National American Indian Housing Council hails movement on NAHASDA

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Indian housing at work. Photo courtesy National American Indian Housing Council

Thursday, February 17, 2022

Indianz.Com

The nation’s largest Indian housing organization is welcoming progress on a bill to reauthorize the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act.

The National American Indian Housing Council has been asking Congress to renew NAHASDA ever since the law expired in 2013. A bill to do just that was advanced by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on Wednesday.

“The National American Indian Housing Council is pleased that the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is taking action and reporting the NAHASDA reauthorization bill to the full Senate,” Adrian Stevens, the acting chair of the organization, said on Thursday.

“The Council thanks Senators Schatz and Murkowski for reviving efforts to finally get NAHASDA reauthorized as the program celebrates 25 years of success,” Stevens said of Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the chair and vice chair, respectively, of the legislative committee with jurisdiction over Indian issues.

indianz · Business Meeting to consider S.2264, NAHASDA Reauthorization Act

Indianz.Com Audio: Senate Committee on Indian Affairs – Business Meeting to consider S.2264, NAHASDA Reauthorization Act – February 16, 2022

The Senate committee approved S.2264, the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act, at a business meeting on Wednesday. The bill ensures that housing agencies in American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities can continue to provide housing that fits the needs of families.

“Since enactment, tribes have developed an estimated 40,000 homeownership and 20,000 rental homes for these families in their communities,” Schatz said at the meeting. “Between 2002 and 2019, 706 affordable homes were built, acquired, or rehabilitated and 693 lots were developed to construct affordable homes for Native Hawaiians on their homelands.”

Congress first enacted NAHASDA in 1996 and the law was easily reauthorized in subsequent legislative sessions — up until about a decade ago. That’s when opposition to certain provisions — namely the program benefiting Native Hawaiians — stalled progress.

“A reminder to us that we haven’t reauthorized this since 2013,” Murkowski noted on Wednesday. She said the lack of action is primarily the “reason that we’ve got the interest and the support from so many members on this.”

S.2264 enjoys bipartisan support from Democrats and Republicans, as does the version of the bill pending in the U.S. House of Representatives. The companion measure is H.R.5195.

“COVID-19 presented many housing challenges for tribal communities, and by reauthorizing NAHASDA, lawmakers would create certainty that these vital programs can continue to provide resources for tribes and create affordable housing opportunities for American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian people,” said NAIHC Chair Stevens, who also serves as executive director of the Seneca Nation Housing Authority.

According to NAIHC, committee approval of S.2264 marks the first time NAHASDA has gained traction in the Senate since 2015. The organization said an effort to include the bill in the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act failed late last year.

“NAIHC urges all Senators to support the bill’s passage and enactment this year,” said Stevens.