Small Tribes Supplement Consultation

This is a correction to a Dear Tribal Leader Letter dated May 20, 2022, that identified
Monday, June 20, 2022, as one of the consultation dates. Because Monday, June 20, is a
Federal holiday, we are changing this consultation date to Wednesday, June 22.
I invite you to consult on the funding methodology for the Small Tribe Supplement budget
line item (previously known as the Small and Needy program). This has been a critical
budget line item that ensures smaller Tribes receive a minimum base level of funding to run
viable tribal governments.
This consultation is especially important because the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 President’s
budget proposes an increase of $16 million above the FY 2022 enacted level to raise the
minimum Tribal Priority Allocation (TPA) base threshold from $200,000 in Alaska and
$160,000 in the lower 48 states to $300,000 for all eligible tribes, regardless of geographic
location. The current base amounts were established in 1994 and are no longer sufficient for
small tribes to run viable Tribal governmental operations.
During the consultation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) welcomes all comments and
will be specifically seeking input on the following questions:
1. What types of funding should be considered in the minimum funding level
calculation? Should it continue to be restricted to the total base TPA funding level
for a given year?
2. Should all base TPA line items be included in the total amount calculated or are
there other budget program lines that should be excluded because they are in a
different budget activity yet identified with a specific funding level for a specific
Tribe?
3. Should the 2021 Tribal enrollment levels submitted by Tribes, to the BIA, be the
year established for one of the components in the eligibility determinations or should
the Tribal enrollment levels be updated annually for this program to determine
eligibility? What are your recommendations for establishing a threshold in
coordination with a threshold TPA base amount, for example should we continue
with the 1994 report enrollment threshold of 1,700?
4. What, if any, changes should be made to the minimum base level of funding
thresholds? We are proposing to raise it to $300,000 in the BIA FY 2023 budget for
all eligible Tribes, regardless of location.
5. Should the parameters be based solely on a Tribe’s TPA base funding amount and
Tribal enrollment level (with the establishment of what that level should be) or are
there other criteria that should be considered?
We invite you to register for one or more of the following consultation sessions:
Tuesday, June 21, 2022
2:00 p.m. — 4:00 p.m. (ET)
Please register in advance at:
https://www.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItdOmrpjOrH1QYa0H4L9oZfepBDkN4ucQ
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
2:00 p.m. — 4:00 p.m. (ET)
Please register in advance at:
https://vvww.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/v.11tf-ioqz0vHbtJekwnq_ia5qbVLaLoyUM
You may also provide written comments to consultation@bia.govby 11:59pm ET on
July 1, 2022. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Rose Petoskey, Senior
Counselor to the Assistant Secretary — Indian Affairs at (202) 208-7163 or via email:
rose.petoskey@bia.gov.