[Senate Report 118-56]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                      Calendar No. 128
118th Congress      }                                   {       Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session        }                                   {       118-56

======================================================================



 
             ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT AMENDMENTS

                                _______
                                

                 July 11, 2023.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

         Mr. Manchin, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 
                   Resources, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 623]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 623), to amend the Alaska Native Claims 
Settlement Act to exclude certain payments to aged, blind, or 
disabled Alaska Natives or descendants of Alaska Natives from 
being used to determine eligibility for certain programs, and 
for other purposes, having considered the same, reports 
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 
bill do pass.

                                Purpose

    The purpose of S. 623 is to amend the Alaska Native Claims 
Settlement Act to exclude certain payments to a Native or 
descendant of a Native who is aged, blind, or disabled Alaska 
Natives or descendants of Alaska Natives from being used to 
determine eligibility for certain federal need-based benefit 
programs.

                          Background and Need

    Alaska Native Corporations established under the Alaska 
Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA; Public Law 92-203) have 
been authorized to establish settlement trusts since 1988. The 
purpose of these trusts is to provide durable support to Alaska 
Native beneficiaries. The authorized scope of these trusts was 
expanded in 2000, and section 13821 of the Tax Cuts and Jobs 
Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-77) further revised the tax 
treatment of these trusts.
    Alaska Native Corporations can distribute assets to 
settlement trusts to provide benefits consistent with the 
purposes for which the trusts are established. Many of these 
trusts serve to provide critical support, including financial 
support, to Alaska Native elders over the age of 65, the blind, 
and the disabled.
    Distributions from settlement trusts are among the only 
sources of cash income for many Alaska Native elders, the blind 
and the disabled, especially those living in rural areas and 
traditional villages with multi-generational households and 
limited cash economies. These payments, along with 
participation in federal needs-based programs, are a crucial 
source of support for these people as they navigate seasonal 
subsistence food availability and access limitations.
    Because Alaska Native communities continue to experience 
some of the highest poverty levels in the U.S., S. 623 seeks to 
ensure that marginal increases in these payments not eliminate 
the eligibility of elders, the blind, and the disabled to 
participate in federal needs-based benefit programs.

                          Legislative History

    S. 623 was introduced by Senators Murkowski and Sullivan on 
March 2, 2023. Similar legislation, S. 2524, was introduced in 
the 117th Congress by Senators Murkowski and Sullivan on July 
28, 2021. The Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining 
held a hearing on S. 2524 on October 19, 2021. The Committee 
ordered S. 2524 reported favorably without amendment on 
November 18, 2021 (S. Rept. 117-72). Senators Murkowski and 
Sullivan introduced a similar bill during the 116th Congress, 
S. 2533. The Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining 
held a hearing on this bill on September 16, 2020. No further 
action was taken.

                        Committee Recommendation

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on May 17, 2023, by a majority voice vote 
of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 623.

                                Summary

    S. 623 amends section 29(c) of ANCSA (43 U.S.C. 1626(c)) to 
exclude amounts distributed and benefits provided by a 
Settlement Trust to a Native or descendant of a Native who is 
65 years or older, blind, or disabled, for determining the 
eligibility for need-based Federal programs.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

    The Committee has requested, but has not yet received, the 
Congressional Budget Office's estimate of the cost of S. 623 as 
ordered reported. When the Congressional Budget Office 
completes its cost estimate, it will be posted on the Internet 
at www.cbo.gov.
    The CBO cost estimate for S. 2524 from the 117th Congress 
follows:

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


    S. 2524 would exclude distributions and benefits paid from 
a settlement trust to an Alaska Native, or his or her 
descendant, who is aged, blind, or disabled when calculating 
eligibility for needs-based federal programs, such as housing 
assistance and benefits provided through the Supplemental 
Security Income (SSI) program and Medicaid. Under current law, 
most payments from settlement trusts that are less than $2,000 
annually are already exempt.
    Using information from federal agencies and organizations 
that represent Alaska Native communities, CBO estimates that a 
small number of households would become eligible for additional 
federal benefits because their annual distributions would 
exceed $2,000. CBO expects that under S. 2524 a small number of 
people would qualify for additional assistance under the SSI 
program. Because people who are enrolled in SSI automatically 
qualify for Medicaid coverage, the number of Medicaid 
recipients also would increase.
    Under the bill, and based on information from the two 
programs, CBO expects that beginning in 2023 additional costs 
would total about $80,000 a year--$30,000 for SSI and $50,000 
for Medicaid. Thus, CBO estimates that enacting S. 2524 would 
increase direct spending by $1 million over the 2022-2032 
period.
    In addition, using information from the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development, CBO expects that under the bill 
a small number of additional households would qualify for 
housing assistance of about $700 monthly, beginning in 2023. 
CBO estimates that providing housing benefits to the additional 
households would cost $1 million over the 2022-2032 period; 
such spending would be subject to the availability of 
appropriated funds.
    Using information from the Department of Agriculture, CBO 
expects that enacting the bill would not affect eligibility for 
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits because the 
program already excludes settlement trust benefits (regardless 
of the amount) when determining eligibility.
    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Jennifer Gray 
(for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), Justin 
Latus (for Supplemental Security Income), Zunara Naeem (for the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development), Jon Sperl (for 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs), and Robert Stewart (for 
Medicaid). The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.

