
- Details
- By Native News Online Staff
WASHINGTON — The delays in tribes receiving Coronavirus Relief Fund payments allocated under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act have caused some tribes to seek extensions to spend the money. As it stands now, funds received from the CARES Act must be spent by tribes by December 30, 2020.
The CARES Act was signed into law on March 27, 2020, allocating $8 billion for tribal governments under the Coronavirus Relief Fund. Tribes across America did not receive any funds until May 5, 2020, well after the bill’s statutory deadline.
The Navajo Nation received over $600 million and if an extension is not granted, monies left unspent the deadline must be returned to the U.S. Department of Treasury.
“The U.S. Department of Treasury failed Indian Country by delaying the disbursement of funds by over three months. Now, we are working around the clock to expedite the use of the CARES Act funds to address immediate needs and for the long-term benefit of our Navajo people,” Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said.
“We respectfully request Congress to pass this measure to provide Tribal nations more time for the proper expenditure of these funds. Indian Country is devastated by COVID-19 and due to the long years of neglect of infrastructure it will take much longer to get to a level of providing sufficient care.”
On Thursday, July 9, Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ-01) introduced bipartisan legislation that would extend the coverage of payments allocated under the CARES Act for two years. The legislation would extend the deadline for tribal governments for two years from December 30, 2020 to December 30, 2022. The bill is cosponsored by Congressman Paul Cook (R-CA-08).
“Bureaucratic red tape and lack of critical attention to the matter at federal agencies forced sovereign tribal nations across Arizona’s First Congressional District to wait over a month for the first tranche of CARES Act funding to arrive, and tribes still face significant hurdles to spending and distributing the funding they were promised, ” O’Halleran said. “We need to extend the deadline by which tribal governments must spend Coronavirus Relief Fund payments so that each nation has adequate time to debate and discuss within their governing bodies, just as we did, and allocate the monies they are owed to most effectively address this pandemic head-on.”
“The U.S. Department of Treasury failed Indian Country by delaying the disbursement of funds by over three months,” Nez said. “Now, we are working around the clock to expedite the use of the CARES Act funds to address immediate needs and for the long-term benefit of our Navajo people. We respectfully request Congress to pass this measure to provide Tribal nations more time for the proper expenditure of these funds.
“Indian Country is devastated by COVID-19 and due to the long years of neglect of infrastructure it will take much longer to get to a level of providing sufficient care,” he said.
“I want to thank Congressman O'Halleran and Congressman Cook for championing this important piece of legislation,” Chairman Nuvangyaoma of the Hopi Tribe said. “The Coronavirus Relief Fund will allow my Tribe to finally address the water, health, and broadband infrastructure needs that have plagued us for years and that have only been magnified as we confront COVID-19. Congress should empower Indian Country with more time so that we are able to deploy these resources in a responsible manner to confront the many infrastructure challenges that we face and that have hindered our abilities to respond to the pandemic.”
View the bill text, HERE.
More Stories Like This
Four Indigenous Children Survive Plane Crash in Amazon JungleNot Invisible Act Hearing Gathers Testimony on MMIP Cases
Nevada Man Sentenced to 30 Days in Jail for Fatal Car Accident that Killed Paiute Filmmaker Myron Dewey
MMIP Red Dress Installation Vandalized in Alaska
NCAI Mid Year Underway on Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Homelands
Native News is free to read.
We hope you enjoyed the story you've just read. For the past dozen years, we’ve covered the most important news stories that are usually overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the rise of the American Indian Movement (AIM), to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide and Indian Boarding Schools.
Our news is free for everyone to read, but it is not free to produce. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation to help support our efforts. Any contribution — big or small — helps. Most readers donate between $10 and $25 to help us cover the costs of salaries, travel and maintaining our digital platforms. If you’re in a position to do so, we ask you to consider making a recurring donation of $12 per month to join the Founder's Circle. All donations help us remain a force for change in Indian Country and tell the stories that are so often ignored, erased or overlooked.
Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you.