The approximately $4.2 billion included in President Joe Biden's fiscal 2022 budget for Indian Affairs programs in the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the best ways to invest in those communities, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in an announcement earlier this month.
"One of the best investments we can make is in stewarding the lands and waters that sustain us and the generations to come," Haaland said in the June 3 DOI announcement. "Today we are making critical investments that will create tens of thousands of jobs, safeguard the environment and help ensure that national parks and public lands are ready to meet the challenges of climate change and increased visitation."
Deferring maintenance leads to backlogs in repairs and improvements in the DOI's managed lands, Haaland said.
"In particular, I am encouraged that funding for Bureau of Indian Education schools will help ensure that we are providing a safe and reliable space where students and educators alike can focus on learning," she said.
The Bureau of Indian Education would receive about $1.3 billion, more than $110 million over the current fiscal year, in Biden's fiscal 2022 budget.
DOI is responsible for federal trust and treaty oversight in the nation's native peoples' communities.
Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and a 35th generation New Mexican, is the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary, as well as the first to be appointed DOI secretary.
The DOI announcement came the same week U.S. Indian Affairs Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Bryan Newland briefed Tribal leaders via conference call about Biden's fiscal 2022 budget's funding for Indian Affairs.
A previous DOI announcement, in late May, described "significant Investments" that Biden's fiscal 2022 budget, now expected to be passed by reconciliation, expects to make in DOI.
The budget, expected to be passed by reconciliation, includes about $2.7 billion requested by Indian Affairs, almost $610 million more than was requested for the current fiscal year.
The budget also provides $110.7 million for the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration, about a million more than in fiscal 2021, and $17.6 billion for DOI, a $2.5 billion – or 17% – increase over fiscal 2021.
"The Interior Department plays an important role in the president's plan to reinvest in the American people," Haaland said in the May DOI announcement. "From bolstering climate resiliency and increasing renewable energy, to supporting tribal nations and advancing environmental justice, President Biden's budget will make much-needed investments in communities and projects that will advance our vision for a robust and equitable clean energy future."
