By the CUJ
MISSION – Talks about a potential financial assistance distribution allocating up to $3,000,000 from the American Rescue Plan funds to all Tribal members in the amount of $750 were pushed to Friday, July 9 by the Board of Trustees.
A motion from BOT Member Jill-Marie Gavin-Harvey on June 28 would have released money “in response to ongoing an unanticipated costs for Tribal member households due to the global COVID-19 pandemic,” and the payout date was set for July 15.
Gavin-Harvey called it “the peoples’ money.”
Fellow BOT member Cor Sams seconded the motion.
Point of order was called by BOT Vice Chair Jeremy Wolf and acted upon by BOT Chair Kat Brigham, as the item was not on the Board’s agenda.
A work session was then held July 7 and attended by more than 25 CTUIR members, BOT members and staff.
The hour-long session provided some data from Interim Deputy
Executive Director Matt Johnson, Department of Child and Family Services Director Julie Taylor and Tribal attorney Dan Hester.
Hester noted the American Rescue Plan funding provides considerably more money and the guidance is looser — particularly noting it doesn’t require an individual needs assessment like the CARES Act does.
It ended with the BOT scheduling a work session for Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. to allow for more discussion.
“There’s some information that’s not there,” Brigham said of the reports. “So it’s still incomplete.”
The meeting is open to the public and will be held at the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2605264635
