As the federal government shutdown drags on, many Americans have noted that it’s had little to no effect on their daily lives. Leaders of from Lewis County and all of its municipalities said it’s made no difference in their operations during a meeting earlier this month.
Tribal governments don’t have that luxury.
“The tribes are in a tough spot because of the various federal funding that comes to the reservation for a number of programs,” said Jeff Warnke, director of government and public relations for the Chehalis Tribe. “You take it for granted until a fight breaks out in Washington, D.C. that has nothing has to do with you, and your funding gets shut off.”
At present, more than half of the staffers at the Bureau of Indian Affairs — which supports social services, natural resources, law enforcement, roads and other tribal programs — are furloughed. Staffers at other agencies that tribes rely on for permitting for projects are also on leave.
“There's just so many agency interfaces that we need to continue in an efficient manner,” said Cowlitz Tribal Chairman Bill Iyall.
The Chehalis and Cowlitz Tribes both reported needing to dig into their governments’ own reserves to fund programs that had previously been guaranteed by the federal government. Those include nutrition programs to feed elders and low-income members, as well as early childhood education.
“For now, the tribe’s kind of patching some funding together to keep it going,” Warnke said. “We don't know how long we can do that before we run out of money. … The tribe will do everything we can to keep those programs open.”
Iyall said the Cowlitz Tribe’s ability to cover for the federal funding lapse is stable “for the near future.”
“We'll have to have a contingency plan if it's too much more prolonged,” he said.
The tribes are unsure if they’ll be reimbursed — or to what extent or for which programs — for covering the federal government’s obligations when the shutdown is over.
“In past shutdowns, there were some programs that have been reimbursed, others that have not,” Warnke said. “It's kind of a crapshoot for us.”
Direct funding isn’t the only area where the tribes are seeing an impact. Four federally employed public health employees assigned to the Cowlitz Tribe are currently not getting paid.
“Nurse practitioners and psychiatrists are not getting a paycheck,” Iyall said. “It's hard for us to be working side-by-side with them knowing they're not getting a paycheck.”
The Chehalis Tribe, meanwhile, has lost several natural resources employees because their positions are furloughed.
“Some of the restoration projects have stopped, just because the workers are furloughed,” Warnke said.
Habitat restoration projects make up a big part of many tribal governments’ portfolio, and both tribes said those programs have been hard-hit by the shutdown.
“A lot of our projects are done in coordination with the federal government, especially restoration projects,” Iyall said. “There’s a lot of agency feedback on permitting that’s not happening. … There's millions of dollars of projects that are ongoing, and many of them are in a collaborative partnership with the federal government. Unfortunately, they can't hold up their end of the bargain.”
Iyall noted that projects that get delayed often end up costing more, and the tribe has been tracking its grant funding carefully to make sure they stay on track.
The Chehalis Tribe has also seen projects stalled because of the shutdown.
“We've got a couple of projects that are back at the Bureau of Indian Affairs waiting for approval,” Warnke said. “Obviously, the Bureau of Indian Affairs is not helping us much right now. … Habitat restoration for salmon spawning, and just making sure the river's healthy is huge for us.”
The tribe may also be hit with a loss of law enforcement funding, Warnke said, but will ensure that none of its officers need to be furloughed. Overall, both tribes reported that they’ve been mostly able to stabilize operations using their own funding, but that may become more difficult if the shutdown continues.
“We have reserves that primarily cover us for the near future,” Iyall said. “If it was to go a couple months, I think we'd need to come up with some contingency planning around that.”
He called the shutdown a “humanitarian crisis” that’s affecting all 800,000 government workers who are currently missing paychecks, not just the ones working for and with the tribe.
Warnke added that the Chehalis Tribe is, like just about everyone, ready for the saga to end.
“The tribe just is really eager for the shutdown to be over and get back to business as usual,” he said.
