Supes meet Tuesday morning — consider approving $1.4 million in Health and Human Services funding requests lassennews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lassennews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In a significant move to bolster healthcare infrastructure for Native American tribes, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), via the Indian Health Service (IHS), has allocated $55 million in funding to 15 tribes and tribal organizations. This funding is part of the competitive Small Ambulatory Program, aimed at supporting the construction, expansion, or modernization of small ambulatory healthcare facilities. "HHS recognizes the critical need for tribal partners to have access to culturally appropriate, quality healthcare, particularly in terms of preventative services for chronic diseases," said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in a press release.
A new bill would allow Tribal governments to benefit from the same opportunities for land acquisition as state and local governments currently do. U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) yesterday introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen Tribal parity for the transfer of surplus federal property. The GSA Disposal Process Tribal Parity Act of 2024 would allow Tribal governments to participate in an existing process that allows the General Services Administration (GSA) to transfer surplus federal property to state and local governments below market value if those properties will be used for specified public purposes.