Introduction: Indian Country Perseveres Through a Difficult Year To our Member Tribes and Partners: This past year has tested the resolve of the entire nation - we have suffered unthinkable loss over the past year. The COVID-19 pandemic created a health and economic crisis in the United States, taking more than 500,000 American lives, infecting nearly 29 million Americans, and more than 10 million remain unemployed. Indian Country has been particularly hard hit. The virus continues to disproportionately inflict harm on the health and economies of Native communities. The CDC reports that on a per capita basis, Native Americans have the highest COVID-infection, hospitalization, and death rates of any community in the Nation. From an economic standpoint, every Indian gaming operation in the nation closed to prevent spread of the virus in our communities. Some Tribes chose to keep their doors closed where community spread remained a high risk. Those that chose to re-open did so slowly and safely, in coordination with tribal health officials, engaged in testing, temperature checks, hand sanitizing, mask wearing, deep cleaning, occupancy limits. As a result, it is estimated that Tribal Government-owned enterprises will sustain 35 percent revenue losses in 2020 alone—with losses totaling more than $30 billion before a full recovery to 2019 revenue levels in 2023. These lost government revenues have forced many Tribes to furlough government employees and cut provisions of essential education, health, housing and safety services to Reservation residents. At the onset of the pandemic in early March 2020, the National Indian Gaming Association immediately got to work to address the quickly emerging crises caused by COVID-19. Congress responded to the calls from Indian Country by enacting the CARES Act on March 27, 2020, which provided historic levels of funding for Indian tribes through the $8 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund, and other key provisions to help Tribal Governments stop the spread of the virus and maintain economic stability. The Administration’s rollout of these provisions was rocky at first, but working with champions of Indian Country, we were able to ensure Tribal access to the $350 Billion Paycheck Protection Program for small gaming operations and worked to smooth the administration of other programs designed to help Tribes address the health and economic impacts of the virus. The CARES Act passed, nearly a year ago, to provide a lifeline for Tribal Governments to endure the initial shock of the pandemic, but much more has been needed for some time. To address these ongoing and urgent needs, the National Indian Gaming Association continued work with Congress and more recently the Biden Administration to ensure these significant needs were addressed in the next COVID-relief package. Thanks to this ground work, we are excited to report that President Biden’s American Rescue Plan delivers on all fronts in historic proportions. The American Rescue Plan includes $20 Billion to Tribal Governments through the re-named Fiscal Recovery Funds (formerly Coronavirus Relief Fund), which provides more flexibility and time to spend the funds. The bill includes a wide array of other resources to help Tribes address the health and economic impacts of the pandemic. The Senate passed the bill on Saturday, March 6, and the House is set to advance the bill for President Biden’s signature this week. A summary of the Senate-passed American Rescue Plan is posted in more detail below. President Biden’s next legislative priority is to revitalize our nation’s infrastructure. The National Indian Gaming Association will work with the Biden Administration and Congress to ensure that the package includes direct federal funding to meet the significant and longstanding infrastructure needs of Indian Country, as well as long needed tax reforms to provide Tribes with the same financing tools used by state and local governments, including parity for Tribes to issue Tax Exempt Bonds, and access to both the New Market Tax Credit and Low Income Housing Tax Credit programs. A more detailed description of infrastructure is also posted below. We have a full plate ahead in the 117 th Congress, and we are eager to get to work for you. The National Indian Gaming Association will host periodic virtual legislative summits until business returns to normal. We will be hosting our Annual Convention and Trade Show in July 2021 in Las Vegas, NV in partnership with RES 2021, National Center for American Indian Economic Development.
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