Indian Housing Assistance in Danger

Indian Tribes and Native People Desperately Need Housing Assistance

By Vince DelaRosa

Oneida, WI - As many of you may know, mismanagement and wasteful federal spending over the last 20 years continues to be a real problem for our country at the national level. Just pick up any newspaper and it’s no wonder things are tough all over. Congress never seems to have its act together.

As in the past, this waste and mismanagement at the federal level is wrecking havoc on Native Americans housing funding. On reservations, tribal housing authorities simply cannot meet demand. Demand is always outstripping the available resources. This has been going on for many years. This has been explained to congress for years, but Indian nations are low on the priority level of the federal government. Trust responsibility only goes so far when money needs to be divided amongst thousands of interest groups.

Today, many tribal members are falling through the cracks. There are a lot of tribal members and families who are living 3 families deep in 1 house. This is happening on the Oneida reservation, I have seen this. Hidden homelessness amongst Indian families is widely unreported all over the country.

In most metro areas, the reason for housing shortfalls are many, including high prices for land, impact fees, zoning requirements, and pricey carrying costs. Add to that list uncooperative neighborhood groups who assume that affordable housing for Indians equals increased traffic and neighborhood decay, and it's no wonder that the housing demands chronically exceed available supply. On reservations, it’s usually a lack of federal funding. However, for those tribes that have gaming operations, sometimes it’s misguided spending of tribal leaders that leave their own people without adequate housing stock.

On the Oneida Reservation the housing waiting list is near eighty families, and the list of actual homeless people could be much higher. The statistics are not strong in this area because people tend not to report when they're homeless, this can be an embarrassing episode in one’s life and the last thing people want to do is broadcast their desperate state. Many people will try and find a nearby couch or a basement to sleep in and they go unnoticed. Most of the time people room-up with a family member or friend and statistics are widely unknown on most reservations.

I have heard from a lot of people on this homeless issue as it relates to the Oneida Tribe. I have also studied this issue for several years. I think it is safe to assume that well over 400 families (1,200 -1,600 people) could use a new home, and over 700 single Oneida's could use some form of reliable shelter, affordable apartments would be a suitable option here.

Now comes news that more financial harm may be headed the way of the Native American housing funds. At the federal level there is a Continuing Resolution (CR) that is currently in place to run the federal government which will expire on March 4, 2011. The CR maintains fiscal year 2010 funding levels for most federal programs, including tribal housing programs.

The wheels are in motion to make far-reaching reductions to non-security, discretionary spending for the remainder of 2011. The Chairman of the House Committee on the Budget, Representative Paul Ryan, has set 2011 discretionary budget authority (BA) at $1.055 billion, $74 billion lower than the President's 2011 Budget Request (PBR) and substantially lower than the fiscal year (FY) 2010 funding level. I would urge people to call Paul Ryan’s office at 202-225-3031. Ask him to support Indian Housing spending as outlined below in the three areas.

On February 8, 2011 the House Appropriations Committee passed, by a vote of 27-22, an amended 302(b) (appropriations subcommittee) that limits spending for the remainder of FY 2011. The funding reduction to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) subcommittee is the largest - approximately 17% from the FY 2010 level and 18% from the level proposed in the PBR. This is a grave situation for Indian country. For example, on our reservation, the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, we will certainly feel the pain. We already have people desperately in need of housing and the waiting list on our reservation is already very long and it’s growing.

If the CR that is currently set to expire on March 4, 2011, and it may be replaced with another CR. The new CR may provide substantially lower funding than was provided in FY2010 for Indian Housing. These matters are being debated but there is a real possibility that Indian Housing funding will take a major cut this year and for years to come. We as native people should have grave concerns regarding potential cuts to the funding levels for tribal housing programs in Fiscal Year 2011 and beyond, and we have to request people’s support in sustaining the 2010 appropriations level for several important tribal housing initiatives.

As you may be aware, housing conditions and the availability of housing in Indian Country fall far below those of the general U.S. population. The conditions on many reservations across the United States resemble those found in Third World countries. The following tribal housing programs alleviate the disparities between tribal housing conditions and conditions throughout the rest of the country and I hope we can get these programs re-funded at 2010 spending levels:

 *  The Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG): I am requesting that the IHBG program be funded at not less than the FY2010 level of $700 million. The President’s 2011 Budget Request (PBR) proposed cutting $120 million, or 17%, of the funding for this program, which provides the bulk of the federal funding for tribal housing.  If enacted, the PBR of $580 million would be the lowest single-year funding amount for the IHBG since the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act was enacted in 1996 and funded in 1998, more than a decade ago.

 *  The Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG): I am requesting that this program be funded at $100 million. The PBR includes $65 million for this program, which funds essential infrastructure for tribal communities, such as sewer and running water. Rising costs and associated inflationary factors have hampered the development of infrastructure in Indian Country.

    

 *  The National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC) Training and Technical Assistance (T&TA) Program: I urge your support in restoring T&TA funds to $4.8 million. NAIHC’s T&TA Program enables tribes to build their capacity to effectively develop, implement, and manage housing activities by providing on-site training and technical assistance that tribes would otherwise not be able to access.

These housing programs are vital for Indian Country and many of them are not sustainable without adequate federal funding. I will say, these are the bare minimums when it comes to our funding needs. We definitely could use more revenue in these areas, but this will not occur because we simply are not a priority to the Congress.

I hope people can join me in working with your elected representative’s offices on these issues. Accordingly, in the coming months we need to encourage our local Congressional representatives to support funding for these essential Indian housing programs. At the bottom of this article is a link to the Wisconsin Congressional delegation.

This is a mindless way of dealing with our budget problems on the national level. Across the board cut is just like saying nothing in this nation is a priority, including housing for Native Americans. Targeted cuts are needed on the nation level, not a cut-everything attitude.  

Plain and simply waste needs to be eliminated on the national level; this is how you control spending. The result of this mindless across the board approach will be that waste goes on and consequently there is no room in the budgets to help people who desperately need housing assistance. Indian’s on reservations sleeping in someone’s basement or 3 and 4 families living in one home; is this the American dream?

HERE IS A LINK TO THE WISCONSIN CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION.