SitNews - Stories in the News - Ketchikan, Alaska

 District Court Rules Alaska Native Corporations Eligible For A Share of $8 Billion CARES Funding

 

June 26, 2020
Friday PM


(SitNews) Washington, D. C. - Today U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Alaska Native Corporations can receive a share of the $8 billion in funding set aside for Tribal governments that Congress approved in March. 
Community Connections - Ketchikan, Alaska

The court decision deeming Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) eligible for tribal assistance appropriated through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was welcomed today by U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Congressman Don Young (all R-Alaska).

“When we passed the CARES Act and included $8 billion for tribes within the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund, we fought hard to ensure all tribes were included in the final bill. We also made sure that every Alaska Native entity would be able to expend the available resources necessary to meet the unprecedented public health crisis by including the broad, typically-used, 45-year-old definition of “Indian tribe” which includes Alaska Native Corporations,” said the Alaska Congressional Delegation in a joint statement. “The statute is unequivocal on this point, and we appreciate that the District Court judge now read the law as we wrote it so that Alaska Native communities across the state have the option to use all vehicles available.”

This decision is based on the Indian Self-Determination Act, which is about providing government services to Native people by partnering with Tribes, including ANCs. Congress intended to get these CARES Act funds to the same entities that deliver public services to American Indians and Alaska Natives quickly. This is not a major change in federal Indian law – it is about ensuring an adequate response to the public health crisis in Alaska.

In April, the delegation sent a letter to the administration calling on the Treasury Department to take into consideration the unique legal framework and circumstances in Alaska. The delegation urged flexibility for each tribe to choose how it receives and administers the payments. Their letter also provides historical background on Alaska regional corporations, which are made eligible for CARES Act assistance through the definition of “Indian tribe” used in the bill. 

Also in April, the delegation penned an opinion editorial (Op-Ed) in the Anchorage Daily News to speak to the mischaracterizations of Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) and explain why ANCs are eligible for funding made available to tribes within the CARES Act.

 

 

Edited By Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News:

Office of US Senator Lisa Murkowski
www.murkowski.senate.gov

Office of US Senator Dan Sullivan
www.sullivan.senate.gov

Office of Congressman Don Young
www.donyoung.house.gov

Representations of fact and opinions in comments posted are solely those of the individual posters and do not represent the opinions of Sitnews.



Send a letter to the editor@sitnews.us

Contact the Editor

SitNews ©2020
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

 Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews are considered protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper freelance writers and subscription services.

E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us

Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.