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Good morning! ☕ Native American tribes aren't getting badly needed COVID-19 stimulus aid because the federal agencies in charge of distributing relief to tribal governments don’t know how to work with them and aren’t listening to what they actually need. huffpost.com/entry/native-a…
What's the problem?

The Treasury Dept, for one, is overseeing an $8 billion fund to help tribal govts stabilize. But weeks later, none of that $ has moved as the agency, which doesn’t otherwise interact with tribes, is still figuring out how to give it out.
Then there's the Small Biz Admin, which has been overseeing $350B in emergency payroll relief to small businesses. The agency, also unfamiliar with tribes, decided that some casinos -- the financial lifeblood of many tribal govts ― wouldn’t be eligible for relief.
Tribes protested this vehemently. Members of Congress told SBA the regulation it was using to deny relief to casinos was never meant to be applied to this emergency relief.

So the SBA issued new guidance this week.

It changed nothing. And now that $ is all gone.
I talked to @SenatorTomUdall about all of this. He's vice chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Cmte and is... not happy with these agencies.

"They don’t know how to interact in the appropriate way with tribes and they’re just not getting the job done." huffpost.com/entry/native-a…
Meanwhile, tribal govt gaming operations have been shuttered for weeks, affecting 246 tribal nations that own 500 gaming facilities.

An April 7 analysis found that tribal casino closures had already resulted in 296K people losing their jobs and $1.5B in lost economic activity.
Leaders of Navajo Nation, for one, have all but given up on getting their share of federal relief. President Jonathan Nez said earlier this month that the US govt “once again has ignored” indigenous people by failing to provide aid to fight COVID-19.
Navajo Nation is also dealing with *very* high rates of COVID-19 cases.

As of Monday, it reported more confirmed COVID-19 cases per capita than almost every U.S. state, behind only New York and New Jersey. Its number of cases surged 367% in two weeks. huffpost.com/entry/navajo-n…
Navajo Nation is “a burning hot spot in the country” for COVID-19, warned @SenatorTomUdall.

“The struggle is to get their fair share of fed resources. That’s part of the reason why this is such a dangerous time for Native communities: They’ve been left behind by the fed govt.”
Anyway, full story below on federal agencies' shortcomings as they roll out (or don't roll out) emergency relief to tribes and Sen. Udall's fears that tribes may be headed for a "perfect storm" amid the COVID-19 pandemic. huffpost.com/entry/native-a…
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