Federal Update for February 2009

Senate Republicans Collins, Snowe and Specter join Democrats in passing $835 Billion Stimulus Bill (61-37); Conference expected to begin immediately to get bill to President by the end of the week.

Negotiators for Congress and the White House worked to narrow differences on an economic stimulus bill on Wednesday in hopes of clearing a bill for President Barack Obama’s signature by week’s end.

After unofficial talks stretching into the late evening on Tuesday, officials announced a formal meeting of negotiators for mid-afternoon in the Capitol.

Democratic aides said that Obama’s negotiating team had prevailed in restoring some lost funding for school construction projects during talks Tuesday, and had also increased aid to state governments above the $39 billion approved in a compromise with a handful of Senate GOP moderates.

Obama’s “Making Work Pay” tax credit would be reduced from $500 per worker to $400, with couples eligible for an $800 credit, instead of $1,000, a Democratic aide close to the talks said. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are private.

Earlier Tuesday, the Senate sailed to approval of its $838 billion economic stimulus bill, but with only three moderate Republicans signing on and then demanding the bill’s cost go down when the final version emerges from negotiations.

Negotiators were working with a target of about $800 billion for the final bill, lawmakers said.

“That’s in the ballpark,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said of the $800 billion figure late Tuesday.

APPROPRIATIONS

The FY-2009 bill is still outstanding and will likely/hopefully be taken up after the stimulus issue is resolved.  The bottom line is that government is still operating on the six month Continuing Resolution that is due to expire in early March. Northwest tribes have some things riding in the Omnibus Bill that hopefully will come through.  If not the Omnibus fails, then a year long CR will be needed to enable us to use FY-08 enacted funds for the budget scheme for the year. As it is, there are three issues in play: the FY ’09 appropriations, the Administration’s FY ’10 budget and our FY ’10 strategy. Natural resource issues have not been addressed in the stimulus package to date, though there might still be some hope in conference for some dramatic change-so far, the honest analysis for tribal natural resources is not positive, although it has been a bit of a zoo in the halls of Congress, which the following articles help describe. The Obama Administration has sent positive vibes to Indian Country, but whether the rubber will meet the road in the tribal natural resource arena definitely remains to be seen.

OBAMA OPPORTUNITIES

This year, unlike many in the past, some very significant opportunities exist due in large part to the election of President Obama and a new and more democratic leaning 111^th Congress, though the republicans have made it clear that they intend to be heard. The “up” changes have transformed government from being the “problem” into being a big part of the solution, although partisanship has reared its ugly head, along with an ugly economy and some unfortunate circumstances, e.g, back tax problems with some of the chosen cabinet members, to possibly create a short “honeymoon” for the Obama Administration. Nonetheless, hopes continue to run high that tribes may finally have an Administration smart enough to have the words tribe, natural resources and environment in its vocabulary. (One of the challenges that could materialize, in fact, is that the word “environment” and those who swing it around may do so without much focus on the fact that treaties are by Constitutional law, the supreme law of the land. President Obama has made it clear that reconstruction of the American economy will emphasize “green” technology-which is a good thing-as long as those advising him remember that he also promised to respect the sovereign rights of the indigenous people, and that these rights are based on the right to fish, hunt and gather.

In concert with the many changes in the nation’s capitol, Northwest tribes (in concert with Great Lakes tribes) have moved natural resource budget and policy issues forward in a coordinated way. As a result, Northwest tribal issues have moved front and center as the new year has begun. Northwest federal transition efforts have dovetailed neatly with the annual budget and appropriation process. Identifying problems is one thing, however; making them a reality is another. Thus, a strong, ongoing strategy is needed. Four foundation elements exist from which to build the Northwest tribal FY 2010 federal appropriation strategy: 1) A good list of funding needs developed for the FY ’09 funding cycle-likely to be similar in FY’10; 2) A coordinated NWIFC/CRITFC tribal budget paper has been constructed which supports new funding for the BIA tribal rights protection account; 3) Information has been provided to BIA and others regarding possible tribal natural resource spending under the economic stimulus program package being considered by the administration and congress and 4) A professionally published transition document that helps tell the tribal story.

