Leaders wrestle with ARPA money bill

WINDOW ROCK

The Navajo Nation president’s office and the Navajo Nation Council are inching closer to finalizing a bill, which will appropriate the remaining $1.07 billion in American Rescue Plan Act funds.

But that might not be fast enough to get the bill across the finish line before it’s set to expire on March 21.

On Jan. 20, President Jonathan Nez’s ARPA infrastructure projects bill (No. 257-21), sponsored by Speaker Seth Damon, was tabled by the Naabik’íyáti Committee.

The agreement was that it would be referred to a work session and return to the committee within 60 days.

Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty had proposed tabling the bill so that the Council could consider an amendment to divide the remaining ARPA funds equally by the 24 delegate districts. She wanted to ensure equity and community involvement.

However, that’s not what happened in the Naabik’iyati’ work session last Thursday, which came as a surprise to many delegates.

Instead, six weeks after the bill was tabled, the president’s office proposed a modified spending plan, which is a compromise between the original bill and simply dividing up the funds between delegates, which would yield $44.6 million per district.

“We did give our recommendations to the Council that was presented at the work session,” Nez told Navajo Times on Tuesday. “These are projects that have been vetted based on Treasury guidelines that have been packaged for their consideration.”

‘Spring is here’

Of the $2.079 billion in ARPA funding the Nation received last year, $1.008 billion has been appropriated for Hardship Assistance ($557 million), the Sihásin Fund and Unreserved, Undesignated Fund Balance project reimbursements ($76.6 million), refunded CARES Act projects ($167.6) and administrative/regulatory support ($207.9 million).

The balance of $1.07 billion needs to be appropriated by the Council with a two-thirds vote and signed by the president.

Nez said while Hardship Assistance is helping immediate needs, approving the infrastructure projects will provide for long-term needs.

“Overall, infrastructure projects are going to be a win for the Navajo people,” said Nez. “If we keep that as a priority in this legislation, everyone will win.”

Nez said the executive branch has worked tirelessly to assess the most pressing infrastructure needs on Navajo and develop a proposal that will prioritize those in each delegate district.

“The needs are great for electricity, water and broadband in the rural areas,” he said.

The president’s office’s new proposal is an attempt to provide comparable funding amounts for each of the 24 delegate regions while leaving vital water/wastewater/, broadband and electricity projects in place.

“We want this bill to be moved forward,” said Nez. “Spring is here – the construction season is now.”

The revised proposal, as shared with the Naabik’iyati Committee by the president’s office last Thursday, includes $222 million for water and wastewater, $91 million for broadband, and $97 million for electric connections, totaling $410 million, which are spread out over the delegate regions.

The new proposal also allocates $5 million for public safety, $8 million for cyber security, $50 million for rural addressing, $48 million for economic development and $64 million for health initiatives, totaling $175 million.

The remaining balance of $485 million, formerly referred to as the “to be determined” list of projects, is equally divided among delegates with $4.2 million ($100 million total) going to housing, $6.3 million to bathroom additions ($150 million) and $9.8 million in discretionary funding (totaling $235 million) going to each delegate district.

(In comparison, No. 257-21 originally proposed a total of $958 million in infrastructure projects for $300 million for water/wastewater, $208 million for broadband, $200 million for electricity, $100 million for housing, and $150 million for bathroom additions.)

As a caveat, Nez expressed some concern over discretionary funds not earmarked for a specific purpose.

“There needs to be a mechanism in place where if a certain delegate region doesn’t use the funds by a certain date, it should go back to an infrastructure pot,” said Nez.

Meeting district needs

The problem is that total funding for infrastructure projects included in the president’s $410 million list varies widely by delegate, meaning some delegates end up with a much higher total in the new proposal than others.

For example, Delegate Eugenia Charles-Newtons’ total is almost $77 million at the highest end of the spectrum while Delegate Edmund Yazzie’s total funding is at $24 million, which is counterintuitive since the whole idea behind tabling the bill was to make it more equitable.

Crotty also pointed out that some delegates had zero dollars allocated in the water/wastewater and broadband categories.

“The frustration is learning that some of the water and wastewater projects that are eligible to be added to this legislation were not added by the executive branch,” she said.

