The Osage Nation Congress at work in the congressional chambers. Osage News File Photo/Chalene Toehay

By Shannon Shaw
Osage News

After three-and-a-half months of back and forth between the Osage Nation Congress and the Principal Chief of the Osage Nation, the 2010 fiscal year budgets were passed and signed into law on Friday at $23.9 million.

“I’m just relieved that the budgets got passed,” said Chief Jim Gray at an all employees meeting at the Wah Zha Zhi Cultural Center Tuesday. “I also want to apologize to all of you. To be caught up in a political tug-of-war between the Executive and Congress was totally unfair to you. I never intended to involve you in this.”

With the passing of the budgets all federal programs will now receive their federal money, all tribal programs will be able to provide services without the one-twelfth restriction (the incentive used by Congress to get the Executive Branch to lower their budgets), and the employees will receive their Christmas Bonus Friday. But, the process is far from over.

Many programs, in Congress’ effort to lower the final number on the budgets to $23.9 million, took severe reductions to their programs – most notably the Osage Language program. The language program, who teaches the Osage language to more than 500 Osages across the state and in local schools, had more than $120,000 cut from their budget.

Language program receives the most reductions

The language program employs 13 people who offer language classes at five different sites in the state: Pawhuska, Hominy, Fairfax, Skiatook and Edmond.

In the program’s line items for supplies, postage and shipping; outside printing and artwork; dues and subscriptions; transportation; lodging, per diem and conferences, conventions and special events, they were given $1.

In the bills passed Friday, in which Congressman Doug Revard sponsored an amendment to halt all new hires and roll back salaries to 2009 levels with a step increase, programs were given the power to make unlimited shifts of money from other parts of their budgets to cover any expenses they may incur. In the past, programs were only allowed 10 percent line item shifts.

The language program was left with roughly $116,000 in their budget to shift, they also have two positions unfilled they could shift from as well, but the majority of the money left is used for their rent.

Majority in Congress say reductions in funding was an attempt to be fair

Congresswoman Faren Anderson in Friday’s session said that in Congress’ attempt to be fair to all the programs and employees, by leaving $1 in line items in budgets, is giving the directors and their employees the power to make their own choices about what money is to be shifted and what money is not to be shifted. Many budgets received cuts up to $100,000 in the bills.

“Where the reductions take place is just in the budget, the department heads and the program managers are now going to decide, ‘Do I really want that Christmas bonus? Do I really want that salary increase? Or is it more beneficial to go into a different line item such as supplies?’” Anderson said. “There’s choices to be made there, and I don’t think everyone understands, that even though you were given this line item to budget – this year it’s different, this year you have to make choices for the program together.”

Anderson said she had seen budgets in the proposed bills with quite a few $1 line items, due to the fact that the employees in those budgets had salary increases, however, Congressman Revard’s amendment had already taken all raises over the 3 percent step increase away. “Those budgets are probably the ones we’re going to see come back first.”

Any program that finds itself unable to function due to the $1 line items in their budgets are being asked to come back during the March Hun-Kah session to ask for more money.

“If I need to apologize as a congress member, that I want to be fair . . . I don’t understand why then,” Anderson said. “I don’t understand it, that’s the position I’ve been put in. But without knowing all the information and with it trickling in after three-and-a-half months that we’ve had . . . I think we’re doing what we can on a fair basis and I don’t think anyone in this room or in this Nation loves this budget.”

Anderson also pointed out that many salaries had been increased without Congress’ knowledge and in one case someone was to receive a $13,000 raise. However, the Executive Branch has said numerous times that the Congress does not have the sole responsibility to determine raises.

Anderson later pointed out the appointees in the Chief’s office, who had consistently received raises every year and in some instances made more than the Assistant Principal Chief, were going to be receiving raises again. This is not the first time Anderson has spoken out against salaries in the Chief’s office, or taken action. In September of 2008, Congresswoman Anderson moved to cut the salary of the Chief of Staff, Hepsi Barnett, by $18,676 in the 2009 fiscal year budget. The motion was passed and the Executive Branch staff received no raises from Congress in the 2009 budget. However, the Clerk of the Congress received a near $7,000 raise and the legislative counsel for Congress received a near $10,000 raise in the 2009 fiscal year.

Executive Branch staff salaries for the 2010 fiscal year budget are located in bill ONCA 10-23, the appropriation bill for the Office of the Chiefs. Programs such as the language department and other programs who took severe reductions are located in ONCA 10-25, the appropriation bill for all the programs under Government Operations. Both these bills passed with salaries at 2009 levels, plus a 3 percent step increase, plus hundreds of thousands cut from their budgets.

