Senate To Reduce Indian Tribes’ Budgets

Senate budget writers are moving to reduce spending on Indian programs and shift funds from tribes with successful gambling casinos to poorer reservations.

A Senate Appropriations subcommittee has proposed cutting programs operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs by 16 percent below this year’s level.

The panel’s plan approved Thursday also would strip the BIA, one of the most criticized agencies in the federal government, of its authority over tribal trust funds and natural resource programs.

At the same time, the plan orders the Interior Department to develop a formula for redistributing federal money away from tribes that have gambling operations.