Schatz, Cole secure record $1.3B for Native housing

US Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and US Rep. Tom Cole (R-La.) – chairs of the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittee on Housing, respectively – secured more than $1.34 billion in funding for Native housing programs as part of a six-bill Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations package that was passed by Congress and signed into law last week. The funding is a record increase of $324 million dollars from last year. 

“This historic increase in funding will help provide affordable housing for Native communities across the country,” said Sen. Schatz, chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. “There’s more work to do to address the unique and urgent housing needs of Native communities, but this funding brings the federal government closer to fulfilling our trust responsibilities to them.”

“I am very proud of everything that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and I were able to secure in this appropriations package. One provision that is particularly important to me is the historic gains we were able to secure for traditionally-underfunded Indian housing programs. As a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, it will always be a priority of mine to ensure that the needs of Native and tribal communities are represented here in Washington, D.C., and I would like to thank Sen. Schatz for working with me to secure this essential funding for Native housing programs,” said Rep. Cole.

The NAHASDA Native American Housing Block Grant Program and the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant Program provide financial assistance for Native families to obtain new homes, make renovations, build community facilities, and receive housing services, including counseling, financial literacy and other critical resources to address housing disparities.

In addition to housing, Schatz and Cole secured $175.5 million in new federal funding for Tribal transportation activities. This includes $25 million to supplement the Rural and Tribal Infrastructure Advancement Pilot Program to deliver financial, legal, technical, and project development assistance in an effort to improve Tribal access to transportation infrastructure programs at the Department of Transportation. This is the first time this program has been funded in the annual appropriations process and the highest level of funding to date. It also includes $150 million in the Tribal Transportation Program and $500,000 for transit technical assistance for Tribes.