Senator Murray Announces Millions in Federal Housing Funding for Washington State Tribes From the American Rescue Plan

Senator Murray successfully secured the nearly $30 million in Indian Housing Block Grant funding as part of the American Rescue Plan 

A senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray worked to include the $1.248 billion for HUD Tribal housing programs in the COVID Relief Package

ICYMI: “The $1.9 trillion stimulus package signed into law last week by Mr. Biden contains more than $31 billion for tribal governments and other federal programs to help Native populations, a record level of assistance”– MORE HERE from the NEW YORK TIMES

Senator Murray: “I’ll continue working to ensure these communities get the resources they need to remain safely housed and combat the health and economic harm of this pandemic”

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced millions in federal housing funding to support Washington state Tribes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The funding comes from the American Rescue Plan, and the awards, which total $29,265,333 for Tribes across Washington state, will be distributed through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) program. The IHBG program provides funding to Tribes and Tribally Designated Housing Entities (TDHEs) to carry out affordable housing activities, such as developing, maintaining, and operating housing, with a focus on providing housing and other resources for Tribal families with low incomes. Eligible activities include new construction, rehabilitation, acquisition, infrastructure, and various support services.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened inequities in housing faced by Tribal members across Washington state, I’m glad we were able to secure this important funding for Tribes in the American Rescue Plan,” Senator Murray said. “As a voice for Washington state’s Tribes in the Senate, I’m going to keep fighting to get Tribes the flexible resources they need to get through this pandemic. But getting back to normal won’t be the end of my efforts when normal already wasn’t working for so many. I’m committed to doing everything I can to tackle the housing crisis and set a course toward a fairer, stronger economy where everyone can succeed.”

The American Rescue Plan included a record level of assistance, $31 billion, for Tribal governments and federal programs to help bolster health care and a variety of other services to Native populations.

According to a 2017 report by HUD, before the pandemic more than 50% of Tribal households in the Pacific Northwest qualified as low-income (less than 80% of median income). The report also detailed the extent to which households in Tribal areas deal with physical housing deficiencies, such as heating or plumbing deficiencies, at a much higher rate than other U.S. households. These housing issues are only exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, as key Tribal businesses are forced to close and thousands remain unemployed. Furthermore, Native Americans and Alaska Natives who contract COVID-19 are hospitalized at nearly four times the rate of their non-Hispanic white peers and are dying at nearly twice the rate of their non-Hispanic white peers.

Last year, Senator Murray fought to include more than $10 billion in funding for Tribes in the CARES Act, and announced the allocation of more than $12 million in awards for Washington state Tribes in the first round of federal funding in 2020 to support Tribal housing efforts. She has made clear that she will continue fighting for more funding to address the specific needs of Tribal communities in Washington state, and to ensure that federal funds for Tribes are promptly and properly distributed.

See a full breakdown of the $29,265,333 in federal awards going to Washington state Tribes below.

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