No personal agendas were involved in the making of this budget

According to Congresswoman Jerri Jean Branstetter, differences in personalities, or personal agendas, had no role in the formation of the amendments and cuts to the budgets.

“We only wanted to give money back to services for the tribe. But also, it’s not only for the tribe, there’s a lot of other people that benefit. Federal programs affects a lot of people, not just Osages,” Branstetter said. “But we’re trying to do the best that we can, but there are needs that are not met for Osages that are not here but we do meet the needs of other people, of other tribes, that are not Osage who live in Osage county. Those are the people that are benefitting.”

Besides federal and tribal programs, the Osage Gaming Commission was a hot topic for some members of Congress. Congressman Raymond Red Corn defended the gaming commission budgets, wondering how it was fair to cut the “police” of the tribe’s gaming industry.

“I think we’ve cut too deep,” Red Corn said. “We are standing up and telling the gaming commission it’s business, and we’re telling them, ‘No, you don’t need more people – you need more employee benefits, more supplies, telephone, more postage, more printing and artwork, more dues and subscriptions, more transportation, more travel, more conferences – just not people.”

Congresswoman Debra Atterberry concurred with Red Corn’s remarks. Congressman Mark Simms, chair of the Commerce and Economic Development committee, said that the employees of the Nation’s gaming commission were handled fairly and without influence from any personal agenda.

“This is the decision at this moment, we’re not sayin that we’re makin decision, or micromanaging, we’re just sayin we’ve got to call a halt to these enormous salaries and raises that everybody’s gettin,” Simms said. “Now, as far as the services over there, I’m just going to be perfectly honest, I mean, I’ve seen the gaming commission people leave their office and not come back for a couple of hours. I mean, you know, the thing about this is, is I think, in my opinion, that we have done the best we can do, without all this deal bout how we’re micromanaging and all this.”

Red Corn said that the Congress doesn’t necessarily work 40 hours a week either.

“How many hours did we put in when we were in session? How many hours were we away from the office? I suspect there has been a couple of weeks here lately where we’ve been here for a couple of hours,” Red Corn said angrily. “So where do we get off making statements like that? I certainly don’t know.”

Congress meets today at 10 a.m. in the Osage Nation Congressional Chambers.

To hear the recording of Friday’s session, visit www.osagetribe.com and in the top right corner click Audio/Video Archive.

Congressman Eddy Red Eagle speaks during Tuesdays Special Session of Congress. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

By Shannon Shaw
Osage News

Congress met Tuesday morning for the second day of the 25th Special Session in which the majority voted to suspend the rules and bring the budgets back from Engrossment to General Order Day Two.

By bringing the budgets back to general order day two, those members of Congress are then able to make amendments to the bills. The amendments expected to be made Friday are to individual salaries, taking them back to 2009 levels with a step increase and to halt all new positions unless federally funded.

The majority in Congress are Faren Anderson, Jerri Jean Branstetter, Doug Revard, Mark Simms, Eddy Red Eagle, Archie Mason, William “Kugee” Supernaw and Anthony Shackelford.

“Some people in the new budgets [Freeman’s bills ONCA 10-22, 10-23, 10-24 and 10-25] were going to receive $13,000, $11,000, $4,000, $5,000 [raises], but other people were only going to receive a three percent raise,” said Congresswoman Jerri Jean Branstetter during Tuesday’s session. “Congress [is] trying to make it fair so everyone only receives a three percent raise.”

A three percent raise, or step increase which varies depending on the salary, can range from roughly 27 cents per hour to a $1.50 per hour. Kelly Corbin, acting budget analyst for Congress, has been instructed to go through every budget submitted for the Fall Tzi-Zho session in September of 2009 and take out any new positions as well. Positions such as two additional workers to meet demands at the Senior Housing complex and an additional staff member at the Education Department to help handle the Osage Nation Higher Education Scholarships.

Daycare employees will be hardest hit by Congress’ cuts

The Nation runs three daycares, one in Skiatook, one in Fairfax and one in Pawhuska. All providers at these daycares have been waiting for raises since September. All their raises were approved in congressional committees in September and up until this week, they thought they would be receiving them.

The Nation’s daycare providers are the lowest paid employees in the tribe. They make anywhere from $19,927 to $15,263 with the director at Pawhuska Kids Kampus making a little over $30,000 and the director at Fairfax Circle of Friends making just under $19,500.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau Web site, the national poverty threshold in 2008 for a single person was $10,991 and for homes with two people $14,051. In 2007 the median household income in Osage County was $42,245 and the per capita income in 1999 was $17,014, according to the site.

