WASHINGTON ? President Bush’s new $2 trillion budget provides additional billions for war but no great increase for Indian Country.

The most significant additional funding in BIA will go for management of the troubled trust accounts, schools and guaranteed lending. The Indian Health Service gets a five-percent increase for services, but spending on its antiquated facilities is virtually frozen.

The budget also heralds a new policy to “privatize” BIA schools, finding non-federal bodies to take over their management in an effort to improve their much-criticized performance.

The Fiscal Year 2003 budget supports America’s war on terrorism and gives its largest increases to homeland security and the military. However, non-military domestic spending, including tribal funding, is up just 2 percent, barely above the rate of inflation. The overall budget projects a $106 billion deficit for FY2002 and an $80 billion deficit for FY2003, while also proposing nearly a trillion dollars in tax cuts over ten years.

When it comes to funding for Indian Country, only a few bright spots appear. Under the Department of Interior’s $10.2 billion budget, the BIA request includes $1.8 billion for the operation of Indian programs, a $59.2 million increase over FY2002. The most significant proposed BIA increases are targeted for trust management activities, school operations and the Indian Guaranteed Loan Program. For the Indian Health Service, the budget includes $2.5 billion for Indian health services, a $124 million increase over current levels, along with $370 million for IHS facilities, an increase of less than $1 million.

For trust management and reform, the budget contains an $84 million increase for trust-related activities. This includes a $49 million increase for the Office of Special Trustee and a $35 million increase for BIA trust program operations and services at BIA headquarters, regional and tribal levels. While interested in any increase, tribal leaders see this proposal as a “drop in the bucket” in light of Interior’s problems with trust reform.

“Secretary Norton may be excited to announce this new increase in funding for trust reform, but there are a lot of other areas that need to be addressed,” said Tex Hall, chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes in North Dakota and president of the National Congress of American Indians. “To me, that’s a very small portion of what it should be. The tribes were never consulted about the budget, even when it came to the trust reform issues. Is it that Interior only responds to areas where they’re feeling the heat?”

In the budget document, the White House itself criticized Interior for its poor track record on trust reform.

“Due to problems with its tribal trust accounting, DOI cannot provide assurances that its trust management systems and internal controls meet federal standards,” wrote the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Indian education programs under the BIA also received shocking news. While funding for school operations did increase by $18.8 million, the budget cited poor academic performances at BIA schools and proposed to “reevaluate BIA’s role in the education of American Indian students.” It said that the BIA would hold tribal consultation sessions and then solicit private entities to manage BIA schools that do not elect to contract themselves through self-determination grants.

Neal McCaleb, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, said that the budget earmarks nearly $12 million to encourage the privatization effort. Part of the money will be used to encourage tribes to assume control of Indian schools and to hire experts to improve student performance.

“I don’t want to say it’s desperation, but we’re at the lowest level and if you’re ready to try, it’s incumbent on us to try different efforts,” he said.

Regarding education, at least one congressman believes the proposed budget deserves an “A” grade. “This budget proposes the financial resources our schools must have to breathe life into the historic education reforms we enacted last year,” said Rep. J. D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., in a Feb. 6 news release. “Of particular importance to Arizonans, because of the high value we place on educational freedom, the president’s budget includes strong support for charter schools and school choice for students trapped in failing schools.”

The congressman did not specifically mention American Indian schools in the news release.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., was unimpressed by the Indian education spending, however. In his own Feb. 6 news release, he said that the proposed $120 million for school construction and $168 million for maintenance and repairs was a $15 million decrease from the year before. The appropriation for tribal colleges, $39.1 million, was a $2 million decrease from the previous budget, he said.

Daschle also criticized the $646.6 million allocation for tribal housing authorities, which he called a $3 million decrease in funds for the construction and maintenance of affordable low-income housing. He attacked what he called a 16 percent decrease in funding for IHS facilities, including clinics and ambulance shelters, and the “complete elimination” of funding for construction of detention facilities.

“Several aspects of the President’s proposed budget fail to address many of the issues Indian Country is facing,” he said. “While I applaud the President for providing an overall increase in the BIA’s budget, his decision to decrease funding for tribal colleges, hospital construction, and low-income housing, and his complete elimination of a promising law enforcement program is extremely troubling.”

Daschle touched on the sore spot of consultation, saying he was “concerned” that the Administration floated several major ideas without first involving the tribes and Congress. He singled out the “measure that would privatize BIA schools performing below their public school counterparts, and an initiative to completely restructure the Indian Health Service. “

Where the Administration has touted its intent to improve Indian schools, talk of reforming the IHS has been decidedly low-key.

On Jan. 9, President Bush signed the “No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.” In general, this legislation gives greater accountability to BIA-funded and operated schools concerning student progress and academic achievement and more access to and greater flexibility in using federal education funds.

“Like their peers, Indian students deserve a good education and must have access to good schools,” said Neal A. McCaleb, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, at the time. “By his action today, the President has assured Indian Country’s parents that BIA-funded schools will be held accountable for the quality and success of the education services they provide.”

Part D of the Jan. 9 legislation, the “Native American Education Improvement Act of 2001,” deals specifically with making BIA-funded schools more accountable. Of more immediate significance to Indian Country, this act:

Mandates that all BIA-funded schools either be accredited or candidates for such within two years of enactment;

Calls for a report on the establishment of a tribal accreditation agency for BIA-funded schools;

Increases funds schools can receive at the beginning of each school year;

Consolidates all BIA personnel and support services directly and substantially involved in education within the Office of Indian Education programs; and

Authorizes a demonstration project to integrate Federal education and related services provided to Indian students with streamlined reporting requirements.

The President’s new FY2003 budget must be approved by both the House and Senate and may undergo many changes before it reaches its final form. The budget approval deadline is Sept. 30. The federal government’s 2003 fiscal year begins on Oct. 1, 2002.