congress the authority to legislate the amount of the per-capita payment each year. The bill states that all checks would be mailed on the same day to the more than 10,000 Osages over 18.
The bill would require the two employees of the Certificate Degree of Indian Blood office to maintain a database divided into three sections of minors, adults and elders. The CDIB employees would make sure all Osage citizens know that their per-capita payment is subject to federal and state income tax.
However, in statements conflicting with language in his bill, Supernaw said the $500 per-cap amount was set so it would not be taxable income and the CDIB office would not have to mail 1099 tax forms.
'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Per Caps'
The Executive Branch was to publish on the Osage Nation Web site [2] a policy paper on possible effects of per-capita payments. "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Per Caps" discusses the Osage headright system and its sometimes detrimental effect on the tribe.
Gray said the Nation has a duty to serve all Osages but also an obligation to preserve services for the Osage children, elders, language and culture, as well as to safeguard the Nation's integrity of jurisdiction, courts "and many other numerous legitimate expectations for Osage citizens."
"I worry that this [per-capita payment if passed] can become a beast that eats up all the other things that we do. . . . It's not something that I say theoretically. Because of the [headright] payments, the Osage Nation never had a government that was very responsive to the people," Gray said. "This could lead to a lot of harsher issues that I certainly don't want to see happen to our people after we spent a hundred years to get us united again."
Supernaw disagreed. For the tribe to institute a per-capita payment, he said, it must first pass inspection by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and prove that the payment won't take away from existing programs.
Supernaw also said he doesn't think giving $500 to each Osage would result in the level of problems afflicting wealthy small tribes that have paid five- and six-figure per-caps to their members in recent years.
"Most of the opponents I've heard seem to think that having a per-capita payment would create alcoholism and drug addiction, but it's only $500," Supernaw said.
(Editor's note: This story originally was published by the Osage News and is used with permission.)