Announcements
Jennifer Emerling / There Is More Work To Be Done
Jennifer Emerling / There Is More Work To Be Done
NAHASDA
President Signs H.R. 2786, Reauthorizing the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act
Update October 17, 2008: On October 14, President Bush signed the NAHASDA reauthorization act into law. Read the National American Indian Housing Council’s press release and other materials here.
On September 25 and 27, the Senate and House approved a compromise version of H.R. 2786, reauthorizing the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA) through 2013, with important amendments. Originally enacted in 1996, NAHASDA consolidated several federal housing programs into a single, formula-based block grant program. Built on the solid foundation of Indian self-determination law and policy, NAHASDA recognizes tribes’ authority to provide housing and related infrastructure to their members in a way that maximizes tribal decisionmaking and flexibility in meeting their housing goals.
The reauthorization of NAHASDA comes after years of hard work by tribes, Alaska Native villages, tribal housing authorities, and the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC), among others. The bill was sent to the President on October 3, and he is expected to sign it into law by the October 15 deadline.
Important provisions include the following.
- Related to the HOME Investment Partnerships program, the law states, “Nothing in this Act or amendment prohibits or prevents any participating jurisdiction from providing amounts to an Indian tribe or TDHE.” In some states, tribes have been deemed ineligible for HOME because they were not considered to be participating jurisdictions. This change allows them to participate in the HOME Program.
- Section 206 establishes a new “Subtitle B-Self-Determination Housing Activities for Tribal communities” to provide more flexibility in developing housing and infrastructure.
- The law also adds an amendment to Title VI which establishes a demonstration program to expand community and economic loan programs to tribes and tribally designated housing entities (TDHEs), a resource already available to local governments, to support the development of affordable housing for American Indians and Alaska Natives. The demonstration program is limited to four tribes or TDHEs per HUD region.
- The act requires HUD to contract with an organization with expertise in housing and demographic data collection to assess existing data sources for the determination of need and to recommend methodologies for collecting data, including for the allocation formula.
- The act also includes language ensuring the continued provision of NAHASDA programs and services to the Cherokee Freedmen, descendents of former slaves who are currently embroiled in a membership dispute with the Cherokee Nation. This matter will be settled in the courts. Further information about the dispute is available in numerous places, including:
- the Cherokee Nation’s official website
- Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes website
- Cherokee by Blood website
- Indianz.com articles from September 26, 2008 and March 8, 2006
- Wikipedia article
- Time magazine article
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Posted: October 10, 2008
Last updated: October 17, 2008