By
Benny Polacca
As of Oct. 5, the Osage Nation Executive Branch continued to review the amended and Congressionally-approved 2016 fiscal year budgets for the Nation’s government operations.
On Sept. 29, the Fourth ON Congress passed those budgets into law with less than 48 hours before FY 2016 started. Those budget bills passing on Sept. 29 were sent to Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear’s office for his review and action. Standing Bear said he received the budgets shortly after 8 a.m. the following day.
According to the Congressional Office, the deadline for the Executive Branch to return the budget bills with the Chief’s signature (for bills to become law) or vetoes is Oct. 6. The Principal Chief has five days business days (holidays and Sundays exempted) after the bills are presented to the Executive Branch to veto or sign into law, otherwise the bills will become law without signature, according to the Osage Constitution.
Standing Bear said there are over 140 government budgets for the Nation’s various government departments and entities that provide services to the Osage people, as well as the respective budgets for each of the three ON government branches.
The Congressional approval of budgets come after three-plus weeks of Congressional committee meetings for department and program budgets and budgets for the three branches; additional information requests and amendments that included budget cuts by the Congress; and debates that led up to decisions on budget amendments.
In the event that one or more budget bills are vetoed by Standing Bear, the Congress unanimously passed a bill (ONCA 15-106 sponsored by Congressman RJ Walker) to authorize and continue funding ON government operations at FY 2015 budget levels until Nov. 15 or if the FY 2016 bills are enacted into law before that date.
ONCA 15-106 also authorizes appropriated funding for the Pawhuska Indian Health Service Clinic, which started its IHS compact operations on Oct. 1 with the start of the new fiscal year for both the federal government and the Nation. The clinic operations will be funded with $6.4 million with $4.5 million coming from federal money awarded to the Nation as part of its compact agreement. Standing Bear signed ONCA 15-106 into law on Sept. 30.
The Congressional Tzi-Zho Session was extended to end Oct. 8.
Passing operations budgets for FY 2016 are:
- ONCA 15-78: Attorney General’s Office – $944,616
- ONCA 15-79: Principal Chief’s Office – $1.8 million
- ONCA 15-80: Legislative Branch – $2.3 million (became law Sept. 17)
- ONCA 15-81: Judicial Branch: $391,605
- ONCA 15-82: Land, Commerce and Public Safety Division – $11.3 million
- ONCA 15-83: Health, Fitness, Wellness Division: $15.6 million
- ONCA 15-84: Government Operations Division: $19.2 million
- ONCA 15-85: Education and Early Childhood Division: $8.3 million
- ONCA 15-86: Cultural Preservation, Arts, Heritage and Language Division: $3 million
- ONCA 15-87: Child, Family and Senior Community Services Division: $3.4 million
Check back to www.osagenews.org for session and budget updates when available and follow the newspaper on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
For more information on the session, committee meetings and filed legislation, visit the ON Congressional website at: www.osagenation-nsn.gov/who-we-are/congress-legislative-branch
Original Publish Date: 2015-10-05 00:00:00
