June 10, 2022

Dear USET/USET SPF Family,

The Department of the Interior (DOI) issued a Dear Tribal Leader Letter announcing Tribal consultations on the funding methodology for the Small Tribe Supplement Tribal Priority Allocation (TPA). This budget line item provides smaller Tribal Nations with a minimum base level of funding to support Tribal government operations. President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2023 (FY 2023) Budget Request proposes an increase of $18 million above the FY 2022 enacted level to raise the minimum Small Tribe Supplement TPA base threshold from $200,000 in Alaska and $160,000 in the lower 48 states, to $300,000 for all eligible Tribal Nations, regardless of geographic location.

DOI has determined that the current base amounts established in 1994 for the Small Tribe Supplement TPA are no longer sufficient for small Tribal Nations to operate viable Tribal governmental operations. According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ FY 2023 Budget Justifications (BIA Green Book), the FY 2023 budget increase would provide a minimum Small Tribe Supplement TPA funding level of $300,000 to all eligible Tribal Nations with a population of less than 1,700. Several USET SPF member Tribal Nations will be impacted by this minimum funding level increase from $160,000 to $300,000.

BIA is consulting with Tribal Nations to update the parameters of the Small Tribe Supplement TPA to determine what types of funding should be considered in the minimum funding level calculation, how the 2021 Tribal enrollment levels submitted by Tribal Nations to the BIA will be factored into eligibility determinations, and what, if any, changes should be made to the minimum eligibility funding thresholds.

Details regarding the upcoming Tribal consultation sessions are as follows—

Tribal Consultation Session #1

• Date/Time: Tuesday, June 21, 2022 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm ET
• Click Here to Register

Tribal Consultation Session #2

• Date/Time: Wednesday, June 22, 2022 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm ET
• Click Here to Register

To view Framing Questions for these consultation sessions, please view the Dear Tribal Leader Letter by clicking here. Written comments are due on Friday, July 1, 2022 by 11:59pm and can be submitted to consultation@bia.gov. Questions regarding these consultations should be directed to Ms. Rose Petoskey, Senior Counselor to the Assistant Secretary — Indian Affairs, at (202) 208-7163 or by email to rose.petoskey@bia.gov.

For more information, please contact Brian Howard, USET SPF Senior Policy Analyst, at bhoward@usetinc.org.

Established in 2014, the USET Sovereignty Protection Fund (USET SPF) is a non-profit, inter-Tribal organization advocating on behalf of thirty-three (33) federally recognized Tribal Nations from the Northeastern Woodlands to the Everglades and across the Gulf of Mexico. USET SPF is dedicated to promoting, protecting, and advancing the inherent sovereign rights and authorities of Tribal Nations and in assisting its membership in dealing effectively with public policy issues.