                      Regulatory Impact Evaluation

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out S. 623. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or 
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals 
and businesses. No personal information would be collected in 
administering the program. Therefore, there would be no impact 
on personal privacy. Little, if any, additional paperwork would 
result from the enactment of S. 623, as ordered reported.

                   Congressionally Directed Spending

    S. 623, as ordered reported, does not contain any 
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, 
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate.

                        Executive Communications

    The testimony for the record provided by the Department of 
the Interior for the October 19, 2021, hearing on S. 2524 
follows:

 Statement for the Record From the Office of the Assistant Secretary--
            Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior

    Thank you for the opportunity to provide the Department of 
the Interior's (Department) views on S. 2524, a bill to amend 
the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) to exclude 
certain payments to aged, blind, or disabled Alaska Natives or 
descendants of Alaska Natives from being used to determine 
eligibility for certain need-based Federal programs.
    Section 29 of the ANCSA (43 U.S.C. Sec. 1626) articulates 
how payments and grants made under ANCSA relate to other 
programs. Section 29(a) characterizes those payments and grants 
to be compensation for the extinguishment of claims to land 
which shall not be deemed to substitute for any governmental 
programs otherwise available to Native people of Alaska as 
citizens of the United States and the State of Alaska.
    Grants and payments, in the context of Section 29, mean 
compensation received from a Native Corporation, which may 
include cash, stock, partnership interests, land or interests 
in land, or interest in a settlement trust. The ANCSA excludes 
such compensation from eligibility determination for programs 
such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, needs-
based assistance programs authorized in the Social Security 
Act, and needs-based financial assistance or benefits from any 
other federal program or federally assisted program. S. 2524 
would expand ANCSA's exemption for interests in settlement 
trusts to also exempt amounts distributed from, or benefits 
provided by, a settlement trust to a Native or descendant of a 
Native who is an aged, blind, or disabled individual.
    S. 2524 represents a commonsense approach to ensure Alaska 
Native citizens in need of assistance resources are not 
foreclosed from the federal programs that are designed to help 
them. Nor, are they foreclosed from utilizing resources 
available at the Alaska Native community level--resources to 
which they are rightfully entitled as compensation for the 
extinguishment of Alaska Native land claims throughout the 
entire State of Alaska.


                               conclusion


    The Department supports S. 2524. This bill would increase 
ground-level support for individuals in need in Alaska Native 
communities while also improving cohesion between federal, 
state, and local resources that are critical to supporting 
Alaska Natives in need.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill S. 623, as ordered reported, are shown as follows 
(existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black 
brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in 
which no change is proposed is shown in roman):

                           Public Law 92-203


 AN ACT To provide for the settlement of certain land claims of Alaska 
                    Natives, and for other purposes

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, this Act 
may be cited as the ``Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act''.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                       RELATION TO OTHER PROGRAMS

    SEC. 29. (a) The payments and grants authorized under this 
chapter constitute compensation for the extinguishment of 
claims to land, and shall not be deemed to substitute for any 
governmental programs otherwise available to the Native people 
of Alaska as citizens of the United States and the State of 
Alaska.
    (b) Notwithstanding section 5(a) and any other provision of 
the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (78 Stat. 703), as amended, 
in determining the eligibility of any household to participate 
in the supplemental nutrition assistance program, any 
compensation, remuneration, revenue, or other benefit received 
by any member of such household under this chapter shall be 
disregarded.
    (c) In determining the eligibility of a household, an 
individual Native, or a descendant of a Native (as defined 
insection 1602(r) of this title) to--
          (1) participate in the supplemental nutrition 
        assistance program,
          (2) receive aid, assistance, or benefits, based on 
        need, under the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 301 et 
        seq.], or
          (3) receive financial assistance or benefits, based 
        on need, under any other Federal program or federally-
        assisted program, none of the following, received from 
        a Native Corporation, shall be considered or taken into 
        account as an asset or resource:
                  (A) cash (including cash dividends on stock 
                received from a Native Corporation and on bonds 
                received from a Native Corporation) to the 
                extent that it does not, in the aggregate, 
                exceed $2,000 per individual per annum;
                  (B) stock (including stock issued or 
                distributed by a Native Corporation as a 
                dividend or distribution on stock) or bonds 
                issued by a Native Corporation which bonds 
                shall be subject to the protection of section 
                1606(h) of this title until voluntarily and 
                expressly sold or pledged by the shareholder 
                subsequent to the date of distribution;
                  (C) a partnership interest;
                  (D) land or an interest in land (including 
                land or an interest in land received from a 
                Native Corporation as a dividend or 
                distribution on stock); and
                  [(E) an interest in a settlement trust.] (E) 
                an interest in a Settlement Trust or an amount 
                distributed from or benefit provided by a 
                Settlement Trust to a Native or descendant of a 
                Native who is an aged, blind, or disabled 
                individual (as defined in section 1614(a) of 
                the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1382c(a)).
    (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Alaska 
Natives shall remain eligible for all Federal Indian programs 
on the same basis as other Native Americans.

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