Principle objectives include: Enhancing the Western Washington Fisheries Management base by $12 million; building earmarks for TFW of $1.74 million, PST of $1.8 million and Mass Marking of $2.4 million into the FY ’10 President’s budget; seek new tribal shellfish management funds of $4 million and new tribal groundfish management funds of $1.5 million; support the PST Chinook Annex funding request of $97 million; seek new wildlife management funds of $5 million; support the PCSRF fund to the highest achieved level of $110 million; seek$1.5 million for hatchery maintenance/rehabilitation and $3.34 for hatchery reform; seek $62.9 million for EPA gap funding; seek $500,000 in new tribal EPA funding in FY ’10 and $3 million in FY ’11; seek $3.2 million for water resource planning; seek $2 million for tribal participation in the Puget Sound Partnership and $2.57 million in the Coastal Ecosystem Initiative. All of this means a number of trips to Washington DC, coalition building, etc.

THE NEED FOR STIMULUS

“Let’s not make the perfect the enemy of the essential.”

-President Obama comment to Senate Republican critics of his stimulus legislation.

(Democratic leaders have pledged to have legislation ready for Obama’s signature by the end of next week.)

Each time economic numbers come out, the bull whose horns President Obama has eagerly snagged seems to get bigger and bigger and the idea of a presidential honeymoon seems more and more distant. A Commerce Department report just issued reports the economy shrank at a 3.8 percent pace in the final quarter of 2008, the worst showing since the early 1980s-but it wasn’t the worst of the news. Economists said they expect the current quarter, which ends March 31, will turn out to be the worst quarter for this recession. Some economists say they think the economy is shrinking by about 5 percent. Cutbacks in spending were evident across the land, as personal and commercial consumers kept their hands on their wallets. Spending on everything from cars to clothes dipped and overseas sales of U.S. goods seemed to dry into dust. House Minority Leader Boehner was quick to spot an opportunity, using the report to bash congressional Democrats for their handling of the economic stimulus package. “Democrats have taken a go-it-alone approach and produced a trillion-dollar package heavy on government spending but light on jobs,” he said. The question echoes in the minds and hearts of many. Is this a time for party politics?

In the Senate, there are plans for a make-or-break vote on its $820 billion stimulus plan. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the events provide “another chance for the president to talk directly to the American people” about why the stimulus plan is necessary. The two parties demonstrated some wide philosophical gaps on how to address an economic downturn that worsens by the week. Many say the focus needs to be on addressing what they say are the root causes of the recession: housing and financial services. Many have worried that the Senate’s economic stimulus bill fails to adequately address those and other “root causes of the economic slowdown.” Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, defended the Obama proposals in their entirety but added that if republicans have amendments to improve the bill democrats would support them. “The unemployment claims reached 4.8 million . . . the highest on record, and the claims were 588,000 last week,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA. “This underscores the need for us to pass, and pass quickly, boldly the recovery package that passed the House.” Whether heads and hearts can come together remains to be seen, as does the true value of the stimulus package itself.

Those chatting outside of Congress often say Obama’s economic stimulus plan is in trouble. Conservative talking points are dominating the media’s coverage and it’s clear that there’s lots of misinformation around. All this, despite the fact that, as The Nation writes, “If enacted, the economic recovery plan will be one of the biggest and boldest pieces of progressive legislation in the past forty years.” According to advocates, the bill: Creates or saves 3 million to 4 million jobs in the next two years; averts “literally hundreds of thousands of teacher layoffs (doubling funding for the Department of Education); creates 500,000 green jobs and doubles clean energy production and immediately helps the unemployed get affordable health insurance. Underscoring the all-too-often political nature of some critics is their tendency to single out tiny fractions of the bill, such anti-smoking programs (less than one-ten-thousandth of the spending) and make it appear to be the centerpiece of the bill. And so, partisanship does go on. Yet many experts, even John McCain’s economic adviser, estimates that without the stimulus, unemployment would top 11% by 2010, the highest level since the Great Depression-outside of Indian Country that is.

