President Barack Obama last week released details of his fiscal year 2010 budget, which boosts funding at the Indian Health Serviceand the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The budget seeks $4 billion for the IHS, a 13 percent increase from current levels. The most significant boost is for contract support costs, which tribes use to manage health care.

At the BIA, the budget seeks $304 million for public safety, a 12 percent increase from current levels. There's almost $800 million for education, an 11 percent increase.

"It's a good starting point," Jacqueline Johnson Pata, the executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, told The Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

Get the Story:
Indian leaders heartened by Obama budget (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 5/14)

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