Dear USET/USET SPF Family,
The Department of the Interior (DOI) issued a Dear Tribal Leader Letter announcing Tribal consultations on the calculation and distribution process of Contract Support Costs (CSC) for Tribal Nations with self-governance agreements (Self Governance Tribal Nations) with DOI. DOI is proposing that instead of receiving full Tribal budgets to make CSC calculations—as is the methodology for self-determination contracts—it will request Self Governance Tribal Nations to submit two data calls for CSC calculations and payments each year. This proposal was presented to Tribal representatives of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) CSC Workgroup in April 2023. Feedback and other options were discussed with Tribal representatives, including concerns with DOI's interpretation of the CSC Policy pertaining to current data being annually supplied data. BIA would like to determine how to compensate Self Governance Tribal Nations for CSC when they are not required to submit budgets, yet certain data is necessary to calculate the amount of CSC due to the Tribal Nation annually.
Details regarding an upcoming virtual consultation on the proposed CSC calculation and distribution process are as follows—
To view Framing Questions for this consultation, as well as upcoming in-person consultations (none in the USET/USET SPF Region) please view the Dear Tribal Leader Letter. Comments on the proposed CSC calculation and distribution process are due by 11:59pm ET on December 29, 2023 and can be sent to consultations@bia.gov. Questions should be directed to Jacob Aguilar, Financial Specialist, OSG, at Jacob.Aguilar@bia.gov or by calling (360) 699-1015.
For more information, please contact Brian Howard, USET SPF Senior Policy Analyst, at bhoward@usetinc.org.
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