TRIBES GET SOME ATTENTION, GENERALLY SPEAKING

The U.S. House of Representatives approved an $819 billion economic stimulus package along party lines that included nearly $3 billion for Indian Country programs. H.R. 1 will now go to the Senate, where a similar amount has already been approved for inclusion in the stimulus package. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., has announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee had approved $2.8 billion in funding for improvements for Indian health services, education, roads and bridges, water, public safety, and housing. (Included in the appropriation is about $274 million in Bureau of Reclamation tribal water projects; $40 million in Bureau of Indian Affairs irrigation construction and repair; $25 million in BIA dams improvement; and $120 million in Safe Drinking and Clean Water Revolving Funds (the Secretary to fund the tribal set-aside under these revolving funds). Could this be a sign of things to come?

THE OBAMA BUDGET

Unfortunately, the new Obama budget will not be submitted as early as promised. Obama’s budget officials say their budget for 2010 won’t be submitted until late March or April.  Rather like President Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Obama intends to release a broad budget framework in mid-to-late February with his full-blown detailed budget to come later.

TROUBLE IN RIVER CITY

Faced with questions over non-payment of back taxes, Thomas Daschle, President Obama’s pick for Health and Human Services, has withdrawn his name from consideration. Daschle’s nomination drew praise from Indian Country leaders who felt he would have a better understanding of the health issues facing tribal governments. As a senator from South Dakota and as someone who had served on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Daschle had advocated for more health spending in Indian Country. He was with Obama throughout the campaign and was a strong advocate for acknowledgment of tribal sovereignty.

Daschle wasn’t the first sign of trouble in President Obama’s cabinet appointments. Unfortunately, another proven friend of the tribes, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson had withdrawn from his pending appointment as Commerce Secretary even before the Obama Inauguration, citing the distraction of a federal investigation into ties to a company that has done business with his state. Richardson stated unequivocally that he and his administration had acted properly in all matters, but that he had concluded the investigation would delay the confirmation process. President Obama’s Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner was approved, but not without a controversial hearing during which he apologized for what he called “careless mistakes” in failing to pay $34,000 in taxes earlier in the decade when he worked at the International Monetary Fund. More recently, the White House accepted the withdrawal of Nancy Killefer’s nomination to be deputy OMB director and the executive branch’s first chief performance officer. When she was nominated, the AP reported that the District of Columbia government had filed a $946.69 tax lien on her home for failure to pay unemployment tax on household help. She paid the lien five months after it was filed. The administration and Killefer had not answered questions about the tax error. There was even controversy over the selection of Larry Echohawk to head BIA, though Senator Daniel K. Inouye, D-HA, himself rose to Echohawk’s defense. “To those who have expressed these doubts, I would suggest that you might consider the personal qualities that a man or woman brings to public service, rather than placing too much emphasis on what he or she has had to do or say in their former official capacities.”

STOCKING THE CABINET

It’s official. President Obama has announced that Republican Sen. Judd Gregg, R-NH is his choice for Commerce secretary. (Food and Water Watch, a fringe environmental organization objected to the choice, calling Gregg a strong supporter of offshore aquaculture which it claims threatens marine ecosystems.) The announcement presumably means Democratic Gov. John Lynch has agreed to nominate a Republican to fill the Senate seat since Gregg apparently said he wouldn’t take the job if it would give Democrats a filibuster-proof 60th vote in the Senate.

