3.15.060 Specific programs.
The tribe retains the sovereign authority to determine what incentives are necessary and in the best interests of the tribe for achieving its mission. The tribe hereby determines that a benefit provided by an approved program listed in this section satisfies a general welfare need.
(1) Housing. Benefits provided as part of housing-assistance programs keep families together, promote tribal population growth, help to alleviate flight from the tribe, and help maintain tribal culture. Benefits provided through any approved programs relating to principal residences as listed below satisfy a general welfare need:
(a) Assistance in making mortgage or rent payments for principal residences;
(b) Enhancements to the habitability of housing;
(c) Provisions of basic housing repairs of rehabilitation; and
(d) Assistance in paying utility bills and charges.
(2) Health and Wellness. The tribe is dedicated to providing tribal members with the tools and resources they need to improve their health and well-being, their families, and the tribe. The tribe is focused on physical, emotional, and spiritual health of each and every tribal member and desires to provide the tools and resources necessary to assist tribal members in making life-changing decisions to improve their physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Thus, any benefits as part of approved programs relating to health and wellness that fit within the list below meet the general welfare need.
(a) Medical care to improve health and wellness. Medical care includes diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or for the purpose of affecting any structure or function of the body. Medical care also includes any services offered through the tribe, transportation primarily for and essential to medical care, long-term care services, prescription medications, nontraditional treatment (e.g., massage therapy, acupuncture, etc.) or for insurance premiums covering medical care or any qualified long-term care insurance contract;
(b) Any benefit provided to tribal members, including a spouse of the tribal member that came from or was purchased, directly or indirectly, by the Indian Health Service (“IHS”) through a grant to, contract, or compact with the tribe;
(c) Medical care provided or purchased by or amounts to reimburse for medical care provided by the tribe or purchased for a tribal member, including a spouse of a tribal member;
(d) Coverage under accident or health insurance (or an arrangement having the effect of accident or health insurance), or an accident or health plan, provided by the tribe for medical care to a tribal member, including a spouse of a tribal member;
(e) Any other medical care provided by the tribe that supplements, replaces or substitutes for a program or service relating to medical care provided by the federal government to Indian tribes or their members;
(f) Funding to pay for the cost of transportation and temporary meal sand lodging of a tribal member, or spouse of a tribal member, while the tribal member, spouse of a tribal member, is receiving medical care away from home;
(g) Payment or reimbursement for the cost of nonprescription drugs (including but not limited to traditional Indian medicines);
(h) Any payment that the tribe makes to a tribal member who uses traditional practices for the purposes of treating tribal members; and
(i) Medical insurance deductibles.
(3) Education. The tribe is dedicated to educating all of its tribal members, regardless of age. Educational programs need not be limited by traditional grant and scholarship rules. They can include any form of assistance needed for a tribal member to be educated. Benefits through any approved programs relating to education if listed below satisfy a general welfare need:
(a) Assistance for students (including post-secondary students), including, but not limited to, transportation to and from school, tutors, and supplies for use in their studies (including, but not limited to, clothing, backpacks, laptop computers, musical instruments, and sporting equipment);
(b) Assistance for tuition payments for students (including, but not limited to, allowances for room and board for the student) to attend an accredited college or university, educational seminars, vocational education, technical education, adult education, continuing education, and alternative education;
(c) Job counseling and programs for which the primary objective is job placement or training, including, but not limited to, allowances for:
(i) Expenses for interviewing or training away from home (such as, but not limited to, travel, auto expense, lodging, and food);
(ii) Tutoring; and
(iii) Necessary clothing for a job interview or training (such as, but not limited to, an interview suit or a uniform required during a period of training).
(4) Cultural Expression, Cultural Activities, Spiritual or Religious Activities. The tribe is committed and loyal to the success of the tribe, tribal culture and tribal language. It is preparing the tribe’s children for the future in ways that honor tribal heritage and demonstrate the belief that Native arts, culture, and language are essential elements in the tribe’s continued success and independence as a people. Benefits relating to cultural preservation if listed below satisfy a general welfare need:
(a) Payment or reimbursement for travel expense (transportation, food, lodging) to attend an Indian tribe’s cultural, social or tribe activities such as, but not limited to, general council meetings and other official meetings, conference, Big Times, ceremonies, and traditional dances;
(b) Payment or reimbursement for travel expenses (transportation, food, and lodging) to visit other Indian reservations or sites that are culturally and historically significant for tribal members;
(c) Payment or reimbursement for the costs of receiving instruction about an Indian tribe’s culture, history, and traditions (such as, but not limited to, traditional language, music, and dances); and
(d) Payment of reimbursement for funeral and burial expenses and expense of hosting or attending wakes, funerals, burials or similar bereavement events to tribal members or spouses.
(5) Elder and Disabled Programs. For the tribe to flourish we must care for tribal elders and those with disability. Benefits provided through any approved program to assist tribal elders over an age of not less that 55 or people who are disabled if listed below satisfy a general welfare need:
(a) Financial assistance for general, basic living expense, including, but not limited to, food purchases (with “food” being limited to nutritious substances to eat or drink and not including alcohol or nonfood groceries such as tobacco), utility payments, housing improvements, medical expenses, etc.;
(b) Meals delivered through a home-delivered meals program(s) or at a tribal center or other community center;
(c) Home care such as, but not limited to, assistance with preparing meals or doing chores, or day care outside of the home;
(d) Local transportation assistance;
(e) Travel expenses for doctor appointments or other medical care;
(f) Transportation costs and admission fees to attend educational, social, or cultural programs offered by the tribe or another tribe; and
(g) Improvements to adapt housing to special needs (such as, but not limited to, grab bars and ramps).
(6) Expansion of Profit-Making Businesses. Fostering the entrepreneurial spirit of tribal members ensures an economically sustainable tribe and helps tribal members stay and live within the reservation. Any approved program that provides a benefit payment in the form of a nonreimbursable grant to a tribal member pursuant to the Indian Financing Act of 1974 to expand profit-making Indian-owned economic enterprises on or near reservations satisfies a general welfare need.
(7) Other Qualifying Benefits. A benefit through any approved program that is provided for the items below satisfies a general welfare need:
(a) Financial assistance for food purchases, with “food” being limited to nutritious substances to eat and drink (does not include alcohol or tobacco);
(b) Payment for car, bus, taxi, or public transportation fares from the reservation to public facilities (such as, but not limited to, medical facilities and grocery stores);
(c) Assistance to individuals in exigent circumstances (such as, but not limited to, victims of abuse), including the costs of food, clothing, shelter, transportation, auto repair bills, and similar expenses;
(d) Payment for temporary relocation and shelter for individuals displaced from their homes (such as, but not limited to, when a home is destroyed by a fire or natural disaster);
(e) Provision of emergency assistance in the form of bus fare, a hotel room, or funding of the purchase of food at grocery stores or meals at restaurants for a tribal member who is stranded and unable to afford the cost to return to the reservation;
(f) Any benefit distributed through an approved program that meets the criteria of RRTC 3.15.030(1). [Res. 09-09-2020B § 6, 2020.]