Tribal governments are finally set to receive their coronavirus aid more than a month after bill passed

In a joint statement Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced Native American tribal governments in every U.S. state will begin receiving $4.8 billion of the $8 billion allocated for their fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The remaining money, which will be distributed based on employment and expenditure data, will be paid out at a later date.

The 60 percent of the funds that were made available Tuesday are being distributed based on on population data and will be subject to a floor of $100,000. Native American tribes are considered a vulnerable sector of the population during the pandemic, and the Navajo Nation has one of the highest rates of infection in the country (though some of that is related to high testing rates, as well.).

Last week, Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee urged Mnuchin to release the funds, pointing out the governments still hadn't received them despite Congress passing the CARES Act in late March. The bill had set a deadline to disburse the funds by April 26. Tim O'Donnell

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