At the Pawhuska Kids Kampus there are four daycare providers that are single mothers in which one of those mothers has three children, according to an employee that didn’t want to be named for this article.

To hold a job at one of the Nation’s daycares the individual must achieve a Child Development Associate credential which requires 480 hours of training, in which they are not paid during the time they are in school. Once they are in CDA training they are eligible for $7.35 an hour and to keep their job they must always continue training; and that doesn’t include certifications in CPR and First Aid training. Upon graduating CDA training they are bumped up to $8.22 an hour.

If a daycare provider is to drive the children anywhere they must have a commercial license and if a provider is to handle any food they are required to have a food handler permit.

Currently there are approximately 55 Osage children in the Nation’s daycares, nearly half of the total.

In Congressman Mark Freeman’s bill, ONCA 10-25, the salaries of the providers at the three daycares were budgeted for $21,026 and the director for Pawhuska Kids Kampus was increased to a little over $31,000 and the director for Circle of Friends was increased to a little over $23,000. With the majority in Congress planning to propose an amendment or amendments to erase all raises, the providers will go back to their 2009 salary levels with approximately a 27 cent per hour raise.

The Osage News asked Corbin if he was instructed to take into account the cost of living when making the cuts and he said he was not.

“But the thing a lot of people aren’t understanding, is that the money isn’t being taken from their budgets, it’s just being moved down to services to the people,” Corbin said.

According to a spreadsheet sent by Corbin this afternoon, the total of savings in salaries to the Nation’s daycares by rolling them back to 2009 levels is $125,705.

Other departments listed on the spreadsheet as of this afternoon that will have $20,000 or more impacted on salaries or new position eliminations are Strategic Planning and Grants, Human Resources, fitness centers for Hominy and Fairfax, Education Department, Crisis Assistance and Archives. These departments will still receive the money but won’t be able to use it for salaries or new jobs. The spreadsheet is still a working document and it does not include all of the Nation’s budgets that will be affected

Federal grants in jeopardy

Osage Nation directors met yesterday at the Cultural Center to discuss the impact to their departments by the continuing delay in the passing of the 2010 fiscal year budgets. The most visibly upset were the directors of programs that are wholly federally funded.

“[Our program] is federally funded, all my workers are federally funded – and I’m sick of this,” said Crystal Holt, director of the Community Health Representatives program. “[Due to the one-twelfth restriction] we still haven’t been able to pay our bills…we couldn’t come up with $247 to send our workers to mandatory trainings, I mean, that’s just sorry.”

The directors were called to the mandatory meeting Tuesday afternoon to prepare a congressional testimony to be presented to Congress during Friday morning’s session. Some directors hoped to speak with Congress themselves in hopes they could get them to better understand the real jeopardy being caused by the delay in giving them their federal grant money. But that can only happen if a member of Congress motions to go into Committee as a Whole and invites the directors to speak.

Angry sentiments were directed at both the Congress and the Principal Chief, such as “Why does Congress say the federal money has been appropriated? Congress says it’s law, but where’s the money?!” and “Why does Congress think they can appropriate federal money?”

Currently the Nation has approximately $40 million dollars in the general treasury. The money to pay to keep the Nation’s programs afloat while the budgets are still being worked on comes from the general treasury. This information prompted a question from Injury Prevention director Patti Shook.

“We’re losing interest aren’t we, on all the money we’ve been taking from the general treasury to keep up the one-twelfth restriction right?” she said. “On the interest alone we’re losing, you could run TANF on the money we’ve lost . . . [Congress] is worried about saving money when they’re actually costing the Nation? Pass the budgets!”

Congress meets again Friday morning at 10 a.m.

To view the affected budgets as of Wednesday afternoon click here. This is still a working document and does not reflect all budgets that will be affected.

Schedule of Affected Budgets as of Jan. 6

Congresswoman Jerri Jean Branstetter speaks during Tuesdays Special Session of Congress. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

L to R: Congressman William Supernaw, Congressman Mark Simms and Congrressman Anthony Shackelford speak to each other during the Special Congressional Session on Tuesday. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

By Shannon Shaw
Osage News

Congressman Mark Freeman, who introduced four completely new bills before Christmas that contain the 2010 Osage budgets, could be up for vote tomorrow morning with all budgets moving to engrossment today.

The bills total $23.9 million, $1.1 million below the $25 million spending cap set by the majority in Congress, cutting some budgets by more than $100,000 despite having gone through numerous committee meetings.