KING COUNTY EXEC TO HUD

King County Executive Ron Sims is going to D.C. to take a job as deputy secretary, No. 2, at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sims is going to Washington, D.C. intending to take a job as deputy secretary, No. 2, at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He needs Senate confirmation. Rumors of his departure have been swirling for months. Sims, a big-picture guy, is a passionate booster of mass transit and environmental policies and has not been shy about supporting many tribal policies. The son of a preacher from Spokane, many have considered him one of the most articulate public officials to serve in the Northwest in recent history.

HOH TRIBE: MOVING TO HIGHER GROUND?

The Hoh Tribe is making a bid to move – not just a few houses but their entire village – to higher ground. If passed as expected, a bill scheduled to be introduced in Congress will award 37 acres of nearby Olympic National Park to the Hoh tribe and allow members to consolidate and place into permanent trusteeship other new lands they have purchased. The move would double the size of the reservation and place its inhabited areas well out of the way of damaging tides, floods, and tsunamis.

THE HOUSE NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE-IN REVIEW

So who’s taking charge of natural resource committees in Congress these days. On the House side, the House Committee on Natural Resources is being chaired by Rep. Nick Rahall, D-WV, chairing 49 member committee with quite a few familiar names on it, such as Rep. George Miller from California and Neil Abercrombie from Hawaii. The Washingtonians onboard include a democrat, Jay Inslee, and a republican, Cathy McMorris (Rodgers). Chairman Rahall has expressed delight at the makeup of the new committee, and he’s been keeping them busy. When it came to conducting hearings on offshore drilling, for example, the effort to make up for the shenanigans of yore resulted in a number of all-night commitments and the hearings are just getting started….groups invited to testify so far have been comprised largely of tourism, environmental and fishing groups-no tribes. However, they’re expected to go well into March. In January, Chairman Rahall introduced a joint resolution invoking the Congressional Review Act to overturn the highly controversial gutting of ESA, pushed through by the Bush Administration during its waning days in office.  H.J. Res. 18 seeks to overturn the last-minute action by the Bush Administration to do away with the ESA’s cornerstone Section 7 consultation process, a move that essentially gives federal agencies an unacceptable degree of discretion to decide on their own whether or not to comply with the law. He has also called for the replacement of the current U.S. Commissioner to the International Whaling, amid growing criticisms that holdover political appointees of the Bush Administration were  proposing to dismantle the current worldwide ban on commercial whaling.  To stay connected with committee, live and archived video and audio webcasts, consult:  http://resourcescommittee.house.gov.

On the Senate side, a primary committee of interest to tribes, including natural resource-related issues, is the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, chaired by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D, ND. He, and other such members as Sens. Daniel Inouye, Daniel Akaka, Tim Johnson, Tom Udall and John McCain have all championed various tribal issues through the years. The only Washingtonian on the committee is Sen. Maria Cantwell, a senator whose accolades in Indian Country may have been in somewhat short supply overall, but who does have some related credentials, such as her current fight to keep a year ’round rescue tugboat at Neah Bay.  The Committee, while still getting organized, should prove to be a good focal point for tribal natural resource business, although it will be necessary to assure that treaty harvest rights and protection are fully considered as important environmental issues are considered.  Tribes have a history of opposing offshore drilling because they realize the destruction that can be caused by an uncontrolled drilling industry. Thus, it is no doubt good news that the committee will continue its full oversight hearings on the issue well into March. The next hearings will be Feb. 24 and 25, both at 10 a.m., in the committee’s hearing room  1324 Longworth Office Building (witnesses are still TBA). For more information, stay tuned to Federal Update, or check into http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php.

IT DOESN’T HURT TO REVIEW

To view Obama’s pledge on tribal sovereignty, the trust responsibility and other principles in his tribal platform, click here: Preserve Sovereignty and the Trust Responsibility.

PRIORITY BILLS

111^th CONGRESS, FEBRUARY, 200

Bill-Lnk/Brief             Sponsor/Status              Initial Recomm./Description