[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4148 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4148

   To make technical amendments to the provisions of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act relating to contract support 
                     costs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 30, 2000

  Mr. Young of Alaska (for himself and Mr. Hayworth), introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To make technical amendments to the provisions of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act relating to contract support 
                     costs, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Tribal Contract Support Cost 
Technical Amendments of 2000''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT DETAILING CALCULATION AND PAYMENT OF CONTRACT SUPPORT 
              COSTS.

    The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act is 
amended by adding after section 106 the following new section:

``SEC. 106A. CONTRACT SUPPORT COSTS.

    ``(a) Other Federal Agencies.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
of law (including regulation or circular), an Indian tribe or tribal 
organization administering a contract or compact under this Act shall 
be entitled to recover its full indirect costs associated with any 
other Federal funding received by such tribe or tribal organization, 
consistent with the tribe's or tribal organization's indirect cost rate 
agreement with its cognizant Federal agency.
    ``(b) Allowable Uses of Funds.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
of law (including regulation or circular), an Indian tribe or tribal 
organization administering a contract or compact under this Act shall 
be entitled to use or expend any other Federal funding received by such 
tribe or tribal organization in the same manner as permitted in 
subsections 106(i) and (j) (relating to the use of funds for matching 
or cost participation requirements and allowable uses of funds without 
approval of the Secretary), and for such purposes the term `Secretary' 
shall mean the Secretary of any Federal agency providing funds to such 
tribe or tribal organization.
    ``(c) Office of Management and Budget Circular.--Not later than 24 
months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Office of 
Management and Budget shall issue a circular exclusively devoted to the 
expenditure of Federal funds paid to tribes and tribal organizations 
under this or any other Federal law. In publishing such circular the 
Office of Management and Budget shall employ the procedures described 
in subsections 107(d)(1), 107(d)(2)(A), 107(d)(2)(B), and 107(d)(2)(D) 
and the references therein to the Secretary shall for such purposes 
include the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
    ``(d) Consolidated Contract Amount.--
            ``(1) Conditions for consolidation.--Commencing in fiscal 
        year 2002, the Secretary shall consolidate all funds paid to a 
        tribe or tribal organization pursuant to subsections 106(a)(1) 
        and (2) into a single consolidated contract amount, provided 
        that the following conditions have been met:
                    ``(A) The tribe or tribal organization qualifies as 
                a mature contractor under title I or is operating a 
                self-governance agreement under title III or IV.
                    ``(B) The tribe's or tribal organization's indirect 
                cost rate has not varied more than 10 percent over the 
                prior year's rate for the preceding 3 years (for tribes 
                or tribal organizations that have no indirect rate, 
                this criterion shall be satisfied if the actual payment 
                of contract support costs to the tribe or tribal 
                organization has not varied more than 10 percent over 
                the prior year's amount for the preceding 3 years).
                    ``(C) At the time of the consolidation the tribe or 
                tribal organization is receiving the full amount of 
                contract support costs to which it is entitled under 
                section 106(a)(2).
            ``(2) Medical inflation rate adjustments.--Each year 
        following the consolidation required by paragraph (1), the 
        Secretary of Health and Human Services shall increase the 
        amount of contract support costs paid as part of the 
        consolidated amount by a amount equal to (i) the adjustment in 
        the medical care component of the consumer price index over the 
        preceding year multiplied by (ii) the contract support cost 
        amount paid in the preceding year as part of the consolidated 
        amount.
            ``(3) Consumer price index adjustments.--Each year 
        following the consolidation required by paragraph (1), the 
        Secretary of the Interior shall increase the amount of contract 
        support costs paid as part of the consolidated amount by an 
        amount equal to (i) the adjustment in the consumer price index 
        over the preceding year multiplied by (ii) the contract support 
        cost amount paid in the preceding year as part of the 
        consolidated amount.
            ``(4) Employment adjustments.--A tribe or tribal 
        organization shall be entitled to receive additional contract 
        support costs associated with the transfer of employees from 
        Federal employment to tribal employment. Such additional 
        contract support costs shall be added to the consolidated 
        contract amount determined and adjusted under paragraphs (1), 
        (2), and (3), and shall thereafter become a part of the 
        consolidated amount.
            ``(5) Additional contract support costs.--Notwithstanding 
        any other provision of this Act, and except as provided in 
        paragraphs (4) and (9), the tribe or tribal organization shall 
        not be entitled to receive any contract support costs 
        additional to those contained within the consolidated contract 
        amount determined and adjusted under paragraphs (1), (2), and 
        (3).
            ``(6) Liability for overpayment of indirect costs.--
        Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the tribe or 
        tribal organization shall not be held liable for any actual or 
        theoretical overpayment of indirect costs or other adverse 
        adjustment associated with the calculation of indirect cost 
        rates or the payment of indirect costs.
            ``(7) Rebudgeting authority unaffected.--The tribe or 
        tribal organization may rebudget all contract funds as 
        specified in section 106(n).
            ``(8) Deconsolidation.--Except as provided in paragraph 
        (9), in the event the amount of program funds paid under 
        section 106(a)(1) as part of the consolidated amount, when 
        combined with other program funds paid to the tribe or tribal 
        organization from other funding sources, increases or decreases 
        by more than 20 percent over the amount paid in the preceding 
        year, the amounts paid by the Secretary under this section 
        shall be deconsolidated, and such amounts shall be recalculated 
        and paid as specified elsewhere in this Act. Upon such 
        recalculation, the recalculated amounts shall be reconsolidated 
        into a single amount as otherwise described in this subsection.
            ``(9) Contracting additional programs.--Nothing in this 
        subsection shall affect the right of a tribe or tribal 
        organization to contract or compact for the operation of 
        additional programs not included in the consolidated amount 
        paid under paragraph (1), or to be paid the full amount of 
        contract support costs associated with such additional 
        contracted or compacted programs, as provided in section 
        106(a)(1) and other provisions of this Act. Any such additional 
        programs and associated contract support costs shall be added 
        to the consolidated amount determined and adjusted under 
        paragraphs (1), (2), and (3).
    ``(e) Negotiation of Contract Support Cost Amounts.--Within the 
Indian Health Service of the Department of Health and Human Services, 
the negotiation, review, and approval of tribal contract support cost 
entitlements shall be the responsibility of the Office of Tribal 
Programs.
    ``(f) Direct Contract Support Costs and Federal Employees.--The 
contract support costs that are eligible costs for the purposes of 
receiving funding under this Act shall include contract support costs 
associated with all Federal employees employed in connection with the 
program, service, function, or activity that is the subject of the 
contract, including all Federal employees paid with funds generated 
from third-party collections.''.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS CLARIFYING CONTRACT SUPPORT COST ENTITLEMENT.