“The only thing that can stop a final vote on the budget tomorrow is eight members voting to delay it or move backward in the process,” said Congressman Red Corn in an e-mail newsletter sent today. “Three members of the minority are willing to forego long-held positions and vote for it in order to end this embarrassing chapter in our young government’s history.”

Congressman Eddy Red Eagle cautioned those members present not to act too fast on the bills, hinting to new information about salary increases in the budgets that he felt could be detrimental to the Nation’s spending. Congress members Doug Revard and Mark Simms have said in recent sessions that he would like to halt all raises and new positions but allow step increases to 2009 level salaries. But no amendments were made today.

A motion to vote all budgets to second reading, which would prevent last-minute floor amendments and require Congress to vote for or against the budgets tomorrow, failed. Red Eagle spoke against the motion saying that “this gives [Congress] 24 hours . . . to fully understand more details we are still receiving on this budget.”

Red Corn said that the Congress has had two weeks to review Freeman’s bills.

Up for amendments or vote tomorrow are ONCA 10-22, a bill that would amend the budget for the legislature and the Office of Fiscal Performance Review; ONCA 10-23, the budget for the Office of the Chiefs; ONCA 10-24, an act to modify the appropriations for Grayhorse and Hominy Indian Villages, the Gaming Commission, the Health and Wellness Board and the Gaming Board and ONCA 10-25, the budgets for the majority of programs for the Nation.

The bills were drafted by the acting budget analyst Kelly Corbin and congressional counsel, Loyed “Trey” Gill, according to Congressman Red Corn’s e-mail newsletter. All bills were drafted to keep all salaries and positions, including new positions approved in congressional committees over the past three months, reduce all line items that could be reduced by 19 percent, leave all line items intact even if it meant only leaving $1 and to make no reduction to a program’s budget that would go below 110 percent of the 2009 fiscal year spending levels, Red Corn said.

If Freeman’s bills stay intact, Freeman said he would help to vote it through, and Osage Nation Principal Chief Jim Gray said he will sign it.

Freeman said that if specific people’s salaries are targeted by last-minute floor amendments tomorrow, or certain programs have services cut, he would not vote for his own bill.

The Rules and Ethics committee meets tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. and Congress goes into session at 10 a.m.

Congress at work. Osage News file photo/Chalene Toehay

By Shannon Shaw
Osage News

A bill sponsored by Congressman Mark Freeman that would trim the Osage budgets down to $23.9 million was discussed by Congress Monday, as well as putting all employee salaries back to 2009 levels allowing a 3 percent step increase and halting all new hires.

Freeman expressed that he did not like the bill but he felt it was necessary to introduce a bill that would be a compromise with those members of Congress that want the budget below $25 million.

“If there is some way we can get a clear concise bill out, it would be wonderful for our Osage people that work for us and that are workin’ hard,” Freeman said. “It would be wonderful for the Osage Nation and [that way we won’t] mess it up worse than we already have.”

According to Congressman William “Kugee” Supernaw, in his Dec. 14 and Dec. 23 e-mail newsletters, the reason for certain members of Congress’ persistence in lowering the Osage budgets to below $25 million is due to the accounting debacle at the Nation’s casino and “the fact that the Nation has not received a cash distribution from the gaming operation since the check for May 2009.”

“The lack of income distributed to the Nation is a major part of the budget problems the government is facing and it has only been mentioned in the Notes to the Nation,” Supernaw wrote Dec. 14. “Yet it is affecting all of us.”

Gaming Enterprise Board chair, Elizabeth Homer, said in a phone interview Monday that there has been a “terrible, terrible unfortunate misunderstanding . . . we, the Nation’s gaming enterprise, did not stop making money – actually, ’09 was a good year.”

Homer, who replaced Tom Slamans as gaming board chair Nov. 24, said that it’s true there was not a gaming distribution for the months of July and August but it wasn’t due to lack of money. According to end-of-year financial records, the Nation’s gaming enterprise paid the Nation approximately $1 million more than projected for 2009 fiscal year.

“That’s why the payments trailed off at the end of the last year,” Homer said. “A distribution for the first two months of this year, which began Oct. 1, was made in early December totaling $5 million for October and November. From this point forward, the enterprise will be making distributions of $2.5 million monthly, which will spread the distributions out over the course of the entire year, providing, we hope, less confusion and a greater sense of certainty.”

