After 20 years of litigation and two Supreme Court decisions in favor of tribes, the federal government is currently negotiating settlements of claims for unpaid contract support costs that total in the billions of dollars.

In 2014, Congress removed contract support cost spending caps and instructed BIA and IHS to fully pay tribes what they are due. This was a major step forward and I’m proud of the work to get these caps lifted.

But because they were not provided any additional funding to pay for these debts, BIA and IHS used discretionary funding that normally would have been directed towards other vital programs—in effect robbing Peter to pay Paul. Removing the caps shows progress but it is not a permanent solution nor does it guarantee full funding in the next Congress and beyond.

A permanent solution is necessary to ensure that full funding of contract support costs continues indefinitely and is not paid for by cuts to BIA and IHS programs. As the House and Senate appropriations committees recognized this year, until such a solution is enacted the Committees are “in the untenable position of appropriating discretionary funds for the payment of any legally obligated contract support costs.”