{"id":10086,"date":"2020-06-04T00:09:19","date_gmt":"2020-06-04T05:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/pandemic-consolation-prize-view-from-indian-country-tribal-government-can-help-out-with-pandemic-stimulus-payments\/"},"modified":"2020-06-04T00:09:20","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T05:09:20","slug":"pandemic-consolation-prize-view-from-indian-country-tribal-government-can-help-out-with-pandemic-stimulus-payments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/pandemic-consolation-prize-view-from-indian-country-tribal-government-can-help-out-with-pandemic-stimulus-payments\/","title":{"rendered":"Pandemic consolation prize: View from Indian country Tribal government \u2018can help out\u2019 with pandemic stimulus payments"},"content":{"rendered":"
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OFFER leader Ronald L. Neiss urges tribal governments to \u201cstep up to the assistance plate to help those tribal members who have fallen through the cracks\u201d of the stimulus payment system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

PART III
\nROSEBUD \u2013 On May 28, Rosebud Sioux Tribal President Rodney Bordeaux said his government \u201ccan help out\u201d with a grassroots effort to assist members in claiming elusive pandemic stimulus payments under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
\nHis statement responded to a request for support from the Oyate For Fairness and Equal Representation, or OFFER, a voter empowerment group with a track record of enlisting tribal government backing for other actions to benefit Rosebud Indian Reservation residents over the years.
\nOFFER leader Ronald L. Neiss texted Bordeaux saying that he and OFFER colleague Rose Cordier have been \u201cdoing outreach and filing assistance\u201d for tribal members who have had trouble obtaining the universal emergency aid of $1,200 per adult and $500 per child.
\n\u201cWe are hoping that the tribe can support a necessary wider effort. This should be a Rosebud Sioux Tribe project,\u201d Neiss said to Bordeaux, adding, \u201cI believe that the benefits would be tremendous to our local economy.\u201d OFFER is willing to facilitate as needed, he noted.
\nBordeaux told the Native Sun News Today that the tribe\u2019s tax service has been discontinued and he has been \u201cinundated\u201d by the demands of confronting the coronavirus pandemic with just a skeleton crew allowed to work.
\nHe said that obtaining the stimulus benefit is an \u201cindividual\u2019s responsibility\u201d but noted that his own relief money had arrived late. For cases of people in need, he stated, \u201cWe can help out with that.\u201d
\nThe tribal government imposed a partial lockdown on the reservation, when Covid-19 cases began to appear here. The government offices closed and only employees providing so-called \u201cessential\u201d services reported for work.
\nThe lockdown \u2014 complete with stay-at-home orders, limited business hours, curfews, and highway health checkpoints \u2013 extends until at least June 30, but Bordeaux asked a minimal number of additional staff to return to work beginning June 1.
\nAs in hundreds of other tribal governments nationwide, the Rosebud Administration has had an unusual burden of work in filing a lawsuit and compiling census data for its population in order to claim even a portion of the $8 million the U.S. Congress set aside for the tribes\u2019 operations in the CARES Act.
\nMeanwhile, Neiss has been bugging the President and entire tribal council for more than two months, urging that elected leadership \u201cstep up to the assistance plate to help those tribal members who have fallen through the cracks\u201d of the stimulus payment system.
\n\u201cMainly we\u2019re just dealing with this virus crisis,\u201d Bordeaux said, but now, he added, \u201cWe can set something up.\u201d
\nWhile some tribal members have not received the individual stimulus payments as Congress directed on March 27, yet others died even before the pandemic\u2019s outbreak and received it anyway.
\nAfter dropping behind schedule on delivering the aid, the Internal Revenue Service announced on May 27 that it has been sending the funds to some people in the novel form of prepaid debit cards ever since the middle of the month.
\nAbout 4 million people are slated to receive the cards, in addition to some 276 million obtaining the stimulus pay in checks via the U.S. mail or in direct bank deposits.
\nNeiss flagged the new plastic money as an additional hitch for tribal constituencies or others who could mistake the unexpected delivery for junk mail.
\nSuch delivery challenges transcend Indian country, observed former South Dakota Legislator Liz May, from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, adjacent to Rosebud.
\n\u201cThe problem is logistical: 330 million Americans, and a bureaucracy that wasn\u2019t prepared to take on this huge undertaking,\u201d May told the Native Sun News Today.
\nNonetheless, she recognized, her local constituency has its peculiar obstacles to clear. For example, the internet infrastructure in the rural reservation area has not been adequate to support a switch to online business provoked by protocols for precaution during the pandemic, she noted.
\n\u201cOnce Covid-19 took hold, our internet capability was also challenged, due to everyone moving to social media for work,\u201d she said.
\nSympathizing with public servants in that situation, she suggested that \u201cit would be appropriate for tribes\u201d to designate a portion of the $8 billion Congress allotted their sovereign governments in the CARES Act \u201cto hire or outsource personnel to help individuals with the filing process.\u201d
\nFacing her in the June 2 South Dakota Republican Primary, incumbent U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson logged his annoyance with the Internal Revenue Service\u2019s failures in distributing the stimulus money, formally known as Economic Impact Payment.
\nHe referenced essential employees \u201cworking overtime to meet the needs of this nation,\u201d saying, \u201cI do not see that same dedication from the leadership of the IRS, and it is time for them to get it together.\u201d
\nSpeaking on the floor of Congress on May 28, he said, \u201cMy patience has run low. My office has heard from hundreds of South Dakotans who are not only waiting on stimulus checks but are also waiting months for their tax returns. This is unacceptable.\u201d
\nJohnson requested the IRS increase workforce capacity on April 1, and the agency has since hired 3,500 people to help with this backlog, according to his communications director, Jazmine Kemp. However, by press time, some 20 million eligible recipients were still waiting, he said.
\nHis office staff has heard from hundreds of people who need help claiming their due, although \u201cthe data on how many of those calls and emails are from individuals on tribal lands or in underserved areas\u201d is not sorted, Kemp told the Native Sun News Today.
\nThe IRS operates a help line at 1-800-919-9835 and a \u201cGet My Payment\u201d portal on its website, However, reports are rampant of people\u2019s failures to access vital information sources there.
\nCongressman Johnson\u2019s offices \u201ccan accommodate casework requests for tribal members needing help with a federal agency,\u201d Kemp said.
\nAt press time, OFFER had designed, printed, and begun delivering an application form for Rosebud tribal members who need help filing for the stimulus pay. The letterhead dubs the outreach campaign \u201cProject Stimulus,\u201d and its slogan reads, \u201cOFFER CARES\u201d.
\nIn a May 28 letter to editors of communications media, Neiss ventured, \u201cOn the Rosebud, I am sure that our tribal officials will get behind the effort to help all those needing technical assistance in filing for these virus relief monies. I encourage all brother and sister tribes to do likewise.\u201d
\nNeiss may be contacted at ronaldneiss@outlook.com<\/a> and 605-208-6136.<\/p>\n

(Contact talli.nauman@gmail.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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Visit Original Source<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u00a0 OFFER leader Ronald L. Neiss urges tribal governments to \u201cstep up to the assistance plate to help those tribal members who have fallen through the cracks\u201d of the stimulus payment system. PART III ROSEBUD \u2013 On May 28, Rosebud Sioux Tribal President Rodney Bordeaux said his government \u201ccan help <\/p>\n

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Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> June 4, 2020<\/p>\n

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