The enterprise will conduct quarterly reconciliations, a process that compares two sets of records to usually balance two accounts to make sure they’re in agreement, between revenues and distributions as well as an annual reconciliation at the end of the fiscal year. The reconciliation at the end of the year could entail an adjustment, but according to Homer, based on current projections the board anticipates a final payment for the 2010 fiscal year of at least $1 million to bring the total distribution for 2010 to the $31 million projection.

Gaming board chair says accounting in good shape

Congressman Supernaw maintains in his e-mail newsletters that the “accounting mess” is unresolved and that any projections received from the gaming enterprise board in the immediate future are unreliable.

Homer said she has nothing but good news about the accounting process at the Nation’s gaming enterprise.

“Part of the problem we’ve experienced is attributable to the transition from an outsourced accounting function to an in-house accounting department that took place in the middle of Fiscal Year 2008,” Homer said. “Hindsight being what it is, it’s easy to look back and see that things could have and should have been done differently – the timing was off, more staff support and training was needed, and the transition was too abrupt.”

Casino staff struggled with the new, advanced system and Homer said that the staff probably should have run the two systems concurrently, at least until the accounting department was adequately staffed and trained and the new accounting system was in place.

“Bottom line, that’s why the annual financial audit for the 2008 fiscal year turned out so poorly,” Homer said. “It was never that the casino lost money: it was that the accounting function was in such poor shape.”

“The good news is that by bringing in accounting professionals, beefing up the staff, getting the staff trained, and implementing the right systems, all of which has taken place over the past year, we’ve made serious progress toward both overcoming and eliminating these problems,” Homer said.

The gaming board hired certified public accountants from the accounting firm of Joseph Eve, a nationally known CPA firm that specializes in accounting and business solutions for tribes and casinos. Joseph Eve CPA’s came in and trained casino staff in the new accounting system and the staff has benefited so much from Joseph Eve that the accounting department should be fully independent by the end of the 2010 fiscal year, Homer said.

Re-audit comes back positive

The Osage Nation Gaming Commission hired an independent auditing firm, REDW out of Albuquerque, N.M., “a firm with significant experience in tribal casino auditing,” according to Homer. The firm performed a re-audit of the enterprise’s 2008 fiscal year balance sheet. The re-audit was completed in November and the result was an unqualified opinion. “What this means is that we have a good, reliable beginning balance for FY 2009.”

An unqualified opinion, according to allbusiness.com, is the auditor’s judgment that he or she has no reservation as to the fairness of presentation of a company’s financial statements and their conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). In the auditor’s opinion, the company has presented fairly its financial position, results of operations and changes in cash flows.

In addition to the new gaming enterprise accounting system, the enterprise has recently completed installation of another new system, the Konami Casino Management System (KCMS), which will provide accountability in relation to both the enterprise’s operational and accounting functions, Homer said.

“The installation of these two systems represents major progress toward achieving the highest degree of accountability and profitability of Osage gaming,” Homer said. “It is distressing that these [accounting] problems have spilled over into the Nation’s budgetary process and that it has obviously shaken the confidence of many in relation to the gaming enterprise.”

“On behalf of the board, I can state unequivocally that restoring that confidence is our highest priority,” she said.

Congress convenes till 10 a.m. Thursday

Before Congress adjourned Monday Congressman Doug Revard made a motion for Kelly Corbin, the Office of Fiscal and Performance Review’s accountant, to tally the savings the Nation would receive by halting all raises and new positions.

“I’m going to venture to say it would be in the interest of $150,000,” Corbin said. That’s if the bill gives all employees 2009 level salaries, plus the 3 percent increase, which Corbin said was reflected in 90 percent of the budgets in Freeman’s bill.

Congressman Supernaw brought up the fact that Congress’ budget was passed in September, with some of their staff receiving more than 3 percent increases to their salaries.

“If I’m wrong, my understanding is the employees will still get the step increase, I still understood we were going to revisit our own budget and cut out $300,000 from expenses and even adjust the wages back,” Supernaw said. “I don’t think it’s fair to cut everybody else and not ourselves.”

Osage Nation Congress in session Nov. 16. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

By Benny Polacca
Osage News

The Osage Nation Congress voted Monday to send another letter to Principal Chief Jim Gray stating that the Nation’s 2010 fiscal year budget total will be $25 million, which includes money already appropriated for five 2010 budgets.

“These are the legislative appropriation bill, the judicial appropriation bill, cultural donation, boards and commissions and federal stimulus matching,” said Congressman
Doug Revard who made the motion on the first day of the 23rd Special Session.

This letter to Gray clarifies an earlier letter Congress voted to send to the Chief on Dec. 9 asking that the budget spending amount be lowered to $25 million.

Revard’s motion passed 8-3 with Congresswomen Debra Atterberry, Shannon Edwards and Congressman Raymond Red Corn voting against. Congressman Mark Freeman was absent during Monday’s session.

The bill numbers referred to in Revard’s motion are: ONCA 09-58, ONCA 09-59, ONCA 09-62, ONCA 09-65, and ONCA 10-04. All have since been passed while the Executive Branch’s government operations budgets are the target of the ongoing budget impasse between Congress and Gray’s office.

Effort to set the Nation’s projected revenue at $33 million fails

In related budget matters on Monday, Congresswoman Shannon Edwards introduced ONCR 10-05 which is a resolution to set the Nation’s projected revenue amount at $33.1 million, but motions to fast track the resolution onto first and second readings were unsuccessful.

Both motions made by Edwards failed for lack of support. According to the resolution, Edwards is asking the Congress to set the projected revenue at $33.1 million with $31.3 million projected from gaming, $1.3 million from the Nation’s Tax Commission and $500,000 projected from interest on cash deposits to the Nation.

Last week, newly selected Gaming Enterprise Board member Liz Homer said the Nation’s projected gaming revenue is $31 million.

Edwards introduces bill to pass 2010 health, wellness and community service budgets

Also on Monday, Edwards introduced ONCA 10-20, which is “an act to provide an appropriation to the health and wellness and child, senior and community services divisions, entities and programs and departments” of the Nation’s Executive Branch.
The bill calls for approving the affected budgets which have the “blessings” of the program directors who met with the Congressional Health and Social Services Committee last week, Edwards said.

The appropriations in Edwards’ bill would go toward the Nation’s burial assistance service, medical services, “and other things that are being affected by the delay in getting the (budgets) bill passed,” she said.

“This is a carve out of the health and wellness and senior and community services budgets”, which have been reviewed and are ready, Edwards said. The affected programs are operating under the one-twelfth spending restriction with the other Executive Branch departments.

The Executive Branch has said several of its departments’ operations have been affected by the one-twelfth spending restriction including WIC, Social Services and the Senior Service Program (Title IV).

Gray was out on travel Monday and did not attend this Special Session’s opening day.

Congress is adjourned until 10 a.m. Thursday.

Osage Nation Congress during the 21st Special Session. Osage News file photo by Chalene Toehay

By Benny Polacca
Osage News

The Osage Nation Congress, by majority vote, is requesting Principal Chief Jim Gray to lower the Nation’s 2010 government budgets to $25 million. This motion comes on the final day of the 22nd Special Session with another special session starting Monday to resume work on the government operations budgets.

After discussion and debate, Congress voted 7-5 Wednesday morning for Speaker Archie Mason to send a letter to Gray asking that he lower the 2010 budget to no more than $25 million – that’s $6 million less than a new projected revenue amount set at $31 million, which was announced Tuesday.

Congressman Mark Simms made the motion, which was seconded by Congressman Eddy Red Eagle. Simms said he is basing the motion and new budget amount on the most recent gaming revenue figures he’s aware of.

“Last year the Gaming Board projected $59 million on a projection, we received $37 million in distribution, but accordingly they said they overpaid us $1 million, which made it $38 million,” Simms said. “I’m basing this all off the distribution of the last year of receiving that $37 million. So far this year in 2010, we haven’t received a distribution yet.”

The Nation’s 2010 fiscal year started in October and Simms noted the Nation has not received a distribution of gaming revenue three months later. “In order to match last year’s distribution, we would have to receive $3 million a month… if we receive a distribution in 2010 (January through September) of $3 million (per month), we will have $27 million to work with.”

Simms’s motion comes less than 24 hours after newly appointed Gaming Enterprise Board member Liz Homer announced the Nation’s projected revenue figure has been increased from $27 million to $31 million. Homer, who replaced Tom Slamans on the board last month, spoke at a meeting for the Nation’s government employees.

The projected revenue has been a hot topic in the budget debate amongst Congressional members and the Executive Branch. According to the Osage Nation Constitution, the Congress cannot appropriate more than the next year’s projected revenue.

Simms’s motion passed with seven Congressional members voting for it. Mason, Congresswomen Shannon Edwards, Debra Atterberry and Congressmen Mark Freeman and Raymond Red Corn cast the dissenting votes.

Some Congress members, including Edwards, expressed disappointment that Congress, as a voting body, would not set a budget before adjourning the Special Session.

Edwards said questions about the projected revenue are fair but should have been addressed months before the 2010 appropriation process began and noted Congress’s requirement to appropriate funds for government operations. “We have an obligation here as a Congress to do our work which is to pass operating funds for the Nation… if we’re going to pass a budget for $25 million, then let’s pass a budget for $25 million… to continue to back and forth and delay is not serving anyone’s purpose.”

Red Eagle, who supports a lower budget amount, said Congress has the power to appropriate funds and set their levels and also referred to delays in receiving budget information from the Executive Branch.

“I do not agree with the $25 million one, I agree with what they spent last year at $21 million,” Red Eagle said. “(The Executive Branch has) proven they can run that operation over there with $21 million, why give them four more? But in order to get to a point of closure on this budget, I’ll vote for this motion.”

Red Corn said the budget is below the $31 million projected revenue level and a previous one according to his calculations. “For several weeks this body’s heard from several members who insisted that we get the budget down below projected revenues… I think we’re probably there with this budget in front of us now by my calculation,” he said.

“If we pass the budgets the chief sent back on our first request to reduce the budgets, it would be somewhere around $28 million… the last projected revenue was $28.4,” said Red Corn who added the “real projected revenue is gaming, tax and interest income. But now we seem to have achieved this goal that had so long been the object of Congress, today we want to move the goal post and – I don’t understand it.”

Congressman William “Kugee” Supernaw argued the Nation’s gaming revenues have fallen and “figures are unreliable… I submit we don’t need the $31 million budget. We need to hold it down to the essentials and if we can conserve some money, we better because the situation could get worse… before it gets better.”

Chief Gray calls for a 23rd Special Session

Gray said Wednesday afternoon that Congress’s decision was “unfortunate for any people who work in the Executive Branch who represent 85 to 95 percent of the Nation from being able to perform their jobs.” He issued an Executive Proclamation for Congress to start another Special Session at 10 a.m. Monday.

A sign showing the departments located in the old Superintendent's house next to the Executive Branch building on the Osage campus. Photo by Chalene Toehay/Osage News

By Shannon Shaw
Osage News

Osage Nation programs being affected by the continuing resolution that holds down the Nation’s spending to one-twelfth of the 2009 fiscal year levels have spoken, and it’s not good.

“Right now, the staff at the Osage Nation Social Services Department are all feeling a bit like George Bailey [from It’s a Wonderful Life] because they are faced with the reality of looking at a Christmas without adequate funding to serve Osage children in tribal custody, Osage children in pre-adoptive placements, Osage children on the Family Preservation Program caseload, and Osage children identified as needy during child welfare investigations this past year,” said an article on the Social Services Department’s site on osagetribe.com.

“Another thing to remember is these kids are where they are today through no fault of their own.”

Programs such as the Women, Infants and Children program (WIC), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF), the Osage Nation Police Department and many more have all published stories on how the one-twelfth restriction is affecting their departments.

WIC, the only WIC office in Osage County, currently serves more than 2,700 Osages as well as non-Osage participants and the number grows every day. WIC is a federally funded program and since they have received the grants to provide the services to Osage County residents the State of Oklahoma does not have a WIC office in the county.

“Now what’s to say that with all of this mess with Congress, the funding agency and the State of Oklahoma agree that we can no longer manage these funds and we lose this grant?” Harris wrote in the article. “What will happen to the ability to order special formulas for special needs children?”

The TANF program published two anonymous letters from some of their employees with a similar situation.

“On a daily basis our office is flooded with calls from people in desperate situations asking us for help and we have to tell them that we can not help them at this time,” wrote a TANF employee. “We have one crisis family that is homeless; they do not know what they are going to do for Christmas, better yet where they are going to sleep each night.”

The Osage Nation Police Department is having their problems with the one-twelfth restriction with having exceeded the amount to pay for the incarceration of adult prisoners; they’re unable to purchase new equipment to replace old or broken radios and other equipment and they’re unable to send officers to training in accordance with State law because their certifications have to be up to date to make arrests.

“If the price of fuel (which we have no control) exceeds our monthly 1/12th restriction (not to mention possible costly body damage repairs) we could lose our fuel contract with Wright Express,” said the article on ONPD’s site. “This could severely disrupt our ability to purchase fuel during the officer’s shift and decrease our ability to patrol.”

The Osage Nation Congress has called the one-twelfth restriction a “band-aid” and a “temporary fix” while they prepare to go over the Nation’s budgets again next week. Both Congress and Osage Nation Principal Chief Jim Gray have blamed each other for the situation the programs are currently in.

However, an e-mail sent by Congresswoman Debra Atterberry to her fellow members of Congress today had a different tone.

“I listened to this morning’s short session and heard Congressman [William] Supernaw’s concerned comments regarding the employee Christmas bonus. He stated that the Congress has done everything we can to allow the bonuses to be paid out to the employees,” Atterberry wrote. “I disagree. We haven’t passed the budget - - we’re the problem!”

Chief Gray sent out an Executive Message detailing exactly what would be affected by the one-twelfth restriction today, to view the report click below:

Executive Message on impact of one-twelfth budget restriction

Osage Nation Congress on the last day of the 21st Special Session. Photo by Shannon Shaw/Osage News

By Shannon Shaw
Osage News

The budget tug-of-war between the Osage Nation Principal Chief and the Osage Nation Congress has lasted longer than any Osage Nation employee would like, and come Tuesday if the two branches still haven’t compromised – the Nation’s programs will have to be shut down.

“There are entire families that work for the Osage Nation and knowing that possibly Tuesday morning I could be told ‘don’t come to work today, you’re being furloughed,’ and ‘no we don’t know when it will end,’ I am distraught at the fact that I may not have a job to come to,” said an Osage Nation employee who asked to be anonymous for this article.

The Nation shutting down its programs and the Chief having to furlough more than 2,000 employees would be the worst case scenario. Congressional Speaker Archie Mason said Wednesday that there is no way he would let that happen and he said that when Congress meets on Monday in the 22nd Special Session, they are going to pass a continuing resolution to operate on 2009 levels until Jan. 8.

Chief Gray has already vetoed numerous continuing resolutions because they all would make each program, and the Chief’s office, operate on one-twelfth of the 2009 levels each month and Gray said not all programs can operate at those levels. Gray said he called the Special Session so that Congress can consider the new budget he sent over last week.

Chief and directors trim $3 million from the budgets

The new budgets for ONCA 09-63, an act to provide an appropriation to the Office of the Chiefs and ONCA 09-66, an act to provide an appropriation for the Government Operations Departments and Programs, have been trimmed down to $30 million and were sent to Congress last week.

This is in an effort to get the total amount of the Nation’s spending down because the Gaming Enterprise Board set the Nation’s projected revenue at $27 million for the 2010 fiscal year and according to the Osage Nation Constitution the Congress cannot appropriate more than the next year’s projected revenue.

The $27 million figure has been controversial, with the majority in Congress holding firm to the figure while a few in Congress maintain that the figure is flawed because it isn’t a true accounting of the projected revenue, due to the fact that the gaming board took out about $20 million for the construction of the Ponca City casino and other projects for next year.

Speaker Archie Mason says Christmas bonuses could have been given out

Last year at this time many Osage Nation employees were enjoying Black Friday, armed with their Christmas bonuses from the tribe and having enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving dinner the day before, turkeys courtesy of the Nation. Now employees are wondering if they’re going to have a job, let alone a bonus.

“I’ve heard there’s going to be a petition to impeach every congress member and the chief, I’ve actually been told that,” said the Osage Nation employee who asked to be anonymous for this article. “If they can’t come to some resolve they don’t need to be in there. And believe me, I’m not the only one who feels this way.”

According to Mason, ONCA 10-15, a continuing resolution by Congressman William “Kugee” Supernaw, was passed and is still alive. Chief Gray on the other hand said he pocket vetoed ONCA 10-15.

If Speaker Mason is right, and ONCA 10-15 is still alive, than the employees should have received their Christmas bonuses because the bonuses were specifically protected in the bill. But Chief Gray is not recognizing ONCA 10-15 because he sent a proclamation to the Nation’s employees Wednesday that said it was Congress’s fault they didn’t get their bonuses because Congress still had not appropriated the money for the Executive Branch and the continuing resolution they are operating under restricts the Christmas bonus.

22nd Special Session begins at 10 a.m. Monday and is broadcast live

On the agenda for Monday is ONCA 09-63, ONCA 09-66, ONCA 10-07, an act to amend ONCA 09-65 to include an appropriation for the Osage Nation Enterprise Board and Gaming Enterprise Board; ONCA 10-08, an act to amend ONCA 09-65 to include an appropriation to the Osage Nation Foundation Board; ONCA 10-09, an act to amend ONCA 09-58, to remove two positions from the Office of Fiscal Performance Review and to reduce the appropriation to the legislature; and to amend ONCA 09-61.

To listen to the live broadcast, go to osagetribe.com and click on the link Listen Live to Congress Session in the upper right corner under Media.