News
RMTEC RMTLC & IHS Co-Host Workshop for MSPI DVPI Grantees
October 10, 2018On October 4-5, RMTEC, RMTLC, and IHS kicked off a new grant year with a co-hosted a workshop that was attended by 17 grantee staff. These staff represented 7 of the 9 tribes in Montana and Wyoming and 12 of the 14 funded projects in the Billings Area. The MSPI and DVPI projects are IHS-funded and provide community-based programming in... Read More >>
Department of Energy (DOE) seeks applicants for Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program (TELGP)
September 30, 2018The TELGP authorizes $2 billion for partial loan guarantees on energy development projects that benefit federally recognized tribal nations (up to 90 percent of the total principal and interest on the loan guaranteed). TELGP is designed to encourage private lending and increase the availability of commercial debt financing in tribal energy markets. The TELGP solicitation document provides guidance on... Read More >>
Congress Passes Health Funding Bill
September 28, 2018The House of Representatives last night passed H.R. 6157, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Labor-HHS Appropriations bill, which contains funding for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as well as the Departments of Labor, Education, and Defense. The bill funds these agencies untilSeptember 30, 2019. H.R. 6157 also contains a Continuing Resolution (CR) funding several other agencies, including the... Read More >>
HHS Selects Pilot Projects to Demonstrate Better Approach to Disaster Medical Care
September 27, 2018In a disaster, thousands of Americans may require immediate medical specialty care, surpassing the care available in the community. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) today awarded two $3 million grants to demonstrate how a new Regional Disaster Health Response System could meet these needs, including trauma,... Read More >>
HHS awards $50 million to assist American Indian and Alaska Native tribal efforts combating the opioid overdose epidemic
September 26, 2018The Department of Health & Human Service’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has awarded grants of about $50 million to American Indian and Alaska Native tribes Tuesday to strengthen their efforts to combat the opioid overdose epidemic. The Tribal Opioid Response grant program aims to address the opioid overdose epidemic in tribal communities by increasing access to... Read More >>
Nationwide Test of the Emergency Alerting Systems Postponed Until October 3, 2018
September 17, 2018FEMA, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), postponed the nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) until October 3 due to ongoing response efforts to Hurricane Florence. The WEA portion of the test commences at 2:18 p.m. EDT, and the EAS portion follows at 2:20 p.m. EDT. The test will assess the operational readiness of the... Read More >>
STRC to discuss legislative proposals on July 6 conference call
September 14, 2018At its last meeting of the interim, the Montana Legislature’s State-Tribal Relations Committee voted to send 12 bills to the 2019 Legislature for consideration. The package approved on September 7 includes five pieces of legislation aimed at filling gaps in the state’s missing persons programs. The STRC also passed bills related to increasing access to reentry resources for American Indian... Read More >>
Tester Sponsors Bill to Strengthen Benefits for Teachers in Indian Country
September 12, 2018Senator Holds Washington Accountable to Strengthen Montana Schools (U.S .Senate)—U.S. Senator Jon Tester is throwing his support behind a bill to ensure teachers in Indian Country get fair benefits. Tester is sponsoring the bipartisan Tribal School Federal Insurance Parity Act to change current law and strengthen access to benefits for teachers at tribal schools, which will help recruit and retain quality teachers in... Read More >>
Senate Passes Labor-HHS Appropriations As End of Fiscal Year Approaches
August 31, 2018On Thursday, August 23, the Senate passed the Labor-HHS Appropriations bill as part of an appropriations package by an 85-7 vote. This bill funds many agencies of the federal government, including most of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As NIHB previously reported, Labor-HHS funds many programs that are particularly important to Tribal Public Health. This appropriations season... Read More >>
Senate Opioid Bills May See a Floor Vote by End of August
August 20, 2018While the House is in recess this month, Senate leaders are moving quickly to schedule floor votes on a series of bills to address the national opioid overdose epidemic. The Senate Finance Committee, Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), have each advanced their own package of bills on a largely bipartisan basis... Read More >>