Dear USET/USET SPF Family,
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources (ASFR) have issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would revise certain provisions of the regulations that govern HHS grants administration found at 45 C.F.R. Part 75. Specifically, HHS is soliciting input on provisions in the HHS grant regulations that would require grant recipients to comply with applicable federal statutory nondiscrimination provisions, require HHS compliance with applicable Supreme Court decisions in administering grants, and provide a religious exemption from certain provisions.
Tribal Nations’ status as inherently sovereign political entities and our unique relationship with the United States permits the United States to treat Tribal Nations and Native people differently from others and for Tribal Nations to enact and apply our own legal standards for our people and lands. Thus, the federal government must not enact or apply laws and requirements of general applicability created for the public to Tribal Nations, including federal statutory non-discrimination provisions, without first considering whether they should apply in consultation with us. Moreover, funds delivered in fulfilment of trust and treaty obligations must not be conditioned on Tribal Nations’ compliance with these laws.
HHS will hold the consultation virtually TODAY December 19, 2023 from 3:00 - 4:30 pm ET. Interested participants may register for the consultation session here. USET SPF strongly encourages member Tribal Nations to participate in this consultation and has drafted talking points to assist Tribal leaders in this conversation.
More information on the consultation can be found in the Dear Tribal Leader Letter. Though no written comment period is indicated, we have been informed that HHS will accept written comments through January 18, 2024. USET SPF will be commenting and will also provide template comments for the use of our membership.
For more information, please contact Liz Malerba, USET SPF Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs, at lmalerba@usetinc.org.
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