Overall Budget The FY 2018 Pres. budget – many cuts House Action BIA cut 13% from the FY2017 Omnibus level Many program eliminations Shifted costs to states and tribal governments DOJ included tribal set-asides though House Action Interior Restores BIA/IHS cuts, mostly level funding with FY17 Justice: includes 7% OJP tribal set-aside

Busy Fall Key Date - December 8th: Congressional leaders and the White House have agreed: to fund the government via CR and pass Harvey aid extend the debt limit until December Gives the minority party leverage on issues like spending, health care and “dreamers”. Gives Congress and the White House three months to reach consensus on the FY2018 spending levels, a long-term fix for the debt limit, and an omnibus spending bill. Punts debate over “border wall” for 3 months. It is difficult to get Republican votes for raising the debt ceiling, an issue that conservative activists have turned into a purity test and one that primary challengers often use against GOP incumbents. Remove the debt-ceiling issue, until 2019, and the Democrats would have less leverage in the immigration and health-care negotiations. Republican leaders had tried to get an 18-month debt limit extension. They also proposed six months before Trump agreed to the three-month extension put forward by Schumer and Pelosi Democrats view the debt limit as an opportunity for leverage in budget and spending talks expected to occur later this year, especially since Republicans typically have been unable to deliver enough votes to pass a borrowing increase or spending bill on their own.   Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) called the offer a “ridiculous idea” and accused Democrats of trying to take advantage of the debt-ceiling deadline just as another storm — Hurricane Irma — barrels toward the coast of Florida. Avoiding a government shutdown will be a difficult task. Government spending bills, like most other legislation, need 60 votes to pass the Senate. Republicans control 52 seats, meaning that they will have to turn to Democrats to provide at least eight votes to avert a government shutdown. Conservatives worry that Democrats plan to demand increased spending on domestic priorities, like education and low-income assistance, in exchange for their votes. Schumer and Pelosi have also signaled that they will not vote for any funds to help pay for Trump’s long-promised wall on the U.S. border with Mexico.

BIA/BIE Funding, FY 2018

Tax Reform and Budget Issues Congressional Republican Plan – first pass a FY 2018 Budget Resolution to fast track tax legislation that is filibuster proof. Two Step tax and budget issues Tax cuts that lead to deficits Tax framework would add at least $1.5 trillion to deficits over 10 years Tribal leaders should consider distributional impacts of tax cuts versus spending cuts Future budget cuts due to high deficits

Senate Budget Resolution House Republicans plan to Pass Senate Budget Resolution to avoid conference. Non-Defense Discretionary (NDD) Impact By 2027, under the Senate plan, overall NDD funding would be 18 percent below its 2017 level and 29 percent below its 2010 level, after adjusting for inflation.  This would impact BIA, IHS, NAHASDA, DOJ tribal funding. State and Local Tax deduction causing problems. It’s not just New York and California. Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorado and Michigan taxpayers would also be hit, swing states. Eliminating the SALT deduction would generate between $1.3 trillion and $1.8 trillion in new revenue over 10 years. Losing that would make it hard to offset income tax rate cuts.

Key Asks Restore the proposed reductions included in the FY 2018 Budget Request that would affect the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Health Service, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and other agencies meeting federal trust obligations. Support the 7% tribal set-aside of Office of Justice Program funding for Indian Country public safety, law enforcement, and the administration of justice and the 5% tribal allocation from the Crime Victim’s Fund in the FY 18 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Bill. Fund the Indian Health Service at $7.1 billion in FY 2018, consistent with the request of the Indian Health Service Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup. This is an opportunity to make gains in the Senate Interior appropriations bill. FY18 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Activity. To better meet the federal obligation to provide funding for public safety and justice on tribal lands, the President’s FY18 Budget proposed a flexible 7% set-aside for Indian tribes from all Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), and COPS programs at DOJ, which would result in $90.4M for tribal programs at DOJ, a significant increase over FY17 funding of $65M. The President’s budget also included a 5% tribal set-aside from the Crime Victims Fund for crime victim services, which would result in $150M for tribal governments—the first time tribes would receive direct funding from the Crime Victims Fund outlays. Both the House and Senate CJS appropriations Committees have approved bills for FY18 that include a 7% allocation for Indian tribes from across most OJP and COPS programs. This amounts to approximately $80M in the House bill and $110M in the Senate bill. The Senate bill also includes the 5% tribal set-aside from the Crime Victims Fund, which would provide $182M for tribal crime victim services. Unfortunately, similar language in the House bill was stripped from the bill on the floor of the House by Congressman Goodlatte immediately before the bill was passed. Congress will be working to finalize the CJS appropriations bill in the coming months.

Key Ask: Budget Resolutions Policymakers should consider the distributional impacts to households as well as American Indians/Alaska Natives if the federal budget is cut in the future to reduce deficits caused by tax cuts; the cuts to federal treaty and trust obligations coupled with cuts to mandatory programs such as Medicaid and SNAP could leave AI/AN households worse off, even with some tax reductions.