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Dear USET/USET SPF Family,
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has announced that it will host a Tribal consultation on the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Budget. This is a historic announcement since OMB has never consulted with Tribal Nations on a Presidential Budget Request. Feedback and input received on the FY 2022 Budget will also help to provide guidance on the formulation of the President’s FY 2023 Budget. OMB has stated its intention to host a separate Tribal consultation later this year to specifically gather feedback and input to guide the formulation of the FY 2023 Budget. USET SPF has continually called upon OMB to fulfill its trust and treaty obligations and consult with Tribal Nations on all matters related to in the delivery of the trust obligation, including Presidential Budget Requests.
We are encouraged to see that OMB is pursuing this historic, first-ever Tribal consultation on the President’s FY 2022 Budget, as well as seeking further Tribal guidance for the formulation of the upcoming FY 2023 Budget. Additionally, we are pleased to see that OMB will be consulting on how it can improve Tribal funding transparency. USET SPF has long called for improvements to the federal budget process, including the production of a detailed crosscut of federal Indian funding from OMB.
Details on the upcoming Tribal consultation on the President’s FY 2022 Budget are as follows—
OMB is seeking Tribal Leader comments and recommendations on the following FY 2022 Budget items—
- Proposals to reclassify Contract Supports Costs, Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Act Section 105(l) Lease costs, and enacted Indian Water Rights Settlements payments as mandatory beginning in FY 2023.
- Other feedback on the FY 2022 President’s Budget for programs and activities serving Tribal governments, organizations, and communities.
- Ensuring adequate and stable funding by considering options for a potential mandatory funding proposal for the Department of Health and Human Services’ Indian Health Service in future President’s Budgets.
- OMB will conduct another consultation on the President’s FY 2023 Budget, which will include this topic, in 2021, but this July session can start the process of seeking Tribal Leaders’ views on some of the major questions around developing such a proposal.
- How OMB can improve Tribal funding transparency, such as through changes to OMB’s annual Native American Funding Crosscut.
Since this consultation will be hosted via teleconference, there are a limited number of available teleconference lines for registration. If you are unable to register, or if you are having difficulty registering, please email tribalconsultation@omb.eop.gov
to receive alternate participation information. OMB will also be accepting written comments until July 23, 2021, which can be sent via email to tribalconsultation@omb.eop.gov.
USET SPF sent comments
to OMB on April 9, 2021 calling for it to fulfill trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations by adopting its first-ever Tribal consultation plan. As a part of these comments, USET SPF called upon OMB to correct failures in the federal budget process, promote government efficiency by reducing burdens for Tribal Nations, support self-governance, and address concerns over COVID-19 funding impacts to Indirect Cost Rates.
USET SPF also sent out an Alert
on May 28, 2021, which provided an initial analysis of the President’s FY 2022 Budget. We have also submitted the following Congressional Testimony on the formulation of the FY 2022 Budget:
For more information, please contact Brian Howard, USET SPF Senior Policy Analyst, at bhoward@usetinc.org.
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