Daniel Inouye: “I am informed that HHS has recently released funds to the tribes operating their Native Employment Works, NEW, and…”

“I am informed that HHS has recently released funds to the tribes operating their Native Employment Works, NEW, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, TANF, programs outside the long-standing interagency fund transfer mechanism used in the Public Law 102-477 demonstration. HHS has told the tribes that they must comply with all HHS requirements for these programs, without any reference to the applicability of the provisions of Public Law 102-477. The language is intended to ensure that HHS respect all the provisions of Public Law 102-477, including the provisions with respect to the single planning, single budgeting and single reporting requirements, which apply to all funds under the programs covered by that law. The language is also intended to make certain that HHS engages in a dialogue with the affected tribes and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as lead agency for 477, and resolves any concerns which it has within the framework of inter-Departmental-tribal partnership which is central to the Public Law 102-477 demonstration initiative. I would also note that there is an existing inter-departmental memorandum of understanding between the Departments of Interior, HHS and Labor which provides for a mechanism to continue the existing practice of transferring funds from HHS and Labor to Interior for obligation to the tribes in agreements specifically crafted for the Public Law 102-477 demonstration.”