    The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act is 
amended--
            (1) in section 105(c)(1), by striking the last flush 
        sentence;
            (2) in section 106(b)--
                    (A) by striking ``the provision of funds under this 
                Act is subject to the availability of appropriations 
                and''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end thereof the following 
                flush sentence:
``Necessary amounts are appropriated to pay contract support costs when 
not otherwise provided for.'';
            (3) in section 1(b)(4) of the model contract set forth in 
        section 108(c), by striking ``Subject to the availability of 
        appropriations, the'' and inserting ``The'';
            (4) in section 106(a)(5) by adding at the end thereof the 
        following flush sentence:
``Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall pay 
preaward and startup costs without regard to the year in which such 
costs were incurred, including such costs incurred prior to the date of 
the enactment of this sentance.'';
            (5) in section 106, by redesignating subsections (c) 
        through (n) as subsections (d) through (o), respectively; and
            (6) by reenacting section 106(c) as in effect on November 
        9, 1998.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENT ENLARGING CONTRACT PROPOSAL REVIEW PERIOD.

    Section 102(a)(2) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
Assistance Act is amended--
            (1) by striking ``ninety'' in the second sentence and 
        inserting ``180''; and
            (2) by striking ``90-day'' in the third sentence and 
        inserting ``180-day''.

SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS REGARDING JUDICIAL REMEDIES.

    (a) Section 110 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
Assistance Act is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsections:
    ``(f) Equal Access to Justice Act.--In applying the Equal Access to 
Justice Act to proceedings instituted pursuant to this Act, a tribe or 
tribal organization shall be a `party' regardless of the net worth or 
the size of the workforce of such tribe or tribal organization.
    ``(g) Repayment of Damage Awards.--In the event damages are awarded 
in any proceeding where a court or administrative agency determines 
that an agency has willfully failed to follow the mandates of this Act, 
the court shall award the injured tribe or tribal organization 
additional damages equal to the amount of damages awarded by such court 
in favor of the tribe or tribal organization, or $10,000, whichever is 
greater.''.
                                 <all>