Crotty said at no time was she invited to participate in coming up with the infrastructure listing, which has been managed by president’s office staff and consultants.

“Excluding delegate regions for water projects is unconscionable,” she said.

Crotty believes each delegate should have the chance to recommend what works best for their region.

“All of the districts deserve the opportunity to pull in the lists that meets their needs,” she said. “Speaker, I appreciate the technical assistance in pulling together the numbers, but we need to remind our consultants that they are not decision-makers.”

She said the projects were packaged without consulting the delegates who have been working directly with the communities they are elected to serve.

“We have to have the ability to reimagine what this list is saying, working with the executive and the consultants,” she said. “Each delegate should be contacted.”

However, Nez said the idea that the Council has been waiting for the president’s office to come to the table is not true.

“We’ve been having meetings with Speaker Damon,” said Nez. “The speaker should be letting his delegates know that those meetings have been ongoing.”

‘It’s difficult’

Crotty also said chapters have been told they have the projects on this listing, but some of those are missing in the proposal.

“Our chapters are ready to take the helm and push and move forward these projects,” said Crotty. “We have professionals, retirees, students who know the landscape of the community.”

She lamented that $207 million went to the Navajo Nation government for administrative support for ARPA projects and yet the local governments are not getting the assistance they need.

“I see the breakdown for the Navajo Fiscal Recovery Office – there is nothing in there for chapters,” she said. “There’s no plan that we have seen on how they could bring in regional planners, strategic planners to guide them through this process.”

Crotty indicated the $207 million was supposed to streamline the processes, not hinder it.

“There’s no excuse because all of the executive programs now have the money to modernize their systems, to digitize their systems, and bring in capacity,” she said.

Division of Community Development Director Pearl Yellowman explained that with almost $18 million in ARPA funds, 56 positions have been added for the division to expand capacity to manage ARPA projects, including accountants, attorneys, inspectors, project planners, and public information officers.

“It is our desire to have support at the chapter level and at DCD,” said Yellowman.

However, ARPA Fiscal Recovery Office Director Tom Platero said that of the over 200 total positions created for ARPA regulatory and administration at a cost of around $130 million, only five full-time employees have been hired so far.

He said that’s partially because the pay scale is low for the skill level they are seeking and they have not been getting many applications.

“It’s difficult to be competitive,” said Platero.

Equalizing district funding

After much discussion among delegates about what to do next, Delegate Carl Slater came up with another idea to bring parity and equity among delegate districts for ARPA funding.

“I just think everybody should have a fair shake at the funding,” he said in the work session.

The foundation of his idea is to equalize total delegate funding amounts, including water/wastewater, broadband, electricity projects, Sihásin, UUFB and refunded CARES Act projects, with project and discretionary funding reduced or increased per delegate as needed to achieve that.

“In some districts we’re under the average and in other districts over,” he said.

Slater is working on a new bill to propose this formula, which could also be introduced as a “strike-all” amendment to No. 257-21, he said.

“If there’s a compromise, of course, we’re always open to hearing those formulas,” Nez told the Navajo Times.

Nine months since the ARPA funding was received by the Nation, Slater says it’s important for everyone to work together towards a solution at this point.

“We need to have a nationwide focus on this legislation,” said Slater. “All the work that has been done up to this point has been good. All this review and vetting I think has been good too.”

In the meantime, Nez said he was preparing a letter to Speaker Damon proposing a Council special session on March 17 and 18 to consider a bill before the March 21 deadline.

However, in a call just before press time Wednesday, Damon told the Navajo Times that he expects the Naabik’iyati’ Committee to vote on Thursday to extend the 60-day tabling period for another 30 days, which will prevent it from expiring and will allow further discussion.

Damon said while he supports delegates’ efforts to come up with equitable solutions that reflect the needs in their communities, he could not comment on Slater’s proposal until it is in writing.

“He’s working on that with the Office of Legislative Counsel right now,” said Damon.

If the legislation’s tabling period is extended for another 30 days, Damon said, he envisions another Naabik’iyati’ work session with the president’s office will take place at Twin Arrows on March 24 and 25 to consider all of the proposed changes to the bill in consultation with Nez.

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