Paul Ryan posted on Twitter in December 2017: “This is an important win for Native American communities. Congress passed legislation empowering tribes to create essential education and training opportunities through the 477 Program. @RepDonYoung’s bill is now off to the @WhiteHouse.” President Trump signed it into law on December 18, 2017.

A year can seem like a long time in politics, but the Indian Employment, Training, and Related Services Consolidation Act of 2017 (hereafter 2017 Consolidation Act) has been on the fast track since President Trump signed it into law on December 18, 2017.

Designed to leverage the success of the Indian Employment, Training ACT OF 1992 and Related Services Demonstration Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-477, also known as 477), the purpose of the 2017 Consolidation Act is to further enhance tribal governments’ and organizations’ ability to reduce unemployment in Indian Country by improving the efficiency of their employment, training and related services.

That’s a mouthful for any policy wonk, but it essentially boils down to letting tribes design and manage their own federally funded unemployment programs with minimal government oversight.

Originally a demonstration program (trial program), tribes—in coordination with four federally-mandated agencies: the Department of the Interior, Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of Education—showed that they are more efficient and effective than the federally managed programs in reducing joblessness and unemployment in Indian Country.

This success resulted in 477’s extension and expansion via the 2017 Consolidation Act with the following critical changes or adds:

  • Make 477’s demonstration program permanent by moving it out of the demonstration program category.
  • Increase the number of federal agencies required to participate to 12: the Department of the Interior (lead agency), the Attorney General, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Labor, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
  • Simplify the federal review and approval process of tribes’ 477 plans.
  • Make four types of federal funding available to tribes and organizations to choose from, to include competitive and discretionary sources without reducing the total amount of funding available.

The 2017 Consolidation Act also allowed these 12 federal agencies only one year—a Brief History of Time for the federal government—to develop and sign a government-wide Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that establishes how the agencies will work together to make this law work for tribes.

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) passed a resolution at its recent Annual Convention sharing Indian Country’s priorities for the implementation of this critical legislation, and it has been working closely with the Workforce Development (477) Tribal Workgroup to inform the White House and federal agencies about what full implementation of the law needs to entail.

“We are confident this MOA will live up to the full spirit and explicit intent of the law,” said NCAI President Jefferson Keel. “The legislation is crystal clear: it is up to tribal nations and Native organizations – and not any single federal agency – to determine which federal programs should be included in 477 Plans presuming they meet the statutory criteria. That is what tribal self-determination means, and that is what this law requires.”

As expected, the Department of the Interior, as lead federal agency and ultimate arbiter of the 2017 Consolidation Act, must lay out its plan and process for ensuring compliance by the other 11 federal agencies. It is due to be released on December 18, 2018.

Overall tribes are poised to win at least through increased sovereignty and reduced paperwork.

The federal government is also a winner here. It will achieve increased savings by reducing its own administration costs—without diminishing its stake in its success or failure, or its hand on the budgetary till. It also stands to gain by reducing its various welfare program outlays as unemployment numbers drop across Indian Country.