For Immediate Release
October 18, 2021
Contact:
Manu Tupper or Mike Inacay (Schatz) at press@indian.senate.gov
SCHATZ: FY 2022 APPROPRIATIONS BILL WOULD DELIVER EQUITABLE FUNDING FOR NATIVE COMMUNITIES, INCLUDES LONG-REQUESTED POLICY CHANGES TO ADVANCE NATIVE-SERVING PROGRAMS
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said:
“Under the FY22 appropriations bill, Native communities will see billions more in federal dollars, the Indian Health Service will have the budgetary certainty it needs to provide quality health services to its beneficiaries without interruption, and proven Native American housing programs will be extended. This historic framework makes clear we are carrying out our commitment to provide equitable funding for Native communities, address longstanding priorities, and uphold the United States’ trust and treaty responsibilities to Native Americans. I look forward to getting the bill enacted into law.”
The fiscal year 2022 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill provides $18.1 billion for Tribal programs and – for the first time – secures advanced appropriations for the Indian Health Service (IHS). Included in the bill is:
$7.61 billion for IHS for fiscal year 2022, an increase of $1.38 billion above the fiscal year 2021 enacted level, including:
$2.6 billion for hospitals, clinics, doctors, nurses and health services;
$1.131 billion for new hospital construction, new and replacement equipment, and water and solid waste infrastructure improvements for Native American communities to prevent the spread of disease;
$285.3 million for dental health; and
$123 million for mental health programs, such as suicide prevention initiatives for Native youth;
$6.58 billion in advance appropriations for IHS for fiscal year 2023; and
$3.938 billion for Tribal programs provided through the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education, an increase of $433 million above the fiscal year 2021 level, which includes:
$24.9 million to address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women cases in Indian Country; and
$7 million for a new Indian Boarding School Initiative to conduct a comprehensive review of the troubled legacy of federal boarding school policies.
The fiscal year 2022 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies appropriations bill provides $1 billion for Native American housing programs and authorizes an extension of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act through fiscal year 2023.
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