JUNEAU (AP) — The U.S. House has passed legislation to extend a year-end deadline for Alaska Native corporations to use federal Coronavirus relief funds. The U.S. Supreme Court in late June ruled the corporations were entitled to receive the CARES Act funds, but delays in disbursing the money have been many corporations in a bind to spend the funds by Dec. 31.
The House bill, however, isn't the same measure that earlier passed the Senate. For the bill to become law, the same version has to pass both chambers before going to the president for signature.
Some Alaska Native corporations have yet to receive funds and others face challenges distributing money they have received, said Hallie Bissett, executive director of the Alaska Native Village Corporation Association. She said there have been administrative issues, and documentation requirements in some cases created confusion.
She also cited challenges in setting up websites, application processes or other systems to handle and distribute funds, particularly for corporations with limited staff or in areas with “basic to nonexistent” internet service.
The Wrangell Cooperative Association, a tribal council, not a village corporation, has received its CARES Act funding and is not at risk from the deadline, said Esther Reese, tribal administrator.
The first payments to tribes in the U.S. went out in the spring of 2020, according to U.S. Government Accountability Office — well over a year before funds began going to Native corporations.
Alaska Rep. Don Young called for urgent Senate action to extend the deadline for corporations.
Karina Borger, a spokesperson for Sen. Lisa Murkowski, said Alaska’s congressional delegation was “working every angle possible” to get an extension in place.
A report by the Government Accountability Office cited issues with the rollout, including guidance from the Department of the Treasury for use of funds that changed over time.
The House bill would push the spending deadline to Dec. 30, 2022.
The Treasury Department began making payments to Native corporations in early August. Altogether, there are more than 180 Alaska Native regional and village corporations. Funding for the corporations was tied up in the courts until the U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Bissett said that while some corporations have faced challenges, others have fully allocated their funds.
Juneau-based Goldbelt, with about 4,000 shareholders, received $11.1 million, all of which is spoken for, said McHugh Pierre, the corporation president. Goldbelt set up an initial round of up to $2,600 for each shareholder who certified financial losses, expenses or emergency economic need due to the pandemic, and an additional round of up to $800 for purchases or losses not accounted for in the first round.
WCA, with its two rounds of federal pandemic relief funds, allocated up to $4,000 per eligible tribal household in Wrangell to help with groceries and utilities.
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