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HomeGovernmentLegislativeON Congress 3rd Special Session addresses appropriation bills

ON Congress 3rd Special Session addresses appropriation bills

OMC Chairman Myron Red Eagle announced Enel is appealing the recent ruling in the Minerals Council's longstanding wind farm case at the Jan. 15 Congressional Appropriations Committee meeting

The Ninth Osage Nation Congress convened for its Third Special Session on Jan. 14 and will consider appropriation legislation on file for consideration.

On the session’s first day, Congressional members read titles of their filed legislative bills and resolutions. The Congress also voted to amend its special session proclamation adding consideration of two items not originally listed.

The following appropriation-related legislative items filed for special session consideration include:

ONCR 25-04 (sponsored by Congresswoman Maria Whitehorn) is “A Resolution to restate ONCR 23-22 to approve the drawdown of the balance in full of the Nation’s Proceeds of Labor account to be paid directly to the Osage Minerals Council.” 

ONCA 25-32 (sponsored by Congresswoman Jodie Revard) is “An Act to amend ONCA 21-75 to decrease the appropriation of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the Executive Branch for the expansion of broadband coverage throughout the Osage Nation by the amount of $160,000.”

ONCA 25-33 (sponsored by Congressional Speaker Pam Shaw) is “An Act to authorize and appropriate the amount of $11,997 to the Woodland High School football team for the purchase of state championship rings and pendants.”

ONCA 25-29 (sponsored by Congressman Eli Potts) is “An Act to authorize and appropriate the amount of $520,000 to the Storm Shelter Assistance Fund.”

ONCA 25-30 (Revard) is “An Act to amend ONCA 24-73 to provide a supplemental appropriation to the Executive Branch Information Technology Department in the amount of $127,000.”

ONCA 25-31 (Revard) is “An Act to amend ONCA 21-61 to increase the appropriation to the Executive Branch in ARPA funds for the continuation and completion of Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act projects by the amount of $160,000.”

Minerals Council

ONCA 25-28 (Whitehorn) is “An Act to provide an appropriation to the Minerals Council of the Osage Nation for fiscal year 2025 in the amount of $1,550,015.”

Minerals Council Chairman Myron Red Eagle attended the Jan. 15 Appropriations Committee meeting to discuss ONCA 25-28 and announced the OMC’s longstanding legal battle with Italian wind farm giant Enel and its subsidiaries isn’t over.

On Dec. 19, Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves of the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled Enel and its subsidiaries must remove 84 wind turbines from the Osage Reservation by Dec. 1, 2025, and return the land to its pre-windfarm state. She also awarded money for damages, attorney fees and other costs.

He said Enel is appealing the ruling and the OMC will continue to need funding for attorney costs.

“They’ve [Enel] decided to appeal, on both counts. The attorney costs and all the other costs that were involved. They’ve decided to appeal, and we will hear back from the judge [Choe-Groves] in the next couple of weeks on what’s going to happen there,” he said.

He added that the Minerals Council’s Washington, D.C. attorneys aren’t cheap. Every time the council meets with their attorneys, Patterson Earnhart Real Bird & Wilson LLP, for a Zoom or phone call, it’s $300 an hour. He said before Christmas, one of the attorneys called and threatened to “drop” them if they didn’t pay.

“He wasn’t jesting at all, he wasn’t smiling, he was very serious,” he said. “We owed them over $400,000 at the time … maybe more than that. And, that’s not the only lawsuit we’re involved in.”

The committee amended the amount and passed it out with a “do pass” recommendation for Congress to consider.

According to the Osage Constitution, special sessions may be called by executive or legislative proclamations and may last up to 10 days. The Congress will hold scheduled select and standing committee meetings for initial legislation consideration during session.

To follow the progress of ON Congressional sessions, read filed legislation and listen live to Congressional committee meetings, visit the Legislative Branch website at www.osagenation-nsn.gov/who-we-are/legislative-branch

With additional reporting by Editor Shannon Shaw Duty

Authors

Benny Polacca
Benny Polaccahttps://osagenews.org

Title: Senior Reporter

Email: bpolacca@osagenation-nsn.gov

Instagram: @bpolacca

Topic Expertise: Government, Tribal Government, Community

Languages spoken: English, basic knowledge of Spanish and French

Benny Polacca (Hopi/ Havasupai/ Pima/ Tohono O’odham) started working at the Osage News in 2009 as a reporter in Pawhuska, Okla., where he’s covered various stories and events that impact the Osage Nation and Osage people. Those newspaper contributions cover a broad spectrum of topics and issues from tribal government matters to features. As a result, Polacca has gained an immeasurable amount of experience in covering Native American affairs, government issues and features so the Osage readership can be better informed about the tribal current affairs the newspaper covers.

Polacca is part of the Osage News team that was awarded the Native American Journalists Association's Elias Boudinet Free Press Award in 2014 and has won numerous NAJA media awards, as well as awards from the Oklahoma Press Association and SPJ Oklahoma Pro Chapter, for storytelling coverage and photography.

Polacca earned his bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and also participated in the former American Indian Journalism Institute at the University of South Dakota where he was introduced to the basics of journalism and worked with seasoned journalists there and later at The Forum daily newspaper covering the Fargo, N.D. area where he worked as the weeknight reporter.

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