On January 6, 2025, the Rural Business-Cooperative Service, a USDA agency, issued a notice inviting applications for grants to provide technical assistance for passenger Rural Transportation (RT) systems under the Rural Business Development Grant (RDBG) program. Grant funds will support RT systems, including designated funds for RT systems operating within Tribal lands of Federally Recognized tribes.
Read our recent infographic one-pager on American Indian Education. It offers a concise overview of significant legislative and policy advancements related to American Indian education in 2024, elevating efforts to support Tribal communities and education initiatives.
On December 17, 2024, the Department of Energy Grid Deployment Office announced an amendment to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) – Preventing Outages and Enhancing the Resilience of the Electric Grid Formula Grants to States and Indian Tribes that will provide access to Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 formula grant allocations starting in February 2025.
On December 16, 2024, the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) recommended that 44 tribal entities be awarded more than $276 million to expand high-speed Internet access and adoption.
This is the third edition of our new quarterly policy update format, the information in our monthly update covers several government websites and databases. AIPI's policy update focuses on federal legislation, congressional hearings, and federal register notices affecting Tribal Nations. The policy update also highlights actions from the Arizona State Legislature and Governor. If you are viewing this digitally, there are links embedded throughout the document which will allow you to view more information on any given item.
On October 29, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) shared at the general assembly for the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Convention that the agency launched the Tribal Library E-Rate Advocacy Program (T-LEAP or E-Rate).
On November 12, 2024, the United States Census Bureau announced it would conduct two virtual Tribal consultations on updating the race/ethnicity code list for the American Community Survey and the 2030 Census. The consultations will occur on December 11, 2024, and